kindergarden teacher

[duckcall]

Hi, need suggestions on how to handle a situation. I rececently was talking to my daughter about my grandson who had just brought an art paper home from school and was upset. It was Martin Luther KIngs birthday the children were given papers entitled I have a dream, they were to draw their own picture,he started to draw a sun and color it purple, to which his teacher responded he couldn't color his sun purple, the sun is yellow. I was very upset when hearing this not only because i have a background in working with small children and know this stiffles their creativity and imaginations, but i also have a daughter who is a creative artist who always uses lots of colors in her paintings, I could see if this would have been a worksheet where they were following directions color the sun yellow, circle the red ball ect. Please advise how to bring this to the teachers attention without creating a problem,she is a new teacher, she appears to not exactly have what it takes to work with small children. thanks

[vea29]

Hi! The only way I can think to handle this without causing to much problem is to go to the teacher and ask what the "assignment" was. And sort of have her explain to you the situation. It's really hard to handle it without coming straight out and asking why he was not allowed to color it purple. I would ask it in a very friendly manner so she does not get defensive. She might have just suggestedyellow to him and he took it to mean you can't do purple. she probably does not have the experience to understand how these situations should be handled. I remember making a few blunders myself when I started teaching preschool...but luckly I had co-teachers to guide me.
Good luck!

[MaryL]

Is there a conference (parent/teacher) coming up? You might bring the situation up then. As a Kindergarten teacher, I do (at times...not as a habit) direct children to color things an "appropriate" color. This is part of my job...I need to give them some direction at times. (For instance...if the kids are coloring pictures of a garden....or whatever, and they want to add grass...I might direct them to think of what color is the grass in their yard/garden? Can we make our "picture" grass look the same color? Etc. Sometimes I don't give a rip, if children color self-portraits with blue or purple hair. Othertimes I am really working to get them to observe what their characteristics really look like. It all depends. I don't tell them they are wrong...I just use some observation skills with them. If the teacher is doing well otherwise...I wouldn't worry about it.

[kat]

Well put MaryL. Without the teacher's instruction and exactly what her lesson objectives were for this particular lesson were I can't say this teacher was "wrong" or stiffling any creativity. The best course of action would be to ask the teacher what was it she was really asking the kids to do. And go from there. I can't tell you how many times I get criticized for "not letting the kids be creative" or insisting that they "color inside the lines". Sometimes the objective is: can the child follow directions, can the child observe characteristics, color recognition, sometimes the objective is that fine motor control of being able to stay within an outline. And other times it is purely a free expression opportunity.
On the surface from what you've said I get the impression it was a free expression activity, but I don't really know that and you won't either unless you ask the teacher.

[KarlaB]

Like Kat and Mary said, it's hard to "judge" the teacher without knowing what was going on in the classroom and why she said what she supposedly said. Is it your grandson coming home with this story (your daughter wasn't there witnessing it?)

What came to mind when I read this post was I said in a post earlier this week when my son's kind. teacher jokingly told us she'll believe half of what our kids say at school if we believe half of what they come home telling us. These kids are 5 and 6 yrs old and have their own interpretation of how events unfold. Important facts are sometimes lost along the way. :tinysmile My son has told us how when they are working on some things in class his teacher has told them to make it realistic....I don't think that is trying to smother their creativity. Maybe your gs's teacher is trying to steer the kids in that direction (of recognizing reality) - not thinking he was just trying to be like his creative artist mom and not trying to imply that they can't be creative??