In my last  column, I talked about the importance of introducing fine arts to young children. To recap that subject, here is what I wrote:

Why Study Fine Arts?

Charlotte Mason, a 19th century British educator, believed that exposing children to great ideas and beauty in all areas inspired them to greatness as well. She theorized that by letting them become familiar with the best artists, composers, and writers, they would be less willing to settle for mediocrity in themselves. As Elizabeth Gutman said in her book, The Story of Art, part of The Bookshelf for Boys and Girls series: “The magic power of art can arouse all kinds of emotions in us, from simple joy to much deeper feelings. And artists are great people whose works can gladden our eyes, enrich our thoughts, and deepen our feelings.”

I think these words can apply to ALL areas of the fine arts. And with today’s norm of following the crowd or being happy with the status quo, we should want our children to be inspired and motivated to strive for more—to reach for excellence instead of being content with the marginal.

I also introduced the topic of picture study in the last column. Now I would like to discuss the most famous bard of all time, William Shakespeare, and how a ‘Shakespeare Study’ can benefit even young children.

Why Shakespeare?

William Shakespeare ultimately helped to shape the English language. Because of him, we now have such phrases as ‘in a pickle,’ ‘all’s well that ends well,’ ‘love is blind’, ‘wild goose chase’, and countless others. In fact, Shakespeare is credited with coining or creating close to 2000 words and phrases that are now part of our daily usage. In addition, his language is challenging, with tight and concise sentences. Vocabularies are sure to be increased when reading Shakespearean plays or poetry. And most of all, Shakespeare was a master of plot and a great storyteller of history. He knew the Bible and mythology, and drew from both, and it is evident that his writing was definitely influenced by Christianity. I’ve often heard that if a person is familiar with the Bible, mythology, and Shakespeare, he will always have a greater understanding of any literature as well as human nature. Ideas of greed, love, hatred, self-loathing, pity, generosity, courage, and even misunderstandings are ageless.

Why Start Young?

If a child is introduced to Shakespeare early, he will not be apprehensive about studying the plays when he is in high school. When he is young he will certainly not understand all the twists, turns, and nuances that Shakespeare employs, but he can most definitely read simplified versions and keep track of the basic plot and characters and learn the ‘stories’ behind the plays. When he is older, he will already have a basic understanding of Shakespeare’s work and be able to build upon that foundation with a deeper understanding of the plots and the moral and historical significances. He will recognize within the characters a mixture of sinfulness and goodness—just as we all are in real life. He will see weaknesses and strengths in the players within the layers of each story.

Beginning:

Children around the age of six might enjoy Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare for Children by E. Nesbit, author of the Railway Children. Ms. Nesbit retold twenty of Shakespeare’s dramas in story form to make them more accessible to a younger audience, which is the perfect introduction to the bard for children.

The next step up might be Tales From Shakespeare by the brother/sister team of Charles and Mary Lamb. Published in 1807, this book includes all of Shakespeare’s most famous comedies and tragedies. The tales are retold in a clear and exceptional literary style, and the Lambs even borrowed vocabulary and phrases from the actual plays.

Other Resources for Younger Students:

-Starting with Shakespeare: Successfully Introducing Shakespeare to Children by Todd Daubert

-Shakespeare for Kids: His Life and Times, 21 Activities (For Kids series) by Colleen Aagesen and Margie Blumberg

-Shakespeare Can Be Fun series by Lois Burdett

-Shakespeare Stories by Leon Garfield

-Bard of Avon: The Story of William Shakespeare by Diane Stanley

-www.squidoo.com/shakespeareforchildren

- www.pbs.org/shakespeare/educators/resources.html

As a child grows older, the actual plays will become more accessible to him. Because he is already acquainted with the language and characters, Shakespeare’s dramas will seem like old friends that become more enjoyable and appreciated through the years. William Shakespeare had the talent of revealing things that man needs to see in himself—whether good or bad. And as another actor wrote of him, “He was not of an age but for all time.”

Karen Andreola states in her book, A Charlotte Mason Companion, that Shakespeare’s plays provide us “with thoughtful entertainment, a look at human nature, the beauty of the English language, animated scenes from history, and even a good laugh.” Young children can enjoy the same!

Originally published at The National Writing For Children Center.

