Tot Art

Wendy Briggs has won 2 major awards for teaching Art & has taught & written curriculums over the past 21 years for a variety of educational establishments from nursery up to art college.

 

The lessons which Wnedy Briggs writes for Tot Art pre school classes involve activities & experiences for children in 5 out of the 7 areas specified in the Early Years Foundation Stage educational programme.

 

The Early Years Foundation Stage (age 0-5years old) specifies 7 areas of learning & development which are important & inter-connected.

 

The three prime areas which should ignite children’s curiosity & enthusiasm for learning are communication & language, physical development, and personal social & emotional development. These 3 areas must be supported, strengthened & applied through the 4 other areas: literacy, mathematics, understanding the world, and expressive arts & design.

 

Tot Art classes involve activities & experiences for children in 5 out of the 7 areas specified in the Early Years Foundation Stage educational programme, as set out below:

 

If you are a more visual person, please click here to read the below with pictures & how the 5 areas in the EYFS relate more directly to art.

 

Communication and language

children develop confidence & skills in expressing themselves both visually & verbally through chatting about their work & the work of others as part of a small group in a rich language environment.

 

Personal, social and emotional development

children learn about representing their feelings as a result of being taught how to communicate their ideas visually. Through being encouraged to & being applauded in responding individually to ideas children develop confidence in their own abilities.

 

Mathematics

shapes, spaces, measures & patterns (maths is all art at a young age!)

 

Understanding the world

Children explore, observe and find out about people, places, and the environment through considering how to visually represent what is around them & looking at art & design from past, present & different cultures.

 

Expressive arts and design

Children explore & learn how to manipulate a wide range of media and materials, as well as being encouraged to share their thoughts, ideas and feelings.

 

The latest Statutory framework, published by the Department for Education in March 2014 & to be implemented from September 2014, can be read through clicking here.

 

In addition to all the above, through learning how to manipulate a wide range of media & materials, children have the opportunity to improve their fine motor skills.

 

But whatever the children learn through coming to Tot Art classes, all children’s abilities & achievements are celebrated & the most important thing is that the children enjoy themselves - & grown ups need to enjoy themselves too!

 

If you are a more visual person, please click here to read the above with pictures & how the above areas relate more directly to art.