Arts: our Approach

Our themes come as a complement to the education programme. During each term we learn about a different artist, and this gives consistency to our circles times, to the books read in class, and to arts and crafts activities. The children will also recognise our themes during school work. Here is an example of how we include arts into our pedagical program.

First term from September 2nd to October 22nd: Piet Mondrian

The first weeks of September are simply dedicated to welcoming the children to school. The children discover their new classroom and get to know one another.

Little by little they adopt the routines of the school and the rules that apply to work together in harmony. The teachers present the first activities and explain how to use them.

Eclosia School - Tableau n°1 by Piet Mondrian

Then we will study Piet Mondrian’s Tableau n°1. With this painting we will work on our vertical and horizontal lines during our fine motor skills sessions. We will trace them in different ways according to the age of the children: with pencils, chalks, painting, in sand, with play dough…

We will also be using primary colours, as well as learning our first 2D-shapes: squares and rectangles.

Composition n°1 by Piet Mondrian

Second Term from November 8th to December 17th: Paul Klee

During our second Term we will discover the painter Paul Klee, who loved music so much. We will start with creating a portrait inspired by the painting Senecio (the Old Man) using 2D-shapes only.

We will be using warm colours and mix primary colours to create different shades of orange.

Looking at Senecio, the children will use the circle in different areas. First of course as a 2D-shape which looks like a round face.

We will then describe the old man with our own words, which will lead us to the family circle. This will allow the children to talk about the people who they feel closest to. Using larger and larger circles around the family, we will start looking further and further away. The family is in a house, which is in a street, itself in a town, where the school can also be found, in a country… which can be located on our globe, on our round planet!

During our fine motor skills sessions, drawing circles will allow us to trace round letters in cursive writing, from simple to complex: c, a, d, o, q, g. The exercices are adapted to the age of the children. For instance the younger ones will start with tracing the circles and some letters with their fingers, while our older ones can already put letters together to write words.