"New Beginnings" Creative Curriculum Guide

January is all about New Beginnings. We are ready to leave 2020 behind, but there are a few things we will take with us, like the slow days where we feel more connected to our family. In this coming year, don’t put a lot of pressure on yourself to make every moment magical and perfect. Just know that your presence and your focus are all your children really want and need. This month, we offer some guidance around making a plan as a family to prioritize creativity even in the busiest of times. Those messy minutes squishing in playdough, experimenting with recyclables, testing and problem solving, cleaning up and doing it all again are instilling creative confidence and lifelong curiosity and wonder.

Our curriculum is inclusive and honors each child’s individuality and way of thinking and working. Consider each guide like a beautiful magazine where creativity meets education. They are more than a collection of art ideas, they are the KEY to a cohesive, child-centered, manageable creative practice for your family at home, or to integrate with your homeschool or classroom curriculum.

Our Whole Child Guide is our original 26-page guide and includes:

• An introduction to the month's theme, or “Big Idea”

• 20 invitations (one for each weekday of the month), 10 art and 10 play, that can be cut into cards and kept in a box as a resource to build upon

• A master supply list that leans heavily on recycled and natural materials and easy-to-find, inexpensive art supplies

• 4 daily weekly rituals for mindfulness, connection, and physical and emotional development to help frame the weeks

• A rich, teacher-approved picture book list with an emphasis on diversity, inclusion, earth stewardship, and kindness

• 8 creative snack ideas that complement the theme

• 4 ways to extend the big idea through project-based learning skills such as research, reflection, documentation, and connecting with others

• A list of life skills learned through the month’s creative invitations

• Curricular connections within the guide’s creative offerings in math, literacy, science and social studies

• An artist spotlight featuring living and working artists

• 2 more in-depth projects for weekends or longer term classroom projects

• A master one-page calendar of the month ahead that you can print and post on the art room wall for easy reference