During 2019 I worked with Freshwater Christian College to present my Children’s Art Curriculum for Prep to Year 4. I originally began teaching children’s art classes more than twenty five years ago in my own private studio, but this was an excellent opportunity to work directly in the with school teachers and students delivering a whole new specially designed curriculum. The classes were a great success! Here are some of the testimonials I received as a result…
This year, our college purchased a one year licence so that our teachers from Prep to Year 4 could teach her drawing methods to our students using age appropriate strategies that are scaffolded as they progress throughout the years. The program is seeing wonderful results in student engagement, production and enjoyment. The teachers are all positive about the program and progress as the students’ confidence grows along with their ability.
Max Natoli | Deputy Principal | Head of Primary
It has been a pleasure to have the Cindy Wider Art Program at Freshwater Christian College in 2019… Cindy demonstrates an excellent understanding of how to develop the skills of students in an age appropriate way and has developed lessons that are fun, engaging and enable success. The work produced by our students because of these classes is amazing and it is delightful to see the students so proud the work that they have produced.
Helen Schwarz | Head of Faculty: English and Humanities
I have been amazed at the level of improvement all students have made throughout the year. I am a big believer in students learning valuable skills, which can transfer to other areas of learning. Students have learnt to have patience and perseverance (healthy habits of mind), as they have worked to produce a number of fantastic art pieces. In particular, were a couple of students who started the year saying, “I can’t do this or it’s too hard”. They have finished the year excited and wanting to take more pieces home to do over the holidays.
Jenney Costello | Year 3 Teacher
During this year that I have taught the Cindy Wider Method to my Year 1 class I have seen huge development in their drawing abilities especially with shape, line, colour and proportion. I noticed that they have been putting a lot more care into their work. They are engaged and their confidence has really developed too.
Judy Mellor | Year 1 Teacher
I especially love seeing students who previously were struggling to find confidence in an area within the school curriculum to shine, finding skills and talents that they didn’t even know they had… I have been so encouraged as a teacher to witness every student learning skills that enable them to draw and apply these skills to produce some very impressive results. I cannot recommend this course highly enough. You will not regret investing in this course.
Anna Giles | Year 4 Teacher
In a short time after I have been using Cindy Wider’s program in my class room, already I noticed that this art program had boosted my student’s confidence to draw… My students definitely progressed in the technical skill of drawing as a result of studying the Cindy Wider art course, and they had fun studying it too! Yes it was challenging for them but they rose to those challenges, and when they did you could see the excitement and happiness on their faces. That was so special. I would definitely recommend this course to anyone wanting to help their child learn to draw.”
Kareena Walmsly | Year 2 Teacher
Cindy has created fun activities for the students to practice and build upon their skills and as a result of my students studying her program in 2019 I noticed significant development in their drawing abilities. Cindy’s mantra of “The better you can draw lines, the better you can draw shapes, and the better you can draw” inspired students to have a go even if they didn’t think they could do it. It was exciting to see how well the students were learning to draw lines and shapes; a skill that transferred out of their art lessons into other classroom activities where they were drawing. We were also lucky enough to have Cindy visit our classroom and teach some of the lessons herself. The students really liked having a real artist come and visit. They loved her energy, passion and joy for the little successes. They really enjoyed the program and seeing their work hung up on the walls of the room for all to see.
Toni Pett | Foundation (Prep/K) Teacher
A big thank you to all the students and teachers at Freshwater Christian College. It was a pleasure and honour to work with you all!
