Now I’m not sure how others would define art, or what other people think art is really all about. But to me, art is all about freedom of expression. What one person describes as a masterpiece may be considered horrible by others… but it’s still a work of art. Coloring, drawing, painting, dancing, singing… all different kinds of art… all beautiful in its own way, regardless of style or genre.

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So what does all this have to do with teaching preschool? In preschool, art is usually one of the subjects or activities that the children look forward to. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times in a week my students would ask if we could paint! Art is free, and the more freedom the child gets; the better! However, I recently realized that not everyone, and not all schools/preschools agree with me on this.

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After my day job of being a pre-nursery teacher, I also do some tutoring. I have been tutoring a certain child since she was in Kinder 1… and now she’s in 1st grade! This child, whom I shall name Erika (not  her real name), studies in a traditional Chinese school. Trust me, the school is extremely traditional! To the point that even their writing is done in such that each letter should be round and precise. So anyways, I also studied in this school and though I felt it limited me to grow more on other areas, I also believed it helped me academically (in some ways at least). But when it comes to art, I just couldn’t agree with how they grade the kids!

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Erika loves coloring. She has loved it ever since. But as soon as she started school 4 years ago, this love for art also slowly     changed. Whenever I came over for our tutor sessions, Erika would often draw random pictures. It even became hard to study because all she wanted to do was draw and color! At times, she would even ask me to stay a little bit longer because she wanted to draw something and show it to me. On her second year in school, she started asking me if her drawing was nice. And would often ask for help instead of just drawing on her own. On her third year in school, she would whine and cry because she couldn’t draw something or because her coloring kept going beyond the line. And now in her 4th year of schooling, she would just lazily draw what her teacher asks her to do. Occasionally, she would still try her best to make her drawing look pretty, but other times, she’d just get bored and not exert anymore effort.

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So what’s the reason for this? Her LOW grades in art. Since her first year in school, she’s been getting 80-85 in her report card for art. That’s equivalent to a B- I think.  On her artwork itself, the teacher would sometimes give her a 77-79, that’s equivalent to a C, more or less. What’s the teacher’s basis for grading a preschooler such a low grade in art?

Well, apparently, Erika can’t color within the line. She also doesn’t use good color combination and her drawings are not realistic, such that her sun is blue or her grass is red. Since when is art dictated?  What gives anyone to say an art work is not good because of his/her personal standards?

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By dictating how a child should create his or her art work, we are already depriving the child of his/her creativity.

By depriving this creativity, you may have already deprived the world of a future Van Gough or Leonardo Da Vincci.

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Art is freedom of expression. Let the kids be kids and let them express themselves in the best way they can.  Let us not limit them nor deprive them of this freedom. Let us not dictate what GOOD ART should look like. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Art, especially when coming from the heart is always beautiful in its own way.

TIP: You can actually observe a child’s art work to see how the child is doing or if something might be bothering the child. A lot of children are able to express joys and fears