Every child is born with an innate love for singing, painting, and dancing—yet societal pressures often suppress this creative spark at an early age. The class will rekindle that joy while empowering students to nurture the next generation. Through a blend of theory, hands-on art making, and community engagement, students will explore how the arts can foster resilience, learning, and holistic development in children.
Who Should Enroll?: Local and global future educators, parents, artists, and advocates seeking to deepen their understanding of child development through art and nature-centered activities.
Key Question: How can reclaiming creativity rooted in nature, culture, art, and community help our children and us to thrive in a fractured world?
Learning Goals: Students will study diverse approaches to understanding child development, including arts-based education, Eastern traditions, progressive methods (Waldorf, Montessori), and Western and Indigenous practices.
Course Content: Students will engage in transformative practices, including weekly art and journaling, studio work, nature observation, and volunteering with youth through personal and community partnerships.
Structure: Hybrid remote format: 4 hrs/week of live seminars (Zoom) + 16 hrs of independent research, art projects, and reflection (Canvas) & Grassroots/international collaborative projects with peers (e.g., pen-pal art exchanges with schools abroad).
Required materials:
Textbook: You Are Your Child's First Teacher, by Rahima Baldwin Dancy
Basic art supplies (an Art Kit is available for purchase from the Greener Bookstore)
Anticipated Credit Equivalencies:
4 - Child Development and Education
4 - Arts in Early Childhood.