Earn 7 hours of professional development in visual arts education. Gain proper art literacy training to set up your classroom. Watch all 6 videos this summer. No more guessing on what art lessons you should be teaching!
There’s a lot of art advice out there that is not tailored to teach YOU proper art literacy for children. I’ve spent years designing curriculum and training courses to assist Montessori guides in effectively teaching art lessons to children. I have designed thissummer art video bonus to help you get on the right track!
When you purchase this 6-video set, you will also receive an invitation to a special Q&A session with me. This session aims to address all your questions and demonstrate the correct art materials to incorporate into your classroom. The live session is scheduled for mid-August (date TBA), allowing you ample time to watch and absorb the videos beforehand.
In this pre-recorded 20-minute training, Spramani explains the essential areas young children should learn in visual arts and discusses why it is important to teach these skills in the 21st century.
The Art Lessons You Should Teach First!
In this pre-recorded 1-hour training, Spramani delves into what Montessori art guides should prioritize teaching first. She outlines the key areas to focus on, provides examples of art lessons, and offers insights on what to present and demonstrate to children who are new to learning art. Gain access to a wealth of professional art teaching advice in this comprehensive session.
How to Theme Art & The Natural World
Embark on a journey of discovery with Spramani in this enlightening 3-part video series spanning 2 hours. Discover how to engage your child outdoors, fostering scientific and artistic observation skills. Uncover the power of using art in conjunction with Montessori subjects to ignite a curiosity for the natural world and enhance knowledge. Learn how art lessons can intricately represent diverse aspects of Montessori topics found in nature, including seasons, soil layers, energy, rocks and minerals, fossils, landforms, water, flora, fauna, and the atmosphere.
How to Stage A Montessori Art Shelf In this 1-hour pre-recorded video, Spramani shares her: – Proprietary staging system for Montessori classrooms – How to stage to meet the arts standards – What types of materials to stage – How to support group and independent work, and much more!
Positive Artful Ways To Talk To Your Students
She shares examples of how these conversations should sound, drawing upon her 30 years of experience in positively and supportively engaging with students to encourage creative expression as an art facilitator.
Watercolor Joy
In this 1-hour video, Spramani shows you which watercolor paints to use for teaching children. She provides you with all the tips on what to buy, how to set up, and how to prepare for watercolor process-based activities. Great if you are curious.
Get instant access to all 6 videos. Enjoy a 3-year viewing window, giving you ample time to delve into the pre-recorded live sessions led by the esteemed art teacher, Spramani Elaun.
Whether you choose to watch on your phone, tablet, or desktop, these videos are available for your convenience anytime, anywhere. Get the necessary training to start art programming in your classroom.
No part of this blog may be used or be reproduced in any manner whatsoever including reproducing, publishing, performing, and making any adaptions of the work – including translation into another foreignlanguage without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Nature of Art® Publishing P.O. Box 443 Solana Beach, California 92075.
I’ve worked with so many Montessori teachers who have never been taught art curriculum and have no idea how kids learn art. I’ve been in that boat before; it took me many years of working with children of all ages to really understand exactly how they learn art and what are skills they’re capable of at each age. I’m saving you from years of research and observation by creating and sharing the Ultimate Montessori Art Teaching Method Guide.
I designed this guide specifically for Montessori teachers. It covers the two Montessori planes, and each section in this guide is linked to a more detailed posts for each age.
This guide is the cumulation of more than three decades of experience working in the visual arts! I’m an artist turned mom, turned homeschool mom, turned art teacher and art manufacturer, and now I’m a Montessori art teacher trainer. My art teaching method has been taught to tens of thousands of children internationally, and now, I’m bringing the best of my knowledge and experience into the classroom of Montessori teachers.
My Art Teaching Method
I spent ten years observing children of all ages creating artworks so that I could understand recognizable cognitive patterns that revealed how children develop their skill sets. I’ve put this research on sensory art methods into studio-based practice and have seen success in many different environments.
This method is unlike any other way of teaching art. It’s designed to give children art skills that are aligned with their cognitive milestones—cognitive processing, visual perception, and fine-motor development. The goal is to wire implicit memory through all phases of development from early childhood through adolescence.
My art teaching method is extremely complementary to the Montessori way; it’s a natural progression for Montessori teachers and schools to enrich their programs and the enjoyment of the children they work with. This method connects visual art skill sets with creative thinking through sensorial experiences. Once you have an understanding of this Montessori art teaching method, you’ll be able to adapt your Montessori art curriculum to children’s three-part cognitive system (cognitive processing, visual perception, and fine-motor development), and help your students develop the necessary artistic high-order thinking needed to become artful.
