art for toddlers: dead fish

July 26, 2003

My son's preschool did a similar art project, with a fish. Sam came home one

day with a tee shirt he had made in class that had an image of a fish on the

front, brightly colored with paint. It was really quite beautiful, and I

assumed the kids had used a woodblock of a fish that someone had carved. I

didn't learn until a couple of days later that a real dead fish was used. I

talked to Sam about it -- like you, sharing with him that I felt it was

disrespectful. I did not speak with the teacher, although I would have if I had

felt my message would have been heard. His previous teacher brought in a live

lobster in a tank for the kids to see and