Harold and the Purple Crayon

 

I have been in the field of early childhood education/kindergarten for over 30 years. I have seen things come, and I have seen things go. I used to teach in ways I don't teach anymore. And sometimes I have gone back to teaching the way I used to teach. If you are a good teacher, you are always questioning your practice, you are always trying to do what is best for your students. Some years you may need to be more direct in your teaching, and other years you may be able to loosen up. This is why we call teaching an Art- because it's a process.

I was sitting with a colleague today while the children were out at recess. She was so excited about a book she had, one that talks about using proper colours for our illustrations. I thought to myself, "I really don't care about that anymore. I used to, but I don't care anymore." It was a full circle moment for me. Because a long time ago, I wouldn't have cared what colour one of my students used to draw a tree. A few years later, because began to teach kindergarten, I fell into the trap of caring about "proper" illustrations. Now, I am back to not caring. I call this my Harold and the Purple Crayon moment.

Do you know this book? It's about a boy who is going to sleep, and he draws a picture of his dreams with a purple crayon. That's the only colour he uses. And, guess what? We know exactly what he's doing. Does it matter that the moon is purple? Nope. All that matters is that Harold knows it's a moon. That's what we need to be focusing on. Not what we want, but what they, the artist and author wants.

Like most things, I think the notion of "proper colours and drawings" is more of an experiential/developmental thing. If we, as educators, provide proper modeling, and leave it at that, I believe most children will ultimately figure it all out on their own. And if they don't? Does it really matter? I'm not so sure anymore. What I am sure of is, we tell children how to do things way too much and don't allow them to express themselves nearly enough. 

So, let them make a purple tree. Let them colour their whole face blue. Let's let them be who they are. There's an old poem, I'm not even sure who wrote it, but I remember it being at the beginning of a textbook I had in university. The course was The Role of Play and them poem said, 

    Many the times we teach

    Many the times we are taught

    But only once, a child.

We have taken away too much of our children's lives. Let's give some things back to them.