How to Use This Guide
I invite you to read through this post to gain a high-level view of how this teaching method adapts to each Montessori plane. Then, click on each specific age range to find out how to effectively teach children based on their cognitive capabilities. As always, if you have questions, leave a comment, send me an email, or jump onto my exclusive Facebook page and let me know!
Early Childhood (Toddler)
Many people mistakenly think that toddlers cannot yet learn art, but that’s not the case. In early childhood, toddlers see art making as exploratory and a discovery-based experience. Young students in the Montessori art first plane do not yet understand the placement of visual arts, and are in a very curious state about mediums. At this age, children should explore art mediums without any expected outcome.
The best way to teach early childhood students is through process-based art. This means the focus on is on the experience and the process, not on the child’s final piece of artwork.
Teaching art to early childhood toddler students helps tremendously in improving their fine motor skills, which are essential to everyday tasks. To learn more about art teaching methods for this age group, read this blog.
Early Childhood (3-6 Years)
Students in early childhood should continue to learn primarily through process-based art. Children who are 3-6 years of age are quick learners and curious about art, so give them room to explore and experiment.
You want to allow students to make art in creative mode, using their own own imaginations, thoughts, and ideas for inspiration. At this age you can begin to introduce copy-mode, but limit your instruction to movement rather than copying an image.
For more information on exactly how to balance creative mode and copy mode for early childhood students, check out this post.
Lower Elementary
Children at the lower L age are able to come up with their own imaginative creations, plan with intention, and think their ideas through to completion, going through the four steps of the artistic process.
At this age, lower elementary students approach art making with lots of curiosity and enthusiasm for trying different techniques and mediums. You can start introducing line, shape, form, texture, color, and symmetrical balance ideas.
Art can be taught to students through process-based art, a continuation of creative mode, and very simplistic copy mode.
If you want a more detailed explanation of how to art teaching methods for lower L students, readthis post.
Upper Elementary
Students in upper L can go through the artistic process, conjure up their own ideas, and see them through to completion. They’re able to do reflective work, bringing meaning to their creations and making connections to artworks in their community.
You can teach students Montessori art lessons through a combination of process-based art, creative mode, and copy mode.
By the time students are in upper elementary, they’re extremely competent when it comes to their fine-motor skills. Allow them to experiment with different mediums, techniques, and perspectives.
For more information on upper elementary art teaching methods, read this post.
Montessori Art Teaching Methods Resources
If you would like to understand more about which types of art projects children can work on, register for my free video course, Phases of Arts Development, which discusses teaching methods for Montessori students.
The Phases of Art Development is a quick digital course that explains how art making can help students develop their creativity, fine-motor skills, and focus. More importantly, I share what types of projects students at every age are capable of completing safely, and without making a mess.
No part of this blog may be used or be reproduced in any manner whatsoever including reproducing, publishing, performing, and making any adaptions of the work – including translation into another foreignlanguage without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Nature of Art® Publishing P.O. Box 443 Solana Beach, California 92075.
25 of the Most Basic Art Supplies Every Montessori Classroom Needs
By Spramani Elaun
I’m going to start off with a disclosure, by no means do you only need 25 items to fill your Montessori art shelf. However, because I break down visual arts into five domains—drawing, painting, crafting, clay modeling, and color theory—you just need to make sure you’re giving your students art supplies that fall into each category. There are so many more options and wonderful things to work with, I’d encourage you to explore and purchase anything that inspires you.
This is just going to be a sort of cheat sheet for what you need in your classroom. If you really want a detailed list of everything to include in your art shelf, make sure you register for my online course, Art Teaching Blueprint. I have specific lessons for each domain where I list out all the exact materials I use to teach each domain, where to find those supplies, and how to use them. It’s a ton of valuable information that makes teaching art and setting up your shelf so much easier.
For now though, I want to give you a brief understanding of the different learning areas of visual arts and help you figure out the basic item(s) you need to be able to teach each domain. Grab your shopping list, let’s get into it!
Drawing
The drawing domain includes doodling, drawing, sketching, and tracing. Many of these materials (like pencils and erasers) can be found elsewhere in the classroom, so I recommend making the items on your art shelf unique. Either buy completely different styles so they stand out or color code them so they stay specifically within your art shelf.
