Acknowledging that toddlers and 2-year-olds explore art as a learning experience or an experiment and are more interested in "doing" art than in making a finished product, this guide for caregivers compiles 75 art experiences, with over 100 variations, and tips for making the activities run smoothly. Following an introduction that includes…

The author summarizes the contributions which aesthetic or arts education can make, both to academic competence and personal creativity, for learning disabled students. Vignettes illustrate the potential of various art forms, including manual arts, music, dance, drama, and filmmaking. (SBH)

The importance of arts education for gifted students is discussed, and the terms creative, aesthetic, and artistic are defined. Four suggestions for encouraging artistic talent, including establishing a resource file of master artists and arts institutions, are presented. (CL)

Uses a case-study approach to examine the role of belief as a catalytic quality in the artistic making and the thinking processes used by children. Describes the processes encountered by children when presented with artistic tasks. Discusses the relationship between belief and the three other main dimensions of artistic thinking and making: social…

Asserts that the copying of artworks does not stunt a child's creative development; rather it can serve children, as it did many great artists, as a useful tool for the development of the technical and aesthetic skills necessary for creative expression. (SJL)

Feels education has neglected the visual and creative parts of the self accessible through art. Offers a rationale for having K-12 students draw for 30 minutes daily following structured visual exercises to strengthen skills in seeing, remembering, and connecting. Offers a critique of Mortimer Adler's Paideia Proposal. (DMM)

Five articles on art education for the gifted touch on topics which include identifying artistic talent, encouraging aesthetic development, using art as a means of visual communication, career decision making for the artistic student, and creative learning and teaching through sketchbooks. (SB)

Kellogg Elementary School in Hickory Corners, Michigan has developed a special program for gifted students which emphasizes a conceptual, or problem-solving, approach to art. This article outlines the program's objectives, activities, and its five teaching units. Part of a theme issue on art for special needs students. (SJL)

Theories and techniques for fostering creativity are described because all students, regardless of intelligence or talent, have artistic ability that should be developed. Four basic visual viewpoints have been identified: the expressive colorist, the hands-on formist, the neat observant designer, and the pattern-oriented draftsperson. These visual…

Children are born artists, and artistic talent emerges from the interplay of proclivity, cultural enrichment, and nurturance. Intended to demystify art for parents and teachers and to help them understand what the art experience is like for the child or adolescent, this book discusses visual art concepts in simple terms and presents art as a…

Reviews 23 recent texts, supplements, and professional references for gifted and creative instruction at various grade levels, K-l2. Several of the titles concern education in the arts and the humanities. Appended is an index to other reviews of gifted materials which have appeared in this magazine. (SJL)

This Pennsylvania state curriculum guide provides a rationale and plan for the inclusion and role of arts education in a K-12 curriculum. Part 1, "Actions of the Arts Process," describes concepts related to the terms art, artists, and the arts process and suggests that students need to experience perceiving, responding, understanding, creating,…

This article describes a six-week course for design students called "Needs Awareness and Design" which stresses the development of creative thinking skills. Brainstorming is recommended for identifying many ideas, and synectics is stressed for actual problem solving. (DB)

The arts should be considered part of the basic content of any school curriculum. The arts teach us about the central nature of what it means to be human. They are an essential part of the curriculum for all learners across all ranges of abilities and talents in all schools, but perhaps especially in rural schools, where access to museums, the…

Describes a specialized school for the arts for high school students. Discusses courses in ceramics, metal working, photography, advancement placement in studio art, and art history. Explains the relationship between this specialized school and the surrounding high schools that these students attend for other subjects. (KM)