Classical music. Art Appreciation. Nature Study. Poetry and Shakespeare. These areas of study may sound like complicated courses that are best left alone until the high school or college years, but young children can certainly benefit from an acquaintance with the fine arts as well. As parents, we all want our children to be well rounded and educated to the best of our abilities. We expect teachers (or ourselves if we homeschool) to cover the basics such as reading, writing, and arithmetic, but there is also something so satisfying about recognizing a Monet or a Cezanne, or hearing and identifying music composed by Mozart or Tchaikovsky.

There is joy in taking a walk, finding a special leaf to sketch in a nature journal, and later discovering in a field guide that it belongs to an aspen tree. And who hasn’t heard or read a common phrase (such as green-eyed monster) that can be traced back to the pen of William Shakespeare?

Why Study Fine Arts?

Charlotte Mason, a 19th century British educator, believed that exposing children to great ideas and beauty in all areas inspired them to greatness as well. She theorized that by letting them become familiar with the best artists, composers, and writers, they would be less willing to settle for mediocrity in themselves. As Elizabeth Gutman said in her book, The Story of Art, part of The Bookshelf for Boys and Girls series:
“The magic power of art can arouse all kinds of emotions in us, from simple joy to much deeper feelings. And artists are great people whose works can gladden our eyes, enrich our thoughts, and deepen our feelings.”

I think these words can apply to ALL areas of the fine arts. And with today’s norm of following the crowd or being happy with the status quo, we should want our children to be inspired and motivated to strive for more—to reach for excellence instead of being content with the marginal.

In my monthly contribution to the “Parenting and Teaching Tip” column over the next few weeks, I’d like to explore some of these areas in more depth. But for this particular column, I will focus on “picture study”, which is one facet of art appreciation.

Picture Study

Introducing a new artist or a specific piece of art is very easy to do. Many websites have lists of suggested artist rotations, but it’s better to choose one artist’s work to study at a time so the child can become familiar with the style and at least four of his/her pieces of artwork. My twelve-year-old son recently studied the work of Mary Cassatt, and he can now easily recognize her paintings.

We began our study of Mary Cassatt by reading more about her life in a biography. Then I had him focus only on her painting, Children On the Beach (1884). I let him study the picture for several minutes, then I turned it over and asked him to describe what he remembered about the painting, even the little details. Afterwards, we turned the picture back over to see how well he’d seen it all in his ‘mind’s eye.’ We talked about the medium used, the colors, the subjects, etc. We did this for several days, and each time he remembered more and more about the painting. On another occasion, I had him try to re-create the painting himself from memory. Although not a natural artist, he did quite well! We went on to study three more of her paintings before moving on to a new artist.

On another note, I had a large framed poster of Children On the Beach hanging in my children’s bathroom. When my little ones (ages 2 and 4) took a bath, we would look at the painting and talk about it. It’s amazing how much they learned about Mary Cassatt’s work in just a few minutes each night! They remembered almost as much as their older brother, and it was just that simple.

Some people choose to make artists timelines, create portfolios of artists studied, or collect books of paintings by each artist that are purely for enjoyment. But no matter what path you choose, the whole family (and especially children) will benefit from picture study.

There are many picture study resources:

Websites:

www.abcgallery.com

www.amblesideonline.org/ArtSch.shtml

www.doverdirect.com (This site has ‘classical art’ coloring books and postcard sized reproductions of various artists/paintings).

www.livingbookscurriculum.com/assets-lbc/pj-archives/pj-April5.pdf

www.nga.gov/kids/kids.htm (National Gallery of Art)

Books:

Discovering Great Artists: Hands-On Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters by MaryAnn F. Kohl and Kim Solga

Great American Artists for Kids: Hands-On Art Experiences in the Styles of Great American Masters by MaryAnn F. Kohl and Kim Solga

Let’s Meet Famous Artists by Harriet Kinghorn, Jacqueline Badman, and Lisa Lewis-Spicer Smart About Art series by True Kelley

Anholt’s Artists Books for Children series by Laurence Anholt

Getting To Know the World’s Greatest Artists series by Mike Venezia

13 Artists Children Should Know by Angela Wenzel

NARRATION: THE ART OF RE-TELLING

Picture this cozy scene. You are sitting on the sofa with your little boy tucked closely beside you enjoying a wonderful picture book or an exciting read-aloud. Your son listens with delight and begs for more. So, of course you continue, talking about the pictures or what’s happening as you go along.

