Challenging with Creativity – VP of Curriculum Dee McDonald

Many times, a child’s creativity is defined by simplistic activities, such as painting or playing with clay.

However, the creative process is much more involved, with astounding research showing the impact creativity and the arts has on the minds of young children.  At FasTracKids, the importance of creativity in early learning is one of the foundational principles of our programs and is included in our promised “Advantages” for children.

It is never too early to get students engaged in the arts and creativity.  There are many opportunities within the FasTracKids classroom for little minds to participate in the creative process.  For instance, our FasTrack Music programs give young learners the opportunity to express their creativity through rhythm, rhyme and music during every session.

The FasTrack Fundamentals and FasTrack Tots classes teach the provocative side of creativity. In these classes, our students are challenged to expand the definition of creativity to include activities that engage higher level thought processes.

In the first lesson of our Creativity subject, students are exposed to the lessons of art history, art theory and artistic analysis.  We provide the platform for the students to creatively immerse themselves in the analysis and understanding of many classical pieces of art.  We believe that because of the cognitive development that is occurring at this critical stage, it is essential that we provide our students with the platform for analysis and critical thinking. Many students do not have this type of opportunity until they are much older.

The second lesson on Creativity introduces students to architecture and design.  They collaborate on constructing the best type of dwellings for landscapes all over the world.  This foundation in creativity empowers all our students (and especially our spatial designers) to experience and express themselves in unique, yet very applicable ways.

Our final lesson lays the foundation for all our students to excel as leaders.  Students creatively problem solve in a variety of scenarios and activities while collaborating with other team members.  These activities give our students that firm foundation of critical and creative thinking that will establish them as future leaders.

As our classrooms embrace the creativity of all students, we give each student opportunities to be challenged and the ability to apply their creativity to change and shape their world.  Through this learning process, FasTracKids fosters creativity by using more than just paints and clay.

---