ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues

“The early childhood field typically considers literacy and creative arts to be two separate domains that warrant individualized attention,” writes Stephanie Haney in an article that forms the basis for a new Exchange Reflections focused on the opportunity to teach art through literacy and literacy through art. “However,” she explains, “we know through multi-sensory and cross-modal learning that this is not how children learn best. With whole-brain learning, all brain functions are interconnected, and thus, rely on one another for the complete well-being of the child’s cognitive processes.”

This Reflections encourages discussion on the benefits of helping children develop a love of reading through art, and a love of art through books. The author provides a helpful list of books to consider using with children to help them discover the wonderful world of art. For example, she recommends the book, I’m NOT Just a Scribble by Diane Alber, described this way: “Scribble, the book’s main character, never thought he was different until he met his first drawing. Then, after being left out because he didn’t look like everyone else, Scribble teaches the drawings how to accept each other for who they are. Which enables them to create amazing art.”

P.S. Just as we were finalizing this message we learned that the world of children’s literature lost two beloved authors, Eric Carle and Lois Ehlert, this week. Their iconic books have been loved by children, families and educators for generations and they will be greatly missed. Some of their books, such as Brown Bear, Brown Bear (Carle) and Planting a Rainbow (Ehlert) would fit so well with the ideas above. It would be a nice way to honor their beautiful work.?

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