CREATIVITY IN ACTION...

Art… Art is the language of the silence.  

The human being has been immerse in a jungle of stimuli, sounds and images in the last decades, which appears will get worse with the constant changes in technology and progress our contemporary society will face in the next centuries.   We are expose to the continue intention from media, and general living standards to suck our minds from quiet places to the running and  overwhelmed world of lights, messages, and directives in order to buy, follow instructions, and act as others tell you to, in order to “be part of” the Universal order. This constant movement and the journey in surviving and accomplishing the major level of satisfaction of basic, emotional, professional, educational and spiritual needs might cause the most several and complex psychosomatic affections and other psychological effects such as depression, anxiety, desperation and hopelessness.  

From the psychological perspective, the human being is running is spiral looking for progress, and forgetting the essence of its constitution… space!  The way you represent yourself in space is what constitute your essence and justify your existence.   By working with adults and children in the psychological field, more in specific by using multicultural perspectives in mental health, I re-discovered the need of man of taking a break with some spaces of reconciliation between the body and the soul… expressed in the re-connection of the “rational thinking” with moments of “free representation of its essence in the space” by use of artistic expression such as painting.

For my cultural antecedents, I have been compiling some images from the universal collective unconscious regarding the use of the space and the own presence of the artist in the representation of his world through the creation.  

Some clear examples of “transformation of the space” is the introverted vision of the creations through the eyes of the artist.  When the artist takes the paintbrush and press his/her hand on the paper, rock or canvas, then is the start of the journey in the projection of the unconscious fly.  From my own experience, several images from different places start running on the space when the eyes of the artist initiate the magic tingling as if you are in a dream.  The places of the journey may vary. Some will be much like the geography seen on earth with mountain, trees, rivers, valleys, rocks, birds… Some places are airy like the sky, or might project being and feeling very energetic, or peaceful, or even being through the deep of the earth like in a volcano.  A journey destination can be anything much because the rules doesn't exist in creative process and gravity does not exist neither. 

The purpose of the journey is not other than the healing of self. Purposes can include healing oneself or another by projecting images of collective relationships. In my specific experience by working with children, they might be projecting in their paintings some images of care from caregivers, sounds from the singing of the mother projected in a color or a little sign on the paper, their “want to be” in the family dynamic, the perspective of their bedrooms, the fear to the dark, the details of little furniture that just the eyes of a little one might catch.  Every detail count for the healing of the mind and soul.  The images might reflect as well enjoyment, connection with positive people in their lives, with guardian spirits and superheroes;  positive learning, religious growth and many other things because painting is like a journey and journeying is a diverse tool.

Some artist may journey into smaller dimensions such as between the molecules of water or into the cells of the body, between rocks in the ocean, on the top of a cloud.  Some artist may explore big and diverse or specific and little cosmology by going to one or two specific places. Another artist may visit many different places, or travel very large distances, like in a dream or maybe from projection of previous lives.   

Artistic expression is one of the more effective techniques to reconnect with the essence and to learn new ways to make the soul rest, contemplate and let itself be involved in those places in which the recovery and healing will nurture those old pattern of suffering.  The lecture of the therapist it would orient the creative (the artist, the client, the patient) for new horizons for a new and more positive perception of the reality, by asking questions, by processing feelings from the images, by re-creating the landscapes for more colorful and positive scenarios…  transforming the rain in a rainbow or giving value to the more positive images placed in their memories are being part of the process of healing and spiritual growing. 

The next time you will observe a flower, imagine what immense and diverse world is inside it and go in there in your next journey while use artistic experiences. The life is too short to live it without “feeling it” by approaching each little experience and stimuli.  A healthy mind involved thinking in your existence and what can you do to prevent the circular effect of dizziness while living a life expected by others but not being the one dreamed by you. You are the main character of this story, act like it.  

Amarilys Reyes

Ama is a Marriage and Family Therapist Intern working for a contracted agency of the DMH in Van Nuys. California. 

  Ama works in a Mental health program for children, using art and multicultural experiences with majorly with families from Latino and African American background. 

Santa Clarita experiences. Art from inspiration of change.

Art from inspiration to the changes

Ama Reyes

Ama is a Venezuelan artist, born in a rural community 45 minutes from the Capital, Caracas; known as Naiguata. Ama has American Indian and Spanish inherency and has being as well in regular and close connection with African cultures, whose developed small communities around the coast of Venezuela, were Ama was born.  Since early age she has experience direct contact with habits, customs and music from African- Indian cultures.
Since early age she has studied popular-traditional music and dance from different parts of her country. During early adulthood, Ama introduced herself to classical music by learning vocal techniques and singing at the University Institute of Music in Sartenejas- Caracas, with the professor Manuela Velo and Jazz and pop with Biella Da Costa.  

