Drawing ability - Year 1

[cuppycakesong]

Hi there. My ds will soon be 6 and he's in Year 1. Academically he's very bright, he was a very early reader and loves numbers, but his drawings look like they've been made by a 3 year old. A lot of his homework involves some sort of art, drawing, junk modeling and so on, and it becomes a painful process getting him to do things properly. He does it quickly, poorly, without paying any attention and with no interest whatsoever.
Should I worry about this? Is there a way to improve his artistic ability? I feel he would gain in confidence if he could draw something that other people would recognise. Thank you all.

It's pretty darned normal for people to be good in one area and not so good in another.

Which is why not many musicians do a bit of metaphysics on the side.

Actually I thought that music and maths type discipline are often found together.|But i know what you are saying

Was he going to be a world famous artist? No? Then, who cares. There are worse things to not be able to do.

My cousin's son once got a bad report at school because he couldn't hop (I think he was 4). Now that he is an Air Force pilot it doesn't really matter.

Have you shown him how to draw simple people and houses and basic animals? Sometimes children need to be shown rather than having an in built ability to get down what they see on paper.Dd couldn't draw houses and people until I showed her pointing out the shapes as I drew. She quickly gained her own style and now draws far better than I can

I agree with asdx2 that showing him how to draw some basic things might help - it helped my ds1, who seemed to have no idea how to even start drawing (even to the extent that peoples' legs would apparently be coming out of their heads, without him understanding why that was just not right...). He quite liked learning how to draw stick people, and how to put different shapes (that he could already draw) together to make a house! Once he realised pictures could be made up of simpler shapes that he could reproduce, he did gain a bit of confidence. He still hates colouring in, though, so his drawings tend to be in grey pencil!!!

I got a scholarship to one of the top independent schools. So bad at art, the art teacher banned me from the classroom, as it was too painful for her to watch me butcher whatever skill she was teaching.

My children have learnt that any art projects they need to do they are on their own!!!

My son is also 6. Some days he will come out with really amazing, detailed pictures, that he has obviously spent time and care over.

Other days he will draw (for example - a picture of me) and it will just be a circle with a face and two legs - maybe arms if I'm lucky!

I wouldn't worry about it if I was you. Just remind him to take his time and do the best that he can.

These books are fab: I can Draw People and there's another one called I Can Draw Animals - it's fairly basic and just what you need. Although it sounds like your ds just doesn't drawing, so you may still struggle to convince him to do it.

www.amazon.co.uk/Can-Draw-People-Usborne-Playtime/dp/074603704X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=book s&qid=1269550754&sr=8-1

Strix, that's a pretty unhelpful answer. We don't want our children to do well at maths in the hope that they become a famous mathematician, so your comment is quite irrelevant. I know my ds is not the artistic type and I'm absolutely fine with that. I'm just expressing concern because his drawings seem extremely under developed for his age, like he's still in the pre-schematic stage which usually relate to ages 2 and 3. Thank you all for your other answers. I never thought of that asdx2, I'll definitely try it though, and also makeitawhisky, I'll certainly look those up. Thanks again.

ouch. Was trying to say that sometimes teachers worry about a target and communicate to the parents that it is lacking when actually no one is good at everything, and it is really the end of the world if your son is not a great artist?

My son is in reception and can barely write his four letter name. He needs to be able to write, but art and pretty pictures are NEVER going to be on the radar. But, that's okay, because he has other useful skills.

