The Artful Child

Eddie started going to a morning class with the Artful Child. He's gone three times and absolutely loves it. His teachers Maria and Ellie tell me that Eddie tries everything, focuses intently on each project, then moves quietly on to his next activity. It is a self-driven play time with snack, story, and song at the end. The teachers are exceptionally patient and loving and use their roles to simply guide exploration and encourage messiness. The pictures of the classroom show the endless opportunities. It seems fated that Eddie only has a little bit of time here before he goes to kindergarten, but I think these two weeks will have a lasting impact on him.

The tall tower of boxes behind the easel is the kids' house/hotel/city. It's probably ancient and they are free to paint it whenever they want.

Since this was Eddie's first activity where he'd be dropped off, it was planned for me to hang around the first day to calm any anxiety. There was none. This picture was taken about 20 minutes after he walked in. He'd already done a puzzle, splashed in the water table, surveyed the room, and came back to paint. Here Ellie's demonstrating using a roller which he used over a stencil. I took some pictures and left. He hasn't shown any anxiety at class and is only a little out of sorts at night.

He calls this the ocean table.

Trains.

Dresser of blocks, large painting and puzzle table, small play dough table in the back corner.