She was member  of the most important choir of Venezuela: The Scholla Cantorum de Venezuela for 7 years, institution that is linked to "the Sistema", the more organized Orchestra System working with underserved and needed population in the last 40 years. Ama worked as well for "the sistema" during 12 years as a Social Worker of the University Institute of Music, where their teachers and directors were formed. 

Since early age Ama drew and painted images of nature combined with other elements as a mixture of her innocent style and creativity for changes of the image of the world through her paintings.  Since 2007 Ama started to introduce more complex elements in her paintings, such as pins, different papers, branch of trees, rocks, sand, lipsticks, etc. The more common colors used by Ama are in the more brilliant and energetic palette such as reds, orange, yellow and dark greens. 

Colors:  Red, yellow and orange as inspiration

 Dancers

Green sky

Rituals:  Experiences with my grandmother. Content related to life and death, spirituality based in American-Indian stories of the flying of the soul after death. 

Blue stage

In her Blue Stage, Ama is inspired by the loneliness of living far from her Country of origin, remembering old landscapes presented with a tone of sadness and hope at the same time.  With her recent creations, Ama shows to the viewers how the adaptation from changes influenced on the psyquis in order to regulate the emotions for a more suitable assimilation to the new cultures and values as the compromise for human being to continue in their path of life.   

Ama Reyes is a Social Worker from the Central University of Venezuela, with a Master in Human Resource Management from the Santa Maria University (Caracas, Venezuela)
During the 6 years living in the USA, Ama accomplished her goal as an Early Childhood Educator and currently is working as a Marriage and Family Therapist Intern in Van Nuys, CA after completing her Master in Psychology in 2013.  

Curriculum for Toddlers

  When working with infants and toddlers, Early Childhood educators explore the intellectual growth which occur in those three first years of life.  Infants and toddlers absorb information in the most vary possibilities through their sensorimotor stage of development.  Listening, babbling, tasting, chewing and eventually producing words, they explore and discover the world that is presented in diary activities and routines.  The follow are some examples of how to explore toddlers' creativity in the classroom.

              Birds House.  Exploring through textures and senses (smell, taste, touch, visual stimuli)
                             Nature concept about animal specimen, procreation and conservation.
  

Dr. Seuss week.  Green eggs and Ham preparation.

Exploring artistic activities for 3-4 years old children, using four of the world’s greatest artist techniques.

Linking self expression through Art with conventional curriculum is more recently increased in Early Childhood education, attending to the necessity to respond to the more popular question in education:  Could the abstract thinking implemented in art, music and other artistic expressions promote cognitive process in early education? One study developed for Posner, Ph.D, Rothbart, Ph,D and Sheese, Ph.D from Oregon University pinpointed that “children with high interest in the arts, and with training in those arts, develop high motivation; the motivation sustains attention; and high sustained motivation, while engaging in conflict-related tasks, improves cognition.” In our contemporary time, several studies have sustained the conception that the imagination and creativity may influence children’s attention, spatial relationship with the surrounding and their accomplishment in several tasks.  “The right hemisphere of the brain controls imagination, visual and spatial perception. It's dominant in art, music, and physical movement.”(Reyner, Anna. 2011).   However, our current education system places great emphasis on academic development, underestimating how art enhances creativity, imagination and self-esteem through the concepts developed in its execution. 

The present project surged with the necessity to introduce new ideas in the current Art program, which take place since 2008 at Child & Family Center, Santa Clarita, CA.  The objective was founded by developing artistic activities which will explore styles and techniques of four of the world’s greatest artist.  The artist selection for the program was aleatory, considering as reference the most important movement such as Impressionism, Post-Impressionism and Baroque.  The random of students who participate in the program was the total population, which includes 70 early preschoolers between the ages of 2 years-8 months to 5 years old, in separated groups.  More of them provided from low income family homes with a non-primary English speaker origin.  Some changes in relationship with their ages were taking in consideration to adapt the activities to their age-appropriate standard.  

            The program formulated since the beginning the implantation of techniques and styles provided from four famous artists, which were:  Rembrandt (Baroque movement), Monet (Impressionism), Matisse (Post-Impressionism), Vincent Van Gogh (Post-Impressionism) and recently incorporated Degas (Impressionism).  Through the techniques, the activities were orientated to promote thinking skills and motivation during imitating artist paintings.  The children imitated the style but they used their own palette of colors as reference to express emotions and feelings, experience that will help them cognitively with the apprehension of the concepts about space, colors, dimension and emotion expressions.  The activities were formulated from simple to complex abilities, providing to children sensory learning experiences and materials with multiple uses and possibilities to create. “The arts can be a critical link for students in developing the crucial thinking skills and motivations they need to achieve at higher levels" (Deasy, & Stevenson, 2002).  On the other hand, the activities promoted language development when asking for cause and effect relationship between color and materials transformation, making the children label their emotions and express themselves in their own color-language by identifying angriness, sadness, etc with an specific color or pattern, promoting self-esteem and valuation of their individual creation.

