Synopsis
Writing this book of creative ideas and school-readiness lessons for preprimary and junior school learners is the result of years of contact with young children and their artistic, mental, and physical development. I am charmed by childrens natural ability to spontaneously create wonderful art when given the material and opportunity to do so. Their astounding physical and mental abilities and play activities led to my lifelong interest in and involvement with small children and their growth toward adulthood. Over the years, I put together a collection of themes and ideas for promoting childrens creative abilities and thinking, as well as their physical and emotional development. Some ideas worked; others did not. Some ideas work for certain children and not for others, and some work for everyone. Many of these ideas I shared with or learned from fellow preprimary schoolteachers; most are my own ideas. All the ideas were adapted to suit the learners needs and also to the available materials. The ideas in this book are exactly that: ideas only. There is no right or wrong way to do anything. Creativity is open-ended; it forms an integral part of the personality of the person creating an artwork, game, or anything new. Therefore, the ideas in this book must be adjusted and explored to suit the moment, such as it might be. Every idea has to be adapted to suit the availability of materials, the groups or individual childs learning needs, their teachers creative ability, their surroundings (life world), their level of development, and their physical and emotional needs. Each one of these ideas can be changed; they are guidelines, not prescriptions. Prescriptive teachingparticularly in art, language development, and free playdestroys creativity and creative thinking because it does not allow for individual creative exploration. Creative thinking, not only in art but also in all spheres of life, forms the highest level of cognitive development, namely, problem-solving thinking patterns. Allowing children to explore their creative ideas through the media of free but guided art, play, and language development helps them develop creative thinking patterns. This book is dedicated to all my friends and colleagues who shared their ideas with me and, in particular, to all the children whom Ive taught and who taught me to see life through their eyes with their clear and honest perceptions of the world. Their artistic play and verbal expression gave us a direct glimpse into their joys and sorrows, which opens the mind to a plethora of new concepts and a new understanding of the world we live in. Every one of the lessons is aimed at school readiness, but the creative activities and developmental-play activities are also suitable for use in junior primary school classes. My hope is that this book will bring joy and happiness to all who use it and, in particular, that it will help the little ones for whom it was written to explore their world successfully and prepare them for the challenge of growing up. Different ATB from AR MS: The book comprises a collection of creative ideas and activities, including developmental play, music, movement, rhymes, songs, and stories for grade 0/R (preschool learners). Every creative activity in this collection is aimed at helping learners to grow into well-adjusted, happy human beings and to prepare them for the challenges of formal schooling. All activities are theme related and serve to develop skills while the learner has fun. The activities prepare the learner to cope in the primary school phase as well as later in life. Every creative activity should be seen as an informal teaching tool. These should never cause stress for the learners but should help them understand themselves and their world better. The book is meant for use by nursery schoolteachers, parents of preschool children, and students.
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