Don't Constrain Children's Habit of Free Imagination.

 

"Papa Nie's Thinking Outside the Box": 

Don't constrain children's habit of free imagination. 

The natural instinct and skills that people are born with are often insufficient in modern life, so everyone must learn and receive certain "skill training" at a certain age.  Good habits are the easiest to develop in childhood, and developing a good habit will benefit a great deal in life.  I am a school-trained art teacher living in a modern time. The old-fashioned method of education usually practices learning by imitation, that is to believe imitating the work of a master is a good way of learning the techniques of the master. If the copied painting turns out to be better than the original master's work, the student will often get a compliment such as "The pupil surpasses the teacher ..."

In my 30 years of teaching painting and creating my own artworks, I found that although the old-fashioned methodology of teaching art is very safe or even effective, it has a "fatal" disadvantage, which hampers people's creativity.

The Chinese often advise people not to make up something out of nothing. In fact, this is not the issue we need to worry too much about, because it is not practically possible to complete something that is created out of nothing.  What we should pay attention to is how to cultivate more talents who can create and invent. If we want our next generation to have more innovative people, should we pay attention to avoid that children's imagination is limited to finite graphics in their early childhood curriculum?  If I, as a teacher, ask a child to copy my painting, does this method inadvertently make the child develop a habit of just copying and not wanting to invent? 

I am a painter who makes a living by creating paintings. If I can only copy other people's artwork, then I may literally become no more than "a copy machine."  If you want to ask me, how do I create my own works "out of nothing"? My answer is that it is not really "out of nothing," when I was studying in a graduate school of Fine Arts, I understood the meaning of a nonobjective painting, and I have become good at developing images of concrete objects from these non-representational color blocks. 

My four-year-old granddaughter and two-year-old grandson both like to paint, I don’t let them first copy from my paintings, but encourage them to play freely on their canvases.

 

  

To learn more about DanNie Art Lessons, please visit: 

https://danielnie.webnode.page/art-lessons/

 A proper "first language" for the Child

December 2021

You may not need to read about John  McWhorter's Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue or Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis to be aware that "language" can truly affect ones thinking logic and thinking habits. 

Speaking of "Habit", I believe that a good habit is easier to be formed when a child is in his or her young age. As an art teacher, I think visual language is a proper language to introduce to children. We do not only need to encourage children to use visual language, but we also need to introduce this language to them correctly. 

Each time when my grandchild Ella (4.5) and Ethan (1.5) come to visit us, I and my wife prepared art supplies to let them play with. We let them use the art supplies generously. This investment is worth every bit! 

Of course, it comes in handy, since their grandpa is an art teacher and he has a home-studio room that is set up and ready for the children at all times.  Please see the following pictures of how Ella and Ethan are enjoying their drawing and painting. 

             

At this point, I want to make it clear that I do not know if it was first the thought that created the language or it was the language that inspires one's thought, during the children's art experiment. You may think that It is like a chicken-egg argument. However, I believe that one's thinking skills and abilities can be highly benefited while he or she has the right type of thinking tools ---- that tool is a language, and the visual language we use in the studio art is a powerful, effective and proper "tool" for the children to use for exercising their thinking skills. 

Happy New Year and happy painting with your grandchildren. 

Daniel Nie, M.A./M.F.A.

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Daniel Nie, M.A./M.F.A. 

704-574-1815 (I prefer texting) 

www.DanielNie.com

Baby Ethan is One Month Old

Baby Ethan is One Month Old

----April 10, 2020

Yes, it is never too early to start education to a baby. 

I, the proud grandpa, now is officially "twice" the papa and the teacher. 

With the help of his 3 years old sister, we gave the little boy a "show time" as a part of enrichment for this "shelter-in-place".

( Ella's day care center was closed. I drove 4 hours to my daughter's home for a good visit and to give her a hand, so to speak.)