 

The project has a goal accomplishment of 100%, however, overcomes the expectations because include another artist (Degas) which was introduced at the end attending to time disposition.  The lesson plans used in each activity are added with the intention to clarify the process and make specific the objectives and domains which are attending in each activity.  The grade of specificity achieved in every description, make the result highlight in elements to be used with children of different ages or grades of complexity.  Every lesson plan describes objective; proposal ages; explanation of the cognitive, Social/Emotional, Motor skills, Language and Creative domains; materials needed and process.  The project could be a useful resource for the application of art concepts and creative techniques with little children.

In conclusion, the present project will continue as an attempt to promote authentic self-expression in Early childhood education, taking as objective the improving of language skills, promotion of interest for social events and historic changes, creation of a brain stimulation which increase the focus and the better understanding of visual, spatial and perceptual tasks, essential in the creative process for a posterior children’ understanding to the reality.  The US Department of Labor recently published a report cited in a of Anna Reiner’s study that supports these views, by concluding, "Arts education helps students develop skills needed for most jobs in later life, including creative thinking, problem solving, exercise of individual responsibility, sociability and self esteem."

References

Reyner, Anna.  Art Influences Learning.  Earlychildhood news. Excelligence Learning corporation.  2008.  Web. May 7, 2011.

Deasy, R., & Stevenson, L., The arts: Critical links to student success. The Arts Education Partnership, Council of Chief State School Officers, Washington, DC. (May, 2002) 

                 

Crockett, Kevin.  How Art Influences Childhood Development.   Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/808311.  Web. May, 9^th, 2011.

 

Posner, Rothbart, Kieras and Sheese.  How Arts Training Influences Cognition.  University of Oregon. The Dana Foundation.  2011.  Web. May, 9^th, 2011.

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine'es Day is a celebration which is received for children with happiness and comfort because they can share their emotions with other peers and express their vision of relationship with family members and friends.

El dia de San Valentin es un dia que es recibido por los ni;os con alegria y comodidad porque ellos pueden compartir sus emociones con otros compa;eros y expresar su vision de las relaciones con otros miembros de la familia y amigos.
 
The follow images resume the Valentine's Day art in a preschool environment.

Las imagenes que siguen resumen como es visto el Dia de San Valentin en un preescolar.

The first one is a Valentine's Day tree in which branch you can find the students in their most beautiful smiles.
Teacher Ama Reyes-Isabel Diaz
California

La  primera imagen es un arbol de San Valentin en cuyas ramas pueden encontrar a los ni;os con sus mas hermosas sonrisas.

Maestras:  Ama Reyes e Isabel Diaz de California, USA.

The second one is a Valentine's Day tree with empathy expressions and  some pictures of the students with their "best buddy".  Is an amazing resource to explore friendship and possible conflict between the children.
El segundo es un arbol de San Valentin con expresiones de empatia y algunas fotografias de los estudiantes con su mejor "compa;ero" o amiguito.  Es un maravilloso recurso para explorar relaciones de amistad y de conflictos entre los ni;os..

Maestras Jennifer Rodriguez y Daisy Gomez.  Multicultural curriculum.  California, USA. 





I hope you will apply the ideas in your classroom.

Espero puedan aplicar estas ideas en sus clases.

Thank you

Gracias.

Valentine's Day 4 years old. Valencia, CA.

Mrs. Reyes and Mrs. Diaz classroom.

Phrases of empathy

My best buddy!

Setting the classroom for learning process

At the moment to prepare a classroom, the most important thing to consider is adapt the classroom environment to the children vision, improving their perception through visual, auditive, an tactile stimuli.  

One of the most important aspect is "The boarder".  In there, you would exhibit the children creation, motivating them to appreciate their own creation and "looking of what they did".
The following images present some boarders example, which I will be posting with the time in correspondence with the month of the year, seasons or objectives.


 Theme: Children around the world.
Children of 4 years old from California, characterized with paper dolls children from different part of the world, writing a card to them using "dictation" and the writing of their names.
Creation:  Preschoolers: 4 years old -Mrs. Ama Reyes class, California.   

The second theme:  Farm Animals.
Creation of animals from the farm using different materials to recreate textures, colors and sizes of the animals in a cretive vision of the nature.
Children of 3 years old.  Mrs. Phylis McClothin class- California.


Christmas: Pictures of children recreate the boarder.  Without forget the Christmas tree.
Mrs. Daisy Gomez and Mrs. Jennifer Rodriguez class.  4 years old.  California.

Hannukah:  Menorah and Hanukkah's cards maiden with children finger print.
Mrs. Ama Reyes-Phylis McClothing class.  3 years old.  California.