Sorry Strix, that was a bit harsh of me. I'm fine with my ds not being particularly artistic, we all have different talents and skills and like I said, my ds is excellent at numeracy and literacy. It's just that his drawings are alarmingly basic; my 2 year old dd draws faces with more detail than my almost 6yr old ds. I just think drawing and art are great means for self-expression and that's why they're important, not because one might make a living out of them in the future. On the other hand I am genuinely curious as to why his drawings are so basic that no one would know what he's drawing; the difference with absolutely everyone else in his class is startling. I am more curious than concerned I guess. But thank you all. I've bought the 2 books suggested by makeitawhisky so I'll see how he gets on with those. x

cuppycakesong, I agree with you that an inability to draw can be an issue of concern, even if you don't want to be an artist. My ds's inability to draw is part of a larger picture - his motor planning and visual perception seem to be a bit off. His phenomenal memory, good concentration and abilities in other areas mask this quite well, as he can learn motor skills by rote and is not at all unco-ordinated at learnt tasks, but the deficit is there. And it does impact hugely on his confidence, because modern education in the early years seems to take an ability at and enjoyment of typical children's activities for granted, and expect children to learn by pursuing those activities (ie learning through play). My son hates drawing, painting, colouring, cutting, sticking, lego, sandplay, moulding, construction, jigsaws etc, but can read fluently and expressively, write neatly and do the most complicated sums in his head. He finds it difficult to demonstrate this knowledge in the school environment, though, because of the way modern education is structured (and his total lack of confidence). He needs to be taught how to do physical play, but didn't need to be taught how to read, write and add up! I have tried every trick under the sun to get him to enjoy using his hands, to actually DO things rather than live in his own head, with no success to date. I do feel he is missing out on a big chunk of important development, but literally all he will consider doing with his hands is a bit of writing from time to time. And, surprise, surprise, his hands tire easily, so he can't even do a huge amount of that, albeit that what he does do is lovely.

Bit of a rant, but a lovely excuse for me to let out my frustration!!!!!!!

On the issue of music and maths being connected somehow. There are certainly mathmatical elements to reading music, but I think most (good) musicians would agree that playing is an emotional response, not a logical one, so although when originally learning a piece you may be counting dots and spaces, once it's part of your repertoire the written music becomes very much secondary.

My dad was a classical musician, and latterly began playing jazz saxophone (much more complicated rythms) but there wasn't a single logical bone in his body. He was fab

Oh, and metaphysics is philosophy, not maths (to brassband)

My ds was a bit like this - the teacher said he lacked strength in his hands/fingers and suggested lots of playing with lego, wringing flannels in the bath, monkey bars at the park etc. It did seem to help him, I think his grip andf control of the pencil was very poor.

rabbitstew, I find it fascinating that your ds cannot do the long list you've mentioned but can write neatly. That's such a contradiction, isn't it?

It is VERY odd. He does, however, have Ehlers Danlos syndrome, hypermobile type, which basically means all the joints in his body are hypermobile, resulting in him having had to work very hard to build up the strength to control said joints over the last six years. The one area where he has been pretty resistant to exercise is his hands! Fortunately, they are less excessively mobile than most of the other joints in his body, but it still causes issues with the strength of his grip, etc, so I think hand activities are genuinely uncomfortable for him. Perhaps he enjoys writing so much that he can get past this, and writing has the advantage of being a learnt skill - the letters are always formed the same way, so no need to re-invent the wheel when it comes to planning out how to write! Just being hypermobile ought to be enough to make his handwriting pretty dire, though, so it is a bit of a mystery.

Basically, though, his hypermobility is not sufficient to explain all of his difficulties. He just doesn't seem to see the world the way most people do, so has difficulty working out how to manipulate things. The jigsaw thing is particularly interesting - no trouble with manipulating the pieces once he knows where they fit, but he will try to put pieces in the most illogical places, as though he really can't understand how the little parts make up the whole picture, even if he can interpret what bit of the picture is on the little part he is holding. ie he can see the detail, but he can't see the big picture!

My 8yr old, who is no artist, just quite average, can draw better than I can, and I assure you that I am not exaggerating.
Drawing, in fact being artistic in general is something that I just can't do, never have been able to.

The things we learn in Mumsnet! I've never heard of Ehlers Danlos syndrome so thanks for all that info rabbitstew. I wonder if your ds might enjoy playing with coins as he enjoys maths, I know mine does.

He is very good at working out change, cuppycakesong, but not so interested in actually handling the money! His life is all theory and very little practice!!! He has a very vivid imagination, though - perhaps in his mind he is doing all sorts of practical things...