subscribeLast week my 4 year old came home from pre-school with the news that she gets in trouble with her teacher if she doesn’t color inside the lines! I’ve been chewing on this for 7 days, trying to rationalize why this isn’t a big deal – probably a motor skill milestone the teachers are trying to hit or some such – but it really pisses me off! The thing that burns me the most is that my daughter is now much more concerned about staying in the lines than enjoying the sensation of drawing, or the thrill of color, or just being a scribbling kid. Sometimes she declines to draw, saying she’s not good at it because she doesn’t stay in the lines. She’s FOUR for goodness sake!
We’re done a disservice when taught early in life that we “can’t draw.” Totally bogus! It’s our creative birthright to express ourselves graphically – whether in letters or art – and children should be allowed to find their own expression. It’s part of human communication. A famous architect (Le Corbusier? Mies van der Rohe? If you know, please tell me!) once warned students to “beware the beautiful drawing” meaning that communicating ideas through the sketch was more valuable than the beauty of the drawing. I wholeheartedly agree and wish society supported graphical literacy – NOT beauty, necessarily, but comfort, confidence and fluidity– in expression through drawing.
WHO SAYS WE NEED TO DRAW INSIDE THE LINES?
Jeri of Salisbury, MD, dreams of taking her 6 kids to Disney World. Let's help her fulfill this wish.
2 Comments
Hi Laura,
I understand your frustration and appreciate your support for all of us who color outside the lines.
From my work with kids and my years in the classroom I would encourage you to talk to the teacher, not only to find out her motivation but also to find out EXACTLY what she/her said. Kids, especially young ones, can misinterpret or can attribute their own insecurities to something they THINK the teacher might say. (Like, OK I’m 4 and Ashley’s 4 too and Ashley colors inside the lines so I should be able to also. So I won’t color anymore because obviously I’m not good at it. The teacher probably wants me to color inside the lines, etc.)
And then again, the teacher may be foolish and shallow.
Yes, yes! You are right about talking to the teacher to get the other side of the story. We have a meeting set up in January.
In the meantime we don’t do pre-printed coloring sheets in our household.
And I want to announce that my daughter WENT TO TOWN in a fit of scribbling today that was most defintely not “inside the lines.”
It seemed like she was suddenly tired of being so careful about her drawing and, wham, full arm range scribbling. Heavy and flowing (not angry or anything, just active!) It was wonderful and beautiful. (yes, a mother would say that
Go Girl!