 Dr Seuss hat.  The hat were maiden with construction paper.  On the top, the children constructed some rhymes using the word termination "at" and "ar".
Mrs. Ama Reyes-Isabel 4 years old.  California.

Classroom book creation orientated to Emergent curriculum

Emergent Curriculum

Children between the ages of one and five do
not learn because they are taught. They learn
as a result of their own doing…through
actions, relationships, inquiries, opportunities,
and repetition. This knowledge is the
foundation of SFLC’s emergent curriculum.

(www.silvertonfamilies.org)

In my particular experience teaching children 3-5 years old, the children' necessity to understand the process of nature, transformation and growing around then have been expressed through natural or spontaneous events of communication and interaction between children and teachers or even between them.  Hence, the creation of new format to explain and aboard those concepts have been the results of exhaustive investigation and brain storm process. 

The present book was developed in attention to the explained necessity, with the intention to attend the children inquiry of explanation about some natural changes in the sky (night-day) and the presence of the moon and the sun in their dairy routine.  (Wake up-go to school-eat during the day and go to sleep during the night= why?)  Other concepts are implied in relationship with the curriculum and the lesson plan previously developed by the teachers.

Beautiful, lonely moon.

Author and illustrator:  Amarilys Reyes

Age group: 5-8 years old.  

Specific literature focus:  Social and emotional Growth: Cooperation, Teamwork, Everybody is important.

Summary of the book:

The moon recreates the sky with its beautiful presence. However, she is alone and she is sad because of it.  One boy is sensible to the moon’s feelings and in conjunction with other animals, tries to help her.  They decide to bring a new friend to the moon, the sun, which will accompany her.  The story complement the idea of natural event, when says that sometimes sun and moon can stay really close to each other provide to the sky a beautiful image of calm and brightness.   

The book recreates the sun and the moon in colorful landscapes, and funnies animal’s animation in natural contexts.  The book uses human feelings and forms to symbolize that children would help others if they pay attention to other’s feelings.  Complement of roles and cooperation are implied through the story. 

The story also include the figure of a regional animal: The Morrocoy, who live in some plains areas in South America. This animal will bring to children new concepts about other species and cultures. 


TEXT:

 

In the whispering night

the lonely moon starts to arise.

Shadows are around and the moon is unable to see

the wonderful world under her.

The moon feels she is solitary in the sky.

The boy and his animals look at the beautiful lonely moon

They are concern about her feelings and desire to help her.

- Do not worry beautiful, lonely moon, -says the boy

We will help you.

They thought and thought and thought, then, one idea appears:

Do you want a friend to play with, beautiful moon?

You would not be lonely anymore and the sky will be full.

How can we help you beautiful lonely moon?

If we will catch the sun, says the horse, he will stay close to you soon!

All agree with the wonderful idea.

At the next morning, the animals and the boy start to work together to catch the sun.

However, everybody was too heavy to be carried out or too weak to hold up the others.

 They decide together the best way to go up and tie the sun with a rope.  They climbed one over one since the biggest to the smallest.  The mission was difficult.

- Hurry up! Catch the rope!, Says the dog

- Oh my!  It is more slippery than soap!, says the boy

- What noises! what a mess!, says the piggy: 

- Do not push me! Do not stomp me! Do not press!

- That is not a ladder, that is my neck!

Working in a team, finally, they catch the sun with the rope.

-         Yuppie!  We have the sun beautiful moon, who your friend soon could be. Now how can we tie him?

-         I know how, -said morrocoy turtle who was behind the tree, hidden all the time-  Tie the sun to me, so I would walk slowly and the moon might soon reach him.

-         Good idea! Hooray! Everybody cheer.

Now the moon has a friend to play with and the sky is full every day.

In the morning the sun walk in the sky, in the night the moon offers her beauty.

Sometimes, they are together and the sky is bright and calm.

Everybody will remember how lonely you were beautiful moon, but now you will not be lonely anymore.

If you see a little Morrocoy walking in your garden or one of his cousin turtles doing the same in the park, you will understand why he walks so slowly.  It is because the sun is still tie to them until the end of the world.

Comments and Recommendations for parents and educators:

Beautiful, lonely Moon:  Offers to children amazing visual stimuli, with brilliant colors and animation.  The book provides reflex ion and emotional vision of the world, trying to introduce to children concepts of cooperation and verbal communication to solve problems.  

The story reflects the importance of everybody without differences: Every person have a role and every action is important in teamwork.   The book would be read to older preschoolers, however, concept more advanced, as the “eclipse” as a natural event in the sky, would be explained in successive ages (6-8 years old and beyond).

The book could be used in science curriculum such as event in the sky, animal variety and in social-emotional activities to promote cooperation without prevalence of roles.