This was an experiment that we did: To "stimulate" the baby ----- many scientists recognized that a baby starts to develop sense of hearing since in mother's womb. We discovered that baby Ethan not only could hear very well but also could respond to my facial expressions and moving objects near his sight. 

We asked his big sister Ella to perform a dance along with a music, and I was making my facial expressions accordingly. Interesting enough, baby Ethan was responding obviously. 

Here are some pictures to share:

                                 

Oh, yah! let me watch you.......

                                

Really, you can do that.......

                                 

Ohhhhh.... can you do something more exciting? 

??????????????????????

Noooo! I am tired, I need mom ......

Basically, the little man was a good audience. 

Look at him,  he seemed like ready to give his sister a critique. 

 

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After I entertained the little guy, Now it was my job to give the 3-year old girl Ella a theater lesson and an art / craft workshop. Here are some photos: 

Story telling: I am a pretty butterfly.... 

It's the craft time:

         

              

Well, we all had a good time while we all obeyed "shelter-in-place" in VA. 

Artist Daniel Nie Online Mini Show: 

https://www.instagram.com/namecoolligraphy/?hl=en

Forming A Good Habit From Very Young

As a teacher, I often share this wisdom with my students: "Life is not just writing a neat word, but painting a picture." If you wish to create a good picture of life, you really need to have a vision in your mind before you start the painting and to evolve your vision during the entire process."
The hard question is:  How can you have a clear and correct vision? We all want your children to grow up to be successful and happy. But how? Since I was young I wanted to learn from anyone whom I admire. I tried to ask those people if they had "a secrete to success" to offer me, but none of them could give me one single sentence of magic. Because there is none! However, I accidentally, found a book titled "Success Habits" by Dean Graziosi. I like his definition of Success. It is not all about knowledge (although we often say knowledge is power), but it is an "habit." If it is an "habit," then training a good habit should be easier at one's younger age than older. Does this make sense?

If Dean Graziosi's theory has a practical truth, then we all should take a good look at this topic. In order for all of you to comprehend what I am going to illustrate as a sample model that we have adopted for training our granddaughter bbE, I would invite you all to be open minded for the time being, and use our example for your reference only (Note: We are not giving any advice here).

Here are some trainings that we have experimented on this little girl who is now 11 month old:

1) Training the child to have a habit of being confident and independent: Letting herself to eat her own food ("Don't feed her."). We also train her to have an ability of self exploring and learning:

 

   

2) Training the child to have an habit of having curiosity and interest in varies fields: 

 

3) Training the child to have a habit of touching the reality - Letting her to participate housework: 

 

4) Training the child to have a habit of having a sense of teamwork - joining sports, group actives, and going to outdoor playground, etc. (Actives could form an habit of loving people and nature) :

Let us remember that success does not just come from a good seminar but a good habit that requires training. We wish every child on earth is healthy, bright and happy. 

Until nexttime, best wishes to you all. This is Daniel Nie with DanNie Studio. 

For more information about my artworks and educational programs, please visit : 

www.DanielNie.com

Cultivating creative thinking from an early age

"Cultivating creative thinking from an early age"

I have been an art teacher for a long time. I always think that drawing and painting are good skills, but until now I have just been able to pin point how these skills are good for a person's life. Recently, I observed my granddaughter, a 14-month-old child, who showed her seriousness when she was drawing on a piece of paper with a pen. Drawing is the child's nature before talking and writing. In ancient times, the same was true among the cavemen. I believe that this kind of early childhood drawing exploration helps a children developing a creative habit. This good habit is more important and necessary today than ever before. Due to the rapid development of science and technology, our children will face a new world every five years after they grow up.
From my life observation, I saw that many people with high academic qualifications failed in their lives, and those with high IQ did not get an easier or happier life. Therefore, when it comes to building a successful and happy life, knowledge is not a key factor, but the right ( correct) habit is.
One of my peers has pointed out:
Creative independent thinking is one of the elements of the ideological foundation of human science and cultural development, and it is also the most important ability that young people must have to succeed.
A lesson can provide people with knowledge, but it takes days, months, or even years to develop a good habit. It is never too early to train and guide a child's creative and independent thinking. Trying to learn a good habit is never too late for the elderly.
My recent "revelation" was from observing my granddaughter doing art. I believe that developing a correct habit is a basic course that everyone needs to learn. Creative thinking will be a key and necessary subject in the future educational curriculum. I hope my art books will be useful training tools in this subject for the young and the old alike.

