Redleaf Press
$30.00

WHAT OTHERS SAY
“If you are an early childhood teacher intrigued by the Reggio approach but without expertise, support or extra resources, this is the book for you. Pelo shares a wealth of examples of how teachers with no art background can invent ways to deepen children’s learning with different art media to represent their ideas.”

Margie Carter
Early childhood consultant, instructor, author.

The Language of Art
Inquiry-Based Studio Practices in Early Childhood Settings

by Ann Pelo

Many early childhood programs, inspired by the Reggio approach, find themselves ill-prepared to help children work with different art media to represent their ideas. A typical program doesn’t have an art studio, let alone an art teacher to work with them. This book represents an attempt by a full time child care program with these limitations to help their staff gain confidence and skills in supporting children to explore and master basic art materials. All the the ideas and strategies can be easily adapted for different settings .

To see Ann Pelo in action using studio work to grow emergent curriculum projects, see these videos: Children at the Center, Setting Sail, Thinking Big, and To See Takes Time. A companion CD, Take Time to See Through Children’s Eyes, shows in detail the long term investigation of why leaves change color described in The Language of Art.

BOOK CHAPTERS
Part One: Studio Explorations
- Chapter 1: General Guidelines for Studio Explorations
- Chapter 2: Exploring Textures and Movement
- Chapter 3: Exploring Color
- Chapter 4: Three-Dimensional Media
- Chapter 5: Representational Drawing and Painting

Part Two: Moving Art from the Studio to the Classroom
- Chapter 6: Growing a Culture of Inquiry through Art
- Chapter 7: Using Art Media to Grow Long-Term Investigations
- Chapter 8: To See Takes Time: A Long-term Investigation into Leaves