The Language of Art: Inquiry-Based Studio Practices in Early Childhood Settings

Great book. Very interesting

This book will change how you view the role of art in your classroom! It shows you how to move children from initial explorations of various art media to using art as a tool for communication and critical thinking. I am an early childhood educator and this book is one of my all-time favorite resources.The first five chapters provide detailed instructions for setting up a wide variety of open-ended art experiences for children. The final three chapters show you how to use art as a tool to promote critical thinking (i.e., higher-order thinking). And these final chapters are my favorite. They describe Reggio-inspired principles that help you grow a culture of inquiry in your classroom!I appreciate that each principle is coupled with classroom examples to both instruct and inspire. The examples show how children use art to communicate (make their thinking visible), build relationships, and deepen or extend their learning about science and other topics. Considerable attention is given to the integration of science and the arts. Because art (like science) invites children to look closely, ask questions, and reflect about one's thinking.Something I found especially helpful was the "teacher talk" interspersed throughout the book (italicized and in bold). This helped me learn how to speak to my students during the art/science process, giving me the words I needed to instruct about technique or giving me the questions I could ask to promote critical thinking.I loved that the classroom examples also showed an emergent curriculum in action, with long-term investigations that honor the child's learning cycle. My wish is that every child could experience art and inquiry-based science in this way. If you are an early childhood educator, I hope you get a chance to read this book!

I am not an art teacher, just a mom, but this book is so inspiring for our art adventures and explorations with my 2,5 daughter that I feel like we are building our own art atelier right in our home.Well written, great ideas, you totally get the reggio emilia art approach

I haven't read through the entire book yet, but I'm already impressed and wanted to review before I forget. I'm an art therapist working with (about) 6-12 year olds in a mental health setting, venturing into some additional work with younger children in a Reggio-inspired school setting. When I came upon this book, I was looking for guidance in introducing art as a learning tool, while staying true to the foundations of art therapy as a discipline and holding onto my own principles of using art to connect to others. This book is such a perfect balance and filled with what I needed. I am so happy to have found it, regardless of this shift in my work adventures. The tenets of Pelo's writing are some of my own personal mantras in working with art&children, and clearly we are coming from the same place of whole-, open-, and pure-hearted love for this work. Thank you so much for your guidance and wisdom!

I can't say enough about this book! The art experiences are so fun and educational, without using difficult to find or expensive materials. My Kinders and I are having a great time working our way through this book!