 

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Creative Thinking is not an unknown knowledge but a skill and a habit .

Good News: Artist Daniel Nie has published a book : Coolligraphy For Kids. This book is a training tool for your child. Here is how to order on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Coolligraphy-Kids-coloring-Daniel-Nie/dp/1496013824/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

 

 

To Love is To Enjoy

I took one and a half weeks off for myself, and I drove four hours with my wife to see 9-month-old granddaughter. The little girl saw the grandmother took the initiative gesture to flutter to the grandmother's arms immediately, but when met me , this old man, she was scared to cry. Tried my love, this little girl still did not want me to hold her. She started to recognize people now! This kid is really interesting. Although she wants her parents' hugs, my wife's  hug, but insists to not like me to hold her. However, I still feel that I am enjoying every minute when I am with this little darling. 

       The experience with my family from these few days made me truly understand what the Bible says: "Love does not envy ". When you truly love someone, you do not care if she will give something in return. Your love is the joy and enjoyment of your own pleasure. The world is often not aware of this truth. To remember the fault of others, do not forgive people, hate people, in fact, these thoughts only increase negative feelings and add burdens to yourself. It is a suffering. God lets you meet many people throughout your life. How much happiness you can add to your life if you can learn from each person, see the good part of them, and enjoy the friendship and communication.

       I quote here the Bible, not because try to be an old man with religiosity, but the biblical story once again pointed out to people what is the symbolism of ideal love: God sent His Son to love the world, the world crucified His son ... but God still loves this world. I love my grandchild, I do not care about her childish behavior. Because the choice of a child is from the most primitive emotion , whereas my love for her is a grandparent's love. My love for my family is out of reason.

       In our daily life, as an adult, we also use reason to guide our behavior. Angry or crazy love is a naive behavior! Believing in God can not be superstitious. I suggest that when we read the Bible, we should relate the examples in our own life to reach a true understanding of what the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are symbolizing for, and how they are connected. 

       Ha, let me try again, to see if the  little girl is willing to accept my love now. 

Daniel Nie, M.A., M.F.A.

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For more information about our crocheted animals and other artworks please visit our website or send inquiry to our email : danielnie@aol.com

DanNie Studio     www.DanielNie.com  704-574-1815

   

Babysitting Tip: Carpe diem / Shao-shao-ya

Date:  10/17/17

Baby's name: BabyE (4.5 months old)

Grandfather: PapaNie, the babysitter of the day.

(The following journal was recorded by PapaNie at the real time.)

7:30am, my daughter fed the baby then went work.

Today, the baby is left for me and my wife. I am the babysitter for today. I am going to use present tense to record this one day adventure. So here it goes:

7:30 to 8:00am:

I am PapaNie and this is my granddaughter BabyE. Hi,  I am holding the baby walking around the house, talking to her, telling her what I see around the house: "See? This is a photo of your parents... These are new flowers in the red vase that your mom got from her friends... Oh, here is the laundry room... see? your mother did not have time to wash the clothes... now, let's go to the living room ... Wow, the room is neat and clean... Your mom is a good house keeper, isn't she?"

BabyE seems like this big touring of her house. She did not make a any noise in my arm but watches item to item with her big eyes, as if she is really interested. 

  

                                  

8:00 to 9:00am:

We (my wife and I) is ready to dress up the baby to have a "fashion show." From when she was born, BabyE has been always very photogenic. Don't you think she is a natural little model?

