News from CK Montessori

Here is one of our favorite stories which helps to illustrate our philosophy of art and the young child.

(Reprinted from Creative Art for the Developing Child, by Claire Cherry)

Bobby was in his first week of preschool. Each day when he came home, his mother asked, "What did you do today?" His usual answer was, "Oh, nothing. I just played." Then one day he brought home a painting he had made. He had enjoyed dipping the long handled brush into the can of creamy red paint. He had enjoyed smearing it back and forth and back and forth over the sheet of paper his teacher had given him. He discovered that if he pressed very hard and rubbed the brush in one little area, he could rub a hole right through the paper. He didn't understand why the teacher gave him the paper to take home. Besides, the paint was dry. Dry pain wasn't fun.
But Bobby's mother was excited when she saw it. So was his father. And even the lady who lived next door. But, oh, especially his mother. She told the teacher glowingly how much everyone liked Bobby's picture. Sensing that she had pleased Bobby's mother, the teacher had the child paint another picture the very next day. She soon began to give him more and more art projects to do, and they became more and more complicated. Sometimes the teacher had to do much of the work herself, with only a little help form Bobby. Bobby's mother told everyone about the wonderful teacher Bobby had and about the wonderful school he attended and about the wonderful things he made there.

The teacher was very capable and understanding, but she literally got carried away with her attempt to please Bobby's mother. Bobby's mother was also a very capable and under- standing person, but Bobby had been slow in his early growth and was always restless. His mother had worried about his ability to do well in school. She was delighted and impressed when she saw the wonderful art projects he was bringing home, even though she really knew he couldn't do them all by himself.

And so, somewhere between the interweaving of adult dreams and adult anxieties, a little boy's needs were being forgotten.

And what about the little boy? Was he learning anything through doing one complicated art project after another? Well, he was learning how to please adults. He learned that blue at the top of the picture means sky. Circles have to contain eyes, noses, and mouths. When the teacher cuts out something for you to paste, you do it exactly the way she shows you to, after all, she knows what she wants you to make. He learned not to let the paint drip. And he learned that above all, oh, above all, he mustn't ever rub a real hole in the paper.

We are process-oriented, not product oriented!