Expressive Arts

The Arts provide a window into young children’s cognition and emotion. We embrace the “hundred languages” of childhood, inspired by the Reggio Emilia schools in Italy, and work to help each child find his or her voice through a wide variety of expressive arts, including sensory play, music and movement, storytelling, visual arts (2 & 3D explorations) and dramatic play. At LNS, art is a process, not a product. Children use materials to express ideas, to solve problems, and to develop relationships. We believe that all children are natural artists and we support their creative vision in the classroom and in our school-wide studio and music and movement classes.

Music & Movement

The music and movement program at LNS is taught by Mark Weltner (also a teacher in the Blue Class). Mark’s first priority is to enthusiastically model a love for music and movement. The curriculum is framed around the children’s interests and talents, evolving over the course of the year. Activities include fingerplays, yoga, free-form dance, and acting out the lyrics, from a hopping hare to blasting-off rockets. Instruments may be brought out to play rhythms or to imitate the sound of moose hooves on rocks (reflecting current classroom curriculum). Children participate at their own pace and in their own style, as we believe that there are as many ways of learning as there are children in the world. Mark loves his job!

Studio

Lauri Bounty works with small groups of children in the studio and in the classroom. When asked to describe the studio, a new and exciting program at LNS, Lauri said to "imagine a group of 14 students witnessing the hatching of a monarch butterfly. As the wings begin to pulse, voices shriek with excitement, eyes grow with wonder. The classroom teacher documents the moment through photography and the written word. Later that day, the classroom and studio teachers meet to reflect on the experience. They review pictures and dissect language; what were the children truly interested in? What were their theories?"

"The next day a smaller group of 4 or 5 enter the studio. The studio teacher has displayed photos for the children to revisit. The work table presents books and large images of a monarch. A replica and actual monarch wings are among the items to explore. The children look more closely and become more intimate with the insect. From there, they may do an observational drawing of a wing – they are asked to draw only what they see. They look and then they draw. Drawings may become paintings or perhaps wire sculpture. The possibilities are endless and are lead by the child. Each exploration requires a child to go deeper; through the visual arts and peer collaboration, a greater understanding, connection and ownership occurs. The studio is thus 'an incubator of learning,' an exploration of self, and relationship to the world."