http://community.greatschools.net/q-and-a/289416/Why-do-schools-now-want-all-children-to-lose-their-creative-expressions Yesterday was conference day. There is a new section on the report card called Visual and Performing Arts Achievement and I was told that because my 2nd grader was still drawing stick figures that she is Below Basic. I argued that that is just how she draws and they told me that they have to learn depth that people are not sticks.I think this is absurd! I want my child to continue to draw and express herself as she has always done. Why do we want all children to be the same? I am not going to stand by and let the school system tell my child how to draw, that is ridiculous! Picasso didn't exactly "follow the rules" either you know. Every child expresses themselves in different ways and I think it is horrible that we are trying to create a future generation of nonthinkers, we are making all kids have the same mindset, and that is going to destroy the arts forever. Is anyone else concerned about this at all? GreatSchools en-us Child_Of_Ra Art is much like beauty as that it's in the eye of the beholder.I am an artist and have been in classes of different levels, and seen schools graded differently, ... http://community.greatschools.net/q-and-a/289416/Why-do-schools-now-want-all-children-to-lose-their-creative-expressions?cpage=1#comment_325071 5100.325071 Sun, 11 Jan 2009 19:08:25 -0800 queensmom its also a fact that left handed people are smarter!!! and most of our U.S.PRESIDENTS where left handed. as well as most of the billionaires in the world!!! that is ... http://community.greatschools.net/q-and-a/289416/Why-do-schools-now-want-all-children-to-lose-their-creative-expressions?cpage=1#comment_324377 5100.324377 Sun, 11 Jan 2009 04:24:56 -0800 Johnston My daughters are creative in different ways. My older daughter can draw like her dad..pretty much anything she tries, but when she tries to sing, she can't carry much of ... http://community.greatschools.net/q-and-a/289416/Why-do-schools-now-want-all-children-to-lose-their-creative-expressions?cpage=1#comment_315057 5100.315057 Thu, 01 Jan 2009 07:58:17 -0800 Anonymous I am a college art instructor and artist and I must respond to your comment about Picasso. He was a trained artist who at 16 could paint an academic portrait ... http://community.greatschools.net/q-and-a/289416/Why-do-schools-now-want-all-children-to-lose-their-creative-expressions?cpage=1#comment_306256 5100.306256 Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:02:51 -0800 nljabb I don't think this developmental evaluation had anything to do with suppressing your child's expression. I don't think you should ignore this evaluation either. Rather, as a caring/concerned parent reasses ... http://community.greatschools.net/q-and-a/289416/Why-do-schools-now-want-all-children-to-lose-their-creative-expressions?cpage=1#comment_293084 5100.293084 Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:35:12 -0800 fattyman I still can't draw much more than a stick figure. I wouldn't worry about it much if your daughter is doing fine in other areas. The teachers may have concerns ... http://community.greatschools.net/q-and-a/289416/Why-do-schools-now-want-all-children-to-lose-their-creative-expressions?cpage=2#comment_292451 5100.292451 Sun, 23 Nov 2008 12:44:28 -0800 SanFranBecca Having three very different boys, I know that each report card sometimes feels like a "report" on my parenting abilities, so I have a lot of sympathy with this. In ... http://community.greatschools.net/q-and-a/289416/Why-do-schools-now-want-all-children-to-lose-their-creative-expressions?cpage=2#comment_290272 5100.290272 Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:20:44 -0800 MSMomm I agree with the other posters and ignore the evaluation. Some kids are very detailed-oriented and will color in the lines, and add as many features to a human drawing ... http://community.greatschools.net/q-and-a/289416/Why-do-schools-now-want-all-children-to-lose-their-creative-expressions?cpage=2#comment_289493 5100.289493 Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:11:55 -0800 eccentric I would ignore the evaluation. Sure schools try to achieve certain benchmarks but evaluating a child on his muscial or artistic abilities is absurd. The moment we tell a child ... http://community.greatschools.net/q-and-a/289416/Why-do-schools-now-want-all-children-to-lose-their-creative-expressions?cpage=2#comment_289475 5100.289475 Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:32:46 -0800 drjohnson I would just ignore this evaluation. The stick figure idea probably came from psychological/developmental milestones. There is one aspect of evaluation that counts how much detail is in a child's ... http://community.greatschools.net/q-and-a/289416/Why-do-schools-now-want-all-children-to-lose-their-creative-expressions?cpage=2#comment_289465 5100.289465 Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:12:51 -0800 tjlove I agree that it can be hard to evaluate a child on their artistic expression/capabilities. However, there are developmental milestones that teachers are expected to evaluate on. Here's an excerpt ... http://community.greatschools.net/q-and-a/289416/Why-do-schools-now-want-all-children-to-lose-their-creative-expressions?cpage=3#comment_289433 5100.289433 Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:16:20 -0800