ArtExpress: A Curriculum for Young Children with Disabilities

This curriculum guide offers principles, guidelines, and suggested activities for teaching art to young children with a wide variety of disabilities. An introductory chapter notes the benefits of the arts, adaptations for various disabilities, the curriculum's rationale, and integration of the arts across learning domains. Chapter 2 examines how children learn through play and art, and applies a cycle of learning to the visual arts, music and movement, and dramatic play. Chapter 3 considers the adult role in art education. Chapter 4 gives specific suggestions for structuring the art environment, including time, space, materials, and activities. Chapters 5 through 7 offer sample activities for the areas of visual arts, music and movement, and dramatic play. Chapter 8 addresses ways to integrate the arts into early childhood experiences, while chapter 9 explains how to adapt materials. Chapter 10 is on the value of family participation and chapter 11 offers suggestions for assessment. Chapter 12 lists resources, both expressive art resources and technology resources. Appended are a glossary and instructions for making a "music mat." (Contains 59 references and an index.) (DB)