Home is a child’s first school and parents are the first teachers. To help parents establish appropriate educational concepts, choose suitable educational methods, and objectively and comprehensively evaluate their child’s performance, Beijing Kaiwen Academy (KWA) officially launched the series “KWA Educational Salon” activities this month.
On May 16, the first salon with the theme “How to effectively communicate with your child” was held on a mid-lake island at KWA. At the salon, parents and KWA Art Group teachers discussed children’s art learning in depth.
“Art creation is a form that KWA students choose to express their emotions, thoughts, and perceptions of the world. Parents’ evaluation of their child’s art work will directly affect his/her self-evaluation. That is why we emphasize parent-child communication. In the interactive process, children all expect a positive response from their parents. Only by mastering the proper communication methods and skills can parents better protect their child’s enthusiasm for learning arts,” said art teacher Leif Raiha.
To help parents communicate more effectively with their child, teacher Leif Raiha made some very useful suggestions on how parents should describe and analyze their child’s art work. First of all, parents’ first reaction to their child’s art work is very important. Parents’ careful observation of a work is more effective than direct evaluation as it makes their child feel that his/her parents take the work seriously. Second, parents should guide their child to explain details of his/her art work. For example, tell him/her that you are curious and want to know more about his/her art work. Finally, parents should avoid direct compliments or criticisms of an art work because it is far more meaningful to understand the creative process and discuss with the creative experience with their child.
KWA primary school art teachers Szilvia Nemeth and Jupiter Han also exchanged ideas with parents, with students present volunteering to act as interpreters. While interpreting for the art teachers as they tried to tell the parents about KWA’s fine arts curriculum arrangements, these volunteers took time out to promote their own art work and proudly elaborate on their understanding of art.
Academic Principal Wang Shi came to the scene to welcome the visiting parents. He said, “We never separate art from other subjects. We see it as an aesthetic foundation for other subjects. We strongly encourage parents to participate in KWA’s teaching and demonstration activities to promote the growth of the students.”