Exploring Literacy and the Arts

2 min

Jul 15, 2024

Literacy and art of all sorts are important parts of a well-rounded approach to early learning, and they are certainly beloved components of our Malvern School curriculum. Learning about our Authors and Artists of the Month in particular is always a big hit! As the names suggest, each month all of our schools have two age-appropriate Authors of the Month � one for Infants and Toddlers and one for our Preschool, Pre-K and Kindergarten Rnrichment students � and one Artist of the Month. These individuals are strategically selected by our Program team with collaboration from our teacher and Director teams to complement our monthly theme. They ensure students are exposed to many different types of books and art, including classics for children, diverse creators and works that support character-building, creativity and self-expression. In September, our older students� Author of the Month was Giselle Shardlow, creator of Kids Yoga Stories, and our Artist of the Month was the iconic Anne Geddes. Check out some of the fun ways our friends learned about them below!

The Malvern School of Glen Mills Our Pre-K 1 friends studied Anne Geddes� photography and tried to recreate what they saw using the art materials of their choice, focusing on different shapes and colors.

After reading �Maria Explores the Ocean� by Giselle Shardlow, our Pre-K 2 students painted parts of the story with salt water. They observed what the salt water looked like on the poster board and talked about its different texture.

Our Kindergarten class read Giselle Shardlow�s book, �Katie�s Karate Class,� had an engaging discussion about the story and practiced some of the yoga poses they saw in the book.

The Malvern School of Blue Bell In Blue Bell, our Toddlers composed their own photos with baby dolls from the classroom and used our STREAM cameras to take pictures, mimicking Anne Geddes� famous style.

The Malvern School of Frazer Our Preschoolers in Frazer used cut-outs of baby faces to either replicate one of Anne Geddes� photographs or create their own. First, they glued the faces down and then they sketched in their own details.