  

                    

                

9:00 to 9:30am:

I am reading poetries and singing songs to the baby, and we are sitting on a sofa side by side , but she is still too young to sit for long, so in this case I am letting her sit on my lap and lean her back on me while I am holding her. I realize that the best music to her ears is human voice. I speak to her constantly, she replies occasionally with making some baby babbling.

Now, we are playing the ear touching game: This is papa's right ear, this is baby's left ear , this is papa's right ear ..... After a while, the baby responses with closing her one eye and/or opening her mouth to the side of her ear I am about to touch. I think this is a really good game for developing her sides of the brain. The baby seems fully aware and can respond to my touching and teasing. 

                                            

9:30 to 9:45am:

This  is the feeding time again, I let the baby drink as much milk / formula as she wants until she is full. That part has finished without breaking a sweat. Now, I am holding her straight up for Burping. This is done. Now,  it is the best time to take a morning nap. The baby has fed, burping is done, diaper has been changed,  but the baby just wants to cry. I was told "Baby crying is good for her lungs. " Her crying is for no reason other than a sign of that she needs to take a nap...Yes, it's time to take a nap.

9:45 to 11:30am:

The baby is sleeping. How to make the baby to fall sleep fast? I place her in a portable car seat.  Practically,   it is a baby rocking chair.  First, she was mad  after I put her in the seat, but when I started to rock the chair she started to get sleepy. The trick is to raise the seat cover and to add a blanket on the top to block the light.  A dim lighting environment,  rhythm sound of rocking chair  plus my humming of a children's  sound, all of these,  helped the baby falling to sleep fast. 

This more than one hour napping time is my opportunity to check emails and taking care of my business including getting some housework done. What a plan!

    

11:00am:

The baby wakes up. This is the time for a "mind and body work" -- First,. I put the play mat on the floor,  now she is in a belly side down position, this position encourages her to raise her head therefore to strengthen her neck muscles. I roll on the floor with her so that is playful to both of us. This position also let her to exercise "back kicking." Thanks to the musical kicking piano board at the end of her floor mat, her each kick makes different music. 

As we know that a baby often has very short attention span. After BabyE plays 15 minutes, she gets bored and starts to be fussy.

Now, it is the time to switch to another exercise. This time, I place her is an electrical operated rocking crib. This small rocking crib not only rocks gently but plays repeatedly different types of music, some are slow some are fast. When the slow music comes, I do tai chi, when the disco music play I do aerobic, as you can see that I am getting exercised! A very interesting thing I find is that while the baby watches me doing these "crazy movements,"  she starts to imitate me, doing her own kicking movements in her rocking crib! She gets very excited time to time. Wow, she and I both get plenty workout.

Yes, we repeated these 2 exercises every 15 minutes from 11:00am to 12:00pm. 

Now it is her lunch time. (I'm feeding her)

                          

                   

         

                              

12:15pm:

Now it is the time to do the burping and to take another nap.

12:15 to 1:45pm

BabyE is taking a nap now. I am taking care of my own paper work, etc.

1:45pm:

BabyE has waked up. She wakes up with a smile (not crying).

I am wondering if it's the time to change her diaper; well, let me call my wife and let her to do that part. We are planning to get ready to take walk in the neighborhood.

The baby loves to go out, as I know.

2:00pm:

Thank God, the baby's mother is home! My daughter comes back early today.

I hand the baby to her mother.

                                              
(End of the journal)

I was prepared to be willing to go through all those above routines again, if I had to babysit until the dusk.

Well, that was a special day of spending a "quality time" with my 4.5 moths granddaughter. I haven't  done any babysitting since my daughter was a little girl. How did I do? Have I offered you any babysitting tips? Babysitting is a hard job. In the end of the day, you just have to tell the baby and yourself: Shao-shao-ya!(Smile, in Shanghai dialect ).

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