WASHZ｜KG Art and Literacy Week

Recently, the pupils of WASHZ Kindergarten had an incredibly fun and lively Art and Literacy Week. It was their first time learning about World Book Day, and they got to experience various workshops meticulously prepared by their teachers. Every day, they engaged in abstract dot art creations and had dreamlike interactions with the principals, teachers, and students from the Lower School and Upper school while reading stories, creating stories, and performing stories together. Throughout this Art and Literacy Week, the pupils were imaginative little painters and writers, brimming with creativity everyday!

01 A Wonderful Week?to Learning

Welcome to our art workshop!?

From Monday to Friday, pupils are immersed in a simple, fun, and free atmosphere of artistic creation. Interestingly, this week, their task was simply to draw 'dots,' yet it resulted in spectacular works like shining stars.

The pupils of the?Caterpillar Class?seemed to enter the 'Magic School of Colors' for the first time. They?explored mixing two colors to create a third color.?What color does blue become when combined with yellow? Which two colors are needed to create pink?

Soon, we witnessed colorful dots emerging on the drawing paper, resembling countless stars in the vast night sky, as if pulsating with a vibrant life.

The pupils of the?Owl Class?learned another advanced technique of color mixing. They?mastered the skill of creating gradients by adding black or white.?After the teacher's demonstration, the pupils transformed into 'magicians' and successfully created a gradient pattern. Using this pattern as a base, they selected tools for a second drawing, producing a flowing 'dot.'

The pupils of the Caterpillar Class continued their exploration of color mixing and were introduced to a great abstract artist, Vasily Kandinsky.?Inspired by his famous circular artworks and combining the color mixing skills they learned the previous day; they?created new concentric circle paintings.

The pupils of the Owl Class delved deeper into Kandinsky's several famous paintings. Everyone enthusiastically shared their own feelings.?In the pupils' senses, we witnessed another pure and innocent aspect of famous artworks.

After appreciating the art, it's time to start creating! The process began with the concept. The teacher told the pupils that they can create a Kandinsky-style artwork by continuously drawing dots and lines to form?‘busy dots’ and ‘pathways’?.

The pupils boldly created overlapping shapes and colors to produce ‘busy dots’. They also rediscovered the magical power of black lines. They realized that if use black lines as the ‘pathways’ in a painting, it can attract the viewer's attention to different parts of the artwork!

?Wassily Kandinsky?

Born in Moscow in 1866, created the concept of ‘abstract painting’, which not only propelled the development of art in the 20th and 21st centuries but also profoundly influenced the practices of many artists and their understanding of modernism. He proposed that painting uses dots, surfaces, lines, and colors to convey spirit and emotion, collectively evoking inner and spiritual vibrations within the viewer.

The pupils took a further step into the realm of abstract art.

The preschoolers?collaborate using marbles for a shared creation.?Look! The marbles bounced on the paper, producing unexpected and interesting patterns. Completing this task requires teamwork and physical coordination. The pupils started off finding it fresh and fun, but soon they began to contemplate how to make the marbles draw the desired effects in their minds, eventually creating a complete artwork... The teacher was delighted to witness the pupils' transition from curiosity to concentration.

The kindergarten pupils also?learned about a new abstract art master, Jackson Pollock. They learned how to lightly flick paintbrushes to create various dripping patterns.

Following a similar learning approach to Kandinsky, these little owls collaborated once again to create Pollock-style artworks.?Each piece of splendid ink splattering presented completely different creative ideas, allowing us to see the free and joyful souls within these tender paintings.

Jackson Pollock?

One of the representatives of abstract expressionism in the 20th century, created a unique style of drip painting. His characteristic approach involved allowing paint to drop and splatter through linear movements, merging painting, coloring, imagery, and non-imagery. Pollock is recognized as a leader of the most important American art movement of the 20th century. His adventurous and innovative methods inspired later artists to passionately break conventions.

The preschoolers explored collage techniques on this day. The?teacher didn't impose any standard answers, allowing the pupils to ‘deconstruct’ colors and shapes according to their own desires, resulting in unexpected ‘rebirth’ of artistic expressions.

The Owl class also learned another creative technique called?‘negative space’.?Continuing with dot-based creations, the older pupils learned to construct images using empty, white spaces. By decorating around the dots and leaving the center of the artwork blank, they created ‘negative space’ dots.

After a week of art learning, the art exhibition was in full swing! The entire kindergarten was filled with all the art pieces created by the pupils throughout the week, showcasing a variety of types and vibrant colors. Parents were invited to admire their pupils' masterpieces. In addition, the lovely works of modernism also attracted teachers and students from the primary and middle schools to appreciate together. What a lively atmosphere!

All the pupils participated in the Art and Literacy Week, immersing themselves in the learning of new theories and acquiring new skills for exploration and self-expression.