Later, when Daddy comes home, your little boy runs up to him and excitedly begins to retell (in his own words) the whole story in great detail. You know without a doubt that he has absorbed and comprehended what you read earlier in the day. Moreover, a month later, he retells the same story to Grandma, again remembering small details that you yourself have forgotten. Your child has naturally utilized one of the greatest learning tools there is, and one that will certainly help him in his educational endeavors as he grows older. It’s called narration.

WHAT IS NARRATION:

Narration is simply the art of “telling back”, and it’s a technique often used by classical educators and those who employ the teaching methods of Charlotte Mason (a 19^th century British educator). However, on a broader scale, it’s much more than that, and it can be used by anyone of any age to facilitate concentration, vocabulary, comprehension, memorization, language skills, and even writing skills.

WHY USE NARRATION:

One of the easiest ways to explain the importance of narration is to borrow from Miss Mason herself. In some of her writings, she used the illustration of a sick patient in the hospital. The person was suffering from intense pain and the doctor had written the remedy on a piece of paper. He told her this would alleviate the pain, however, he would only let her look at the card for a few minutes. Then the card would be destroyed permanently, and the doctor wouldn’t write it again. Can you imagine the intense concentration the patient would put forth to remember what was written?

Although a small child naturally “tells back” what he hears, it’s a skill that should be encouraged and developed when he is very young. Because just think of the benefits when the child is older and needs to remember certain information. If he knows that he will be asked to ‘retell’ after a reading, he will definitely pay more attention to the material at hand so that his narration will be accurate. What he can tell—he knows! He has to think, sift through the information, and choose the important parts to narrate. He has to assimilate the material, make it his, and put it into his own words. With this concentrated effort, he WILL remember!

Charlotte Mason said, “What a child digs for becomes his own possession.” In addition, oral narration is only one step before written narration, which is basically composition! So technically, oral narration is a forerunner to processing one’s thoughts and putting words on paper in a way that makes sense. It’s a skill that’s invaluable.

NARRATION AND YOUNG CHILDREN:

The art of narration begins very early, even before a child can read. As mentioned above, children love to “tell back” the stories they hear. And have you ever noticed a little one who will pick up a beloved picture book, turn the pages slowly, and perhaps ‘read’ it aloud to a younger sibling or even a favorite stuffed animal or doll? This is beginning narration, and the continuing pattern is a natural progression—if the child is encouraged and the skill is fostered. Too often, this desire to “tell” is schooled out of the child as he grows older. But language expression is so important, and the ability to organize and demonstrate the knowledge he gains from books is priceless.

IDEAS FOR USING NARRATION:

We have established the fact that narration is a valuable learning tool, so let’s look at some practical ways to use it with young children. And because we want our little ones to retain their natural curiosity and desire to “tell back”, we don’t want to overwhelm them with heavy ‘educational’ language. Instead, a gentle approach is best; plus this early discovery stage is so much fun and a joy to witness. Many parents probably already do many of these things without realizing they are creating a solid foundation for future learning.

• Use high quality ‘living’ books. Even young children can appreciate well-written literature, and they will understand far more than we give them credit for.
• Do some pre-reading activities. Let the child look at pictures and guess what will happen in the story.
• When reading the story, use different voices, inflection, sound effects, and even suspenseful pauses before turning pages. If your child asks questions, answer them. It’s easy to become a bit frustrated when we want to read and they want to talk about what’s happening.
• Turnabout is fair play. Ask your child questions about the story or what he thinks will happen next.
• After you are finished reading, ask the child to retell the story in his own words…you’ll be surprised at the detail.

OTHER IDEAS:

• Record your child’s narration on cassette or CD.
• Let them draw a picture to ‘tell’ about the story.
• Let them dramatize or act out the story, use a flannel board, or how about a puppet show?

The possibilities are endless, and no matter how you choose to foster your child’s narrative ability, encouraging them to talk about or retell what they’ve heard or read is extremely important. Narration is a skill that will pay great dividends farther along the educational road.

Below is a list of all the articles I’ve had published on the National Writing for Children website. Some are for the Parenting/Teaching Tips column and some are about writing:

Picture Book Pleasures: Delicious Picks for Fall

Celebrating Through The Year: Seasonal Tableaus and Displays

Making Family History Come Alive

Newspapers in Education: Not Just for News

Helping With Your Child’s Homework May Boost Your Writing Career

Autumn Fun: Learning With Leaves

Family Night: Make It A Tradition

Family Mealtimes Are Important

Teaching Personification With Picture Books