Expectations of Kindergartner's Drawing

Ha! I really wouldn't worry. My oldest's art skills are, well, horrible. But he's a junior physics major now, so...yeah. No big deal. My other 3 are actually fantastic artists (you know, in my opinion), but the oldest never had the desire to draw anything living. He limited his drawings to the Starship Enterprise blowing up Borg cubes. Seriously.

a poor drawing would simply tell me he has not had much experience in drawing people! Some kids draw all the time and are very good at it, some do not enjoy it as much and are not as good. I don't think that should be considered a red flag of any kind.

A child will draw what he/she is aware of. Bodyawarness developes diffrently in all kids.At one point all of us drew a head with lines for arms and legs or even left the arms off. Totally normal around the age of 3-4. As a child becomes more aware of its own body it will reflect in self portraits.You can help this along by making him aware of his tummy and feet and all the other things he did not draw. In time he will have all body parts.

i still draw like that and i'm 33.

Um I cant draw at all. I probably would have drawn a picture similar to what your son drew. I wouldnt think this is a big deal. So he is not picasso. He sounds like he is a smart kid and I would be proud of that

Oh Brother, my teenagers still draw stick figures. Artistic fine motor skills are not our families best trait. And the worst drawer of them all is a sophomore at an engineering school on merit scholarships.

:)

Huh? Not all adults can draw either. I would not worry at all...... or put that pressure on your little guy!

Art teachers like this are the ones that make kids who love drawing...hate drawing. In kindergarten it should be about FUN, enjoyment, uninterrupted creativity, and fostering imagination. There is no need to worry about this so young...or in my opinion...ever. He may never care for, or be able to draw. Millions of people can't. Some people are NEVER able to express themselves through drawing. Everyone needs a way to express themselves, but a kindergartner should not be required to do that through drawing.

This is a non issue. Other then to completely pretentious art teacher, that's an issue. Your son does not have any.

My son is not very artistic either. When he was in kindergarten his teacher mentioned that and I thought, "so what!" I am a HORRIBLE drawer...it's really pathetic, but I am a great mom and wife. I don't think drawing is really all that important and I said so to the teacher. He is now going into third grade and still not the strongest drawer, but he is GREAT at math and science! I would be more concerned if my kid couldn't add, read, write, ect.
I am sure your son is fine.
L.

she wasn't looking for artistic details....she was looking for indicators of his awareness. She needed to see: eyes, nose, mouth, etc. In testing such as this, it's a.o.k. to have poorly-drawn stick figures. It's the details that help with assessment.

As for her reaction/response, don't worry....once your son learns what's expected, I bet he'll be fine!

What.....EVER! There are so many measures of psychological and emotional maturity, I question the teacher's if this is the only thing she is looking at to concern her. Now if there are other factors that are concerning, then by all mean, be concerned. Have a conversation. Develop a plan of action. But if this is the ONLY problem!?! Count your blessings and switch the teacher to decaf.

Really? They're concerned about his artistic abilities? Honestly, I wouldn't read much into what a kindergartener can do artistically. I remember huge variations in the artwork in our son's class. Sounds like he's doing great academically, which is what really matters. Not everyone is an artist. My mom is extremely smart and has a master's degree, but ask her to draw a person and you get a stick figure.

if he is in kindergarten she should be tucking the picture away and then showing you a before kindergarten and an after kindergarten picture that he has drawn. most kindergartners will draw a big round head and some stick arms and legs. faces might or might not have hair, ears , eyebrows etc. girls are more evolved in the drawing part than boys. my son drew a picture like you described when he started kindergarten. the eyes were almost as big as the face and no mouth. The picture at the end it was not much better lol. however if it eases your mind he graduated with a degree in actuarial math this past spring with a 3,89 GPA from Carthage College. when this same son was in first grade the teacher had them write the sentence "when I am nine I will...." they had to fill in the blank and draw a picture. he wrote get married and drew a picture of him and a girl getting married complete with priest and onlookers. needless to say he didn't get married lol but we did put that picture in a frame and put it on his grad table when he graduated from high school.

If I asked my 15 year old son to draw a picture of himself he would draw a stick figure with blond hair and blue eyes. The kid just can't draw people - never has been able to, even with art and drawing books as a guide. Heck, neither can I :)

I would not be worried about his self esteem or self image. Trust me, my son thinks he is "all that" and more. LOL

I really would not worry about it. "he can write his name (first and last) well, can count to 150+, knows letters" - sounds like he is more than on target for his age.

Some kids (like mine) just are not artists.

From a child development standard, a 5 year old should be able to draw a person in two parts-head and arms or legs. Sounds like the teacher is jumping the gun a bit. I'd ask her what het expectations for drawing are and ask her to cite her sources.

WHAT??!

