1st Grade Pottery

I have found that the ways young children learn are complex and variable in the primary grades. Strands of their experiences are linked in ways that are sometimes coherent and sometimes not. As they try to make sense of their experiences, their most important influences seem to depend on direct, first-hand contact with their surroundings. Children bring to the class their own understanding of their experiences, less perfectly formed perhaps, but with a special vision which is unique to their age. This different vision and imaginative reaction to their world gives the art and craft work of young children a special quality. Their vision and imaginative response to their world is usually very different from ours as adults. Therefore, it is important that it be recognized as one that is equally valid.

In 1st Grade Pottery the basic methods of modeling, coiling, carving, pinching, forming with slabs, glazing, and firing are taught with little attention given to a conscious approach. Children develop positive attitudes towards the medium as they explore clay. They also learn safety in the classroom, proportion, texture, and how to work in-groups while developing visual and motor skills. Often projects correlate with other class experiences.