Connecting to Our Place

We are now living in the 21st century – but sometimes our schools don’t look like it.  We look at the smartphones we are using today and we think back 100 years ago and they didn’t even have phones.  We look at the cars we drive today and 100 years ago they looked very different.  You look at our classrooms today and those of 100 years ago and they look very similar.  It is time to change!  The community, the professions, the roles

of parents, and genders have all changed. Yet school still teaches the same stuff, in similar ways, using similar furniture and materials.

• Use 21st century skills
• Think outside the box
• Build a creative curriculum
• Value the cultures and communities around you
• Listen to the families and community members
• Go outside!

What do all the things above have in common?  They are all building on the 4Cs!

Watch this video to learn more:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Kwb52xzAUo

The 4Cs and Art

Nurturing the 4Cs with young children is easy!  Children are natural learners, they are curious and willing to try things. Often they talk and hypothesize more than parents and teachers want them to.  Just think what would happen if we listened to all of young children’s ideas and highlighted them. We posted them.  We studied them.  Children would grow up knowing they could try anything and that some things might work and other things we need to keep on trying.  It is kind of like when you are drawing something with a sharpie and make a mistake.  You either think oops, darn I can’t do this – or you think hmm, I wonder what I could do better next time.  These are different mindsets, that had were nurtured differently.

During young children’s early art experiences, children are trying out different viewpoints, experimenting, learning and growing.  Our job as educators is to identify these strengths and build on them.  Art is the perfect medium to do this.

Remember – Art includes, visual arts, dramatic arts, musical arts, creative movement, and media arts.