Sorry, but I think that teacher is WAY off base. Sounds to me like your son is just fine. You can just forget any dreams of his becoming an artist.

wow, I wouldn't worry about it at all. Some people are talented at drawing, while others are great with math. Not everyone can draw good. I really don't think it has anything AT ALL to do with emotional and psychological immaturity and I was a teacher for 5 years before having my own kids.

Well she is not critiquing his "artwork", she is concerned about his self awareness..

It is not a big deal, just something to consider if your son is aware of details.. Not just the big picture in his world.
It is just a small sign of an immaturity, but nothing to worry about..

Make sure you all talk about the little things.
Is your son aware of what the light signal colors mean?
Does he notice you use turn signals? That it takes an action to communicate, but does not have to be with words?

Do you all talk about feelings? Frustration vs angry? Embarrassed vs feelings being hurt?

Is he aware of his senses? Have you ever blind folded him and let him try to walk around a room? Feed him different foods to see if he can guess what they are by just smell or taste?

Has he tried putting cotton balls in his ears while you whisper words to him and have him try to guess what you are saying? By just using his eyes?

Have you tried to show how much he can hold in his arms and walk without dropping things?

Can he walk one foot right in front of each foot, how about backwards? Can he hop on one foot and then another while on a drawn line?

All of these activities will remind him of his features.. Not just what his brain has been taught.. can do, but what he can do just naturally.. This is very important for his "self awareness".

Eventually it will change his "picture" of himself.

Well, I think anytime an authority figure expresses concern about my child in such a way, I would call the pediatrician.

However, to put your mind at rest, here is a story. At about 4-5, my husband was sent to a psychologist because he drew a picture of his mother with no arms. The preschool teacher interpreted this as meaning he was emotionally disconnected. Although he could add all his numbers, read chapter books, and speak simple Spanish (English is his first language). I assure you he is perfectly normal.

I also have some psychological training, but am not a therapist. All these things are tools to learn about a child, but please don't worry yourself over this. Do you think he is emotionally mature?? If anything, I might be more concerned about his a learning disability (some sort of imagine processing issue) over a mental issue. I am not suggesting that, it just seems a little out on a limb for a teacher to say without getting some testing done, etc.

Hi,
No biggie. Just information for your consideration. In our state and I think, all states, all children are given a screening before or at the beginning of kindergarten and drawing themselves is one of the tasks on most screenings chosen by the administration. And the teachers or the screeners are required to share the result with the parents. As the months pass I hope this becomes just one bit of information in the portfolio you save for your son. And yes, as a previous poster mentioned, it is common to have a beginning and end of school comparison of pictures. It must have been jarring to receive this at the beginning of your relationship with the teacher, but I hope you will be reassured. Take care.

My kindergartener had the exact same problem. Even his Principal spoke to us about it. He ended up repeating (he was young when he started) kindergarten. He was fine academically, but was immature when it came to drawing people, and the ability to make friends. Having repeated, he's much better, however, he's still pretty hopeless at art!

kids start drawing bodys around age 4. until then they draw what they feel is the important part head legs and sometimes arms. dont sweat this!!! if he was 8 and doing it i would be a bit concerned but at this point hes totally in the "normal" range! momma of 2 and early childhood edu major :)

When my son started kindergarden his people were round-ish blobs with 4 sticks (arms and les) eyes and mouth. Coloring was scribbles. And this was with day care his whole life. Being able to write, sight words and basic pree school math
within a few weeks he colored mostly in lines and people looked like people. he drew a very nice (for a 5 yr old) free hand of the silver surfer and a better alligator than me (in a facebook poll most thought the 5 yr old drew mine lol) he stills says hands are hard.
i think at that age is is more about the patience to sit and draw realistic pictures. then again.. i am in my 30's and still draw stick figures what does that say about me ? hahah

This is a typical task given in NC kindergarten screening. I think the purpose is to "measure" awareness and observation skills. If I remember correctly, the criteria for being "on track to enter kindergarten" is that the child doesn't have to draw ALL body parts, but must draw at least 7. (For example: arms, legs, trunk, head, feet, facial features, etc.) I'm sure every kindergarten age child draws stick figures, but some probably add more parts than others.

They all see things differently at that age. I'm sure my oldest son (now 18) probably drew the bare minimum at his screening, while my middle son probably drew every body part plus clothes and accessories. My daughter always drew her red, curly hair the biggest because that's all she heard from people and it wouldn't surprise me if she surrounded her stick figure with ponies and puppies, LOL.

Hopefully you will keep this first self-portrait and the teacher will ask the children to do this same self-portrait drawing at the end of the year -- check that out then! *L* Kinda funny to see the changes!

Kids have different skills. It sounds like yours has quite a few really strong skills, drawing just isn't one of them.

Although it's probably nothing, for your peace of mind you could have him evaluated. As a matter of fact, since the teacher is the one who brought it up, you should even be able to get a free evaluation through the school district.