Throughout this week, the kindergarten produced many fascinating artworks, and we are delighted to see the pupils reveling in the freedom of creation and imagination. Through their final art pieces, we witnessed their inner worlds becoming deeper and more enriching.

Natasha Baker

The Executive Head of WASHZ Kindergarten

02 Special Story Time

During the Art and Literacy Week, the kindergarten had a?guest storyteller?visiting every day, bringing interesting stories for the pupils.?Mr. Tig Mooney, the Executive Principal of WASHZ, and Ms. Sun Ling, the Chinese Principal, leading to share their favorite books with the pupils. The principals and teachers from the Lower and Upper school enthusiastically joined the team of guest storytellers.

Every day, the pupils were eagerly anticipating who the ‘guest’ would be and what kind of story they would bring.

Mr. Tig Mooney passionately read the story ‘We're Going on a Bear Hunt’ to the pupils.?Many of the pupils were familiar with this catchy story and recited the repetitive parts along with Mr. Mooney.

Ms. Sun Ling introduced a collection of letters written by Fu Min, the son of the renowned translator Fu Lei, to the older pupils. Even though the pupils were in their tender years and may not fully grasp the complexities of life, they were curious about the stories between father and son in the letters. They eagerly asked many innocent questions, and Ms. Sun patiently answered each one of them.?

The guest storytellers each had their unique way of narrating each story. Some teachers used music to create rhythm for the stories, some incorporated role-playing, and others even incorporated basic math skills and prediction techniques.

On Friday afternoon, some Lower school students also came to the kindergarten to read with the younger pupils.?The older pupils paired up with the younger ones, taking on the role of ‘little mentors’ to help their younger peers read stories, look at picture books, and answer questions.?

We were delighted to see the scenes of harmonious interaction between the pupils of different ages at WASHZ, showcasing their innate goodness. These moments will become cherished memories of their wonderful growth in life.

03 What did the Pupils Gain?

To inspire a child's desire to draw, encouragement is needed. Encouragement does not involve unrealistic words or setting unattainable standards for the child, nor does it mean taking the pen and drawing on behalf of the child.

‘Just make a random stroke and see what you can create.’ With these words, a wise teacher opens the door to self-discovery for the child. Once the door is open, the desire for knowledge and the ability to solve problems will naturally follow.

Pamela Yu

Chinese Principal of Kindergarten

Engaging the senses through hands-on activities promotes overall development.

For kindergarten pupils, art activities and literacy learning involve essential exercises for hand control. Activities like paper cutting, drawing, building with blocks, and working with clay help develop pupils' fine motor skills, coordination, and dexterity. They exercise their hand muscles, leading to a steady grasp of pen and writing skills.

Similarly,?the stages of listening to stories, reading stories, and looking at storybooks allow pupils to reinforce their phonetic skills through daily language instruction, laying a foundation for reading and writing.

Art activities provide necessary sensory input for pupils.?In a state where their language vocabulary has not yet been systematically established, art creation, unrestricted by form, helps pupils express their emotions and feelings in multidimensional ways.

Broadening the scope of knowledge

In the entire learning process at WASHZ Kindergarten,?interdisciplinary learning and development are highly important. The kindergarten adopts the?IEYC education model, and the Art and Literacy Week activities are based on this theory, which has a more beneficial impact on pupils than solely classroom-based learning. Pupils can gain a wide range of practical skills and systematic knowledge that stimulates their creativity and imagination.

Nurturing self-confidence through freedom

Protecting and nurturing pupils' innate creativity and imagination is a constant focus for the teachers at WASHZ Kindergarten.?Teachers introduce pupils to new artists, painting styles, story creators, and writing styles, and then provide them with ample freedom. They have the freedom to closely follow the learned techniques or explore in their own unique ways, both of which are worthy of encouragement.

By not being afraid to try new things, daring to take risks, and not fearing mistakes, pupils develop qualities such as resilience, independence, and self-motivation. They acquire critical thinking and problem-solving skills through the process. Pupils experience the joy of expressing themselves wholeheartedly and gradually develop autonomy, building a deeper level of self-confidence.?

Pupils who grow up in such an educational environment can confidently move forward on their chosen paths in the future. Possessing these lifelong qualities is more valuable for long-term growth and learning success than simply memorizing for high scores.

Collaborative teamwork skills

During the collaborative art class led by Miss Izzy, an art teacher from the Lower School, the pupils were thrilled and bursting with imaginative ideas. But what do we do when there are too many ideas?

The teacher provided ample time and patience, allowing everyone to express their opinions and guiding the pupils to express and listen to each other during the collaborative process, until they found a suitable creative solution.

By teaching pupils from a young age to share ideas, help one another, negotiate, and guide others, they develop qualities and abilities that enable them to integrate smoothly into groups in the present and in higher grades in the future. This equips them to achieve learning objectives more effectively and unleash their potential beyond cognition.

Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is.

--Jackson Pollock