August 14, 2017 | UHCL Staff
What child doesn’t love dogs, castles, and flowers? Add a legend about an internationally famous, yet strangely elusive Scottish lake monster and that’s four of the eight lessons covered in University of Houston-Clear Lake’s next Art School for Children. The session, which runs Sept. 16 – Nov. 14, is entitled ‘The Art of Scotland,’ and immerses elementary-aged children in Scottish art, culture, and lore.
“We offer Art School for Children courses three times a year and the classes are taught by different teachers, including UH-Clear Lake art education students and local art instructors,” said Beth Sheppard, senior secretary for the Art School. “The curriculum for ‘The Art of Scotland’ includes an infusion of clay, drawing, and painting, and the teachers combine animals, history, literature, nature and even clothing into the lesson plan.” One of the course’s highlights is the second lesson, which tells the famous Scottish legend of the Loch Ness Monster. “The kids hear the story and then they get to make their own monster out of clay,” Sheppard said.
Teachers work with the young artists focus on their hand-eye coordination and direct observation to help them become more intentional with their drawing, and the use of touch screen interactive display technology engages students, allowing them to touch the screen and make lessons more interactive. “The display system becomes an element of the storytelling of the lesson,” Sheppard said. “The lessons give kids a lot to think about—listening to the spoken details of the lesson, then examples, more thinking, and then they create their own.”
The Art School for Children offers three eight-week courses a year, offered both at UHCL and in 15 Clear Creek I.S.D. elementary schools as well as Lutheran South Academy and Armand Bayou Montessori School. For more information or to register for classes, visit https://www.uhcl.edu/childrens-art-school/.