There are several types of paints that kids can use, and each one has a different purpose and experience. Whichever you choose, just make sure it’s non-toxic and safe for kids.
Color theory is all about learning how colors behave. It can take years to develop a strong understanding of color theory, so it’s important to start teaching the subject when students are young. With color theory, I recommend you begin with primary colors (red, yellow, blue), then teach kids to mix those colors to create secondary colors, and so on. When you’re teaching color theory, the materials are the same as you’d use for the painting domain.
Clay can be a great way to relate art projects to other lessons you’re teaching. For instance, students can use stamps or natural objects (like leaves) to create imprints; they can also use the clay to create figures and animals to go along with what they’re learning.
There are so many possibilities when it comes to crafting and constructing. I tend to divide this domain into four categories: sewing, paper crafts, nature crafting, and wood/building.
Basic:
Sewing:
String (yarn, threads)
Fabric
Sewing needle
Scissors
Paper crafts
Colored paper
Scissors
Glue
Nature crafting
Glue
Hot glue gun
Natural found objects (rocks, sticks, leaves, etc.)
I know this is a lot to digest and a lot more than just 25 items, but these are the tools that will help your students explore, experiment, and really experience art.
If you want more information, specifically on how each one of these supplies work and some ideas on how to use them, make sure you register for my course! I break it all down for you so this list makes sense in the framework of your classroom. And if you have any questions—about these supplies or my course—please feel free to contact me directly by emailing me at Info@Spramani. om.
The Phases of Art Development is a quick digital course that explains how art making can help students develop their creativity, fine-motor skills, and focus. More importantly, I share what types of projects students at every age are capable of completing safely, and without making a mess.
No part of this blog may be used or be reproduced in any manner whatsoever including reproducing, publishing, performing, and making any adaptions of the work – including translation into another foreignlanguage without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Nature of Art® Publishing P.O. Box 443 Solana Beach, California 92075.
I’m excited to share my 10 back to school art tips for the Montessori classroom in this blog! Getting ideas for back to school art lessons might seem challenging if you have no art background. You might wonder which art tip should come first and where to draw inspiration from.
Let me show you how you don’t have to go far to find ideas for your back to school planning and scheduling. Art lesson ideas can come directly from the concepts you’re already teaching in the classroom, from the great lessons to other Montessori books you already own. By simply opening your favorite storybook, you and your students can discover wonderful ideas to create.
Be sure to watch the video ( 10 Back To School Art Tips – For The Montessori Classroom) to understand how you can follow up with art activities after reading your favorite Montessori books.
If you want to learn more about art literacy, be sure to check out my books. You can further gain knowledge on the basic elements to focus on in each art lesson. Visit my book page for my Early Childhood Montessori Art Guide or Elementary Art Guide, which is filled with plenty of art lesson tips and ideas.
10 tips video highlights
Art Shelf: Plan to stage an art shelf in your classroom this year.
New Medium: Try out a new medium you didn’t have a chance to explore last year (e.g., oil pastels).
Great Lessons: Leverage key lessons as sources of inspiration.
Use Story Books: Go through the books you read annually to extract art-making inspiration.
Supply List Request: Send out an art supply wish list to parents!
Art Planning: Plan ahead with all your other subjects before school starts.
Art Helper & Artist Guest: Ask parents if they can volunteer to share a fun cultural art-making idea.
Where to Find New Projects: Ask other Montessori teachers for ideas, or check out online resources.
Art Album: Plan this year to make an art album where you can quickly add pictures of projects and your observation notes.
Inspiration Gallery: Create a space where your students can reflect on their projects and their classmates’ projects.
Implementing the 10 major tips
Make your back to school art experience fun this year! First, set up a special art shelf in your classroom. Try using new art tools and mediums like oil pastels and watercolor. Get some cool ideas from your favorite stories and lessons you are already teaching. Ask parents for art supplies by sending them a wish list, or create an Amazon list. It’s smart to plan your art projects along with the Great Lessons before the year starts. Invite parents to share their interesting cultural art projects too! You can also find new art ideas by talking to your colleagues or looking online on Pinterest. Make an art album to save pictures of your projects, and finally, create a space where you and your students can show off their work. These tips will make art time super fun and creative for you with less stress.
No part of this blog may be used or be reproduced in any manner whatsoever including reproducing, publishing, performing, and making any adaptions of the work – including translation into another foreignlanguage without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Nature of Art® Publishing P.O. Box 443 Solana Beach, California 92075.
