1 Integrating Art into the Early

Childhood Curriculum

Two third-grade children were discussing what they knew about

fish. Charlotte showed Mitchell a labeled diagram of a fish,
which she had copied from the chalkboard in Mrs. Beam’s
classroom. She proudly read the words under each labeled part
of the fish. Mitchell listened carefully and then showed Charlotte
the fish he had drawn in his classroom.

Charlotte: Your picture isn’t clear and you don’t know the
names of the parts of the fish. It looks very “swimmy.” And
you didn’t label its parts.
Mitchell: It looks swimmy because I used watercolor to show it
swimming in the water, and I can too name the parts! (He
proudly pointed out the parts of the fish in his painting and
named them.)
Charlotte: (surprised) How did you know that?
Mitchell: Mr. Glenn asked our class to look at our real goldfish
in the aquarium and talk about their parts. Then we could
use any art materials to make a fish. Mine was funny look-
ing, and it kept swimming around. So I looked on the
Internet and in the books in our resource center. That’s
how I learned the names of the parts!
Charlotte: We didn’t do that in my classroom. We just copied the
chart on the board. I think your fish is pretty with all its
colors.

The children in this classroom scenario had very different

learning experiences. Mitchell’s teacher valued the integrated
curriculum. Mitchell’s teacher asked his students to examine
the goldfish in the aquarium over a period of time, and to
take notes and make sketches of them. He suggested that his
students use the Internet, their science books, and books
about fish from the library to learn about the fish, and he
encouraged them to talk with each other about the parts of
the goldfish. Charlotte’s teacher taught a more traditional
curriculum.

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2 The Colors of Learning

The integrated curriculum can be thought of as a way to unite all subject

matter and content from separate disciplines into a whole. According to
NAEYC, an integrated approach to teaching and learning exists when cur-
riculum goals address learning in all developmental areas: physical, social,
emotional, language, aesthetic, and intellectual (Bredekamp & Copple,
1997, p. 130).
Consistent with a focus on the integrated curriculum, Gardner’s
theory of multiple intelligences (1983) offers an expanded vision of the
possibilities of learning, beyond the traditional emphasis in schools on the
linguistic and logico-mathematical domains. The arts are being recognized
for their potential to provide significant learning. Eisner (1990), among
many contemporary art educators, has pointed out that a more compre-
hensive view of knowledge includes the arts, in which we “recognize that
the avenues to human understanding exceed, widely exceed, what it is that
can be said through science alone” (p. 34). Through the arts, children can
be given opportunities to express their evolving concepts and constructed
understandings about their world and their experiences.
The professional associations of both early childhood and visual arts
educators, NAEYC and NAEA, underscore the importance of the arts in the
early childhood curriculum. In NAEYC’s Developmentally Appropriate Practice
in Early Childhood Programs (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997), a section entitled
“Examples of Appropriate and Inappropriate Practices for 3- through 5-Year-
Olds” states:

Children have daily opportunities for aesthetic expression and ap-

preciation through art and music. Children experiment and enjoy
various forms of dramatic play, music and dance. A variety of art
media, such as markers, crayons, paints and clay, are available for
creative expression and representation of ideas and feelings. (p. 132)

At the 6- through 8-year-old level, it is recommended that

art, music, drama, dance, and other arts are the explicit focus of
children’s study at times. On other occasions, when relevant, the fine
arts are integrated into other areas of the curriculum, such as social
studies or mathematics. Children are encouraged to express them-
selves physically and aesthetically, represent ideas and feelings, and
acquire fundamental concepts and skills in the fine arts. (p. 174)

The National Visual Arts Standards (NAEA, 1995) state:

As they move from kindergarten through the early grades, students

develop skills of observation, and they learn to examine the objects and
events of their lives. At the same time, they grow in ability to describe,
interpret, evaluate, and respond to work in the visual arts. (p. 15)

Beyond learning about art through art instruction, in an integrated

approach in early childhood classrooms students are given an opportunity
to learn through art in the context of their learning in other areas of the