What do we learn from self-portraits?

In both September and June - the beginning and end of the school year - I ask my preschoolers to make a self-portrait. I set them up with a mirror and a special pen (thin, black felt tip marker) and a simple piece of white cardstock.

I love comparing the two drawings each June.

These simple drawings are extraordinary windows into how much the children have grown and developed over the school year. What a wonder it is to go from being a three year old to a four year old! I am amazed.

Let me share a few of these self-portraits here, so that you might see this growth, too. For each of these,  last September's is displayed on the left and this June's is on the right.

Consider,

the growth in fine motor control,

the ability to make specific shapes - such as an oval face;

Consider, how many more details the child observes -

hair, teeth, eyelashes, eyebrows.

Consider the risks the child takes in representing these new observations on paper - it is as if the preschooler artist is unfettered, soaring with ideas, determined to share them all.

I can't help but think about the many experiences that have led to these June self-portraits...

daily opportunities for using all sorts of tools,

working those fine motor muscles, 

through drawing, painting, beading, cooking, hammering, other.

Fun and silly ways that we "looked for details,"

whether walking the block and counting trucks,

or hiding our classroom rock somewhere in the school and hunting for it,

or searching for tiny gems and beads in the midst of a pile of sand in the sensory table.

The children think, draw, and write all the time, 

self-propelled, 

because the paper is there at the ready and 

the challenge is there -

to create a recipe for a cooking project, 

to develop a plan for an engineering solution, or

to make a sign for a block project.

The preschoolers played with mirrors all the time, too, 

because I keep these at the ready in the science and dramatic play areas. 

The children loved to look at their reflections, and 

to turn the mirrors in different ways, 

to see light reflected on the ceiling or wall.

All these experiences plus
the simple beauty of growing bigger, older, wiser,
lead to these June self-portraits.

Do you see what I see?
Isn't it amazing how much preschoolers grow in one year,
from being three years old to being four?

Truly, these self-portraits are a gift for my eyes.
I feel a lot of joy when I study them.
They make me smile!

They tell me that the preschoolers are
confident,
observant, and
curious.
What great academic skills!

Yes, we had a very good year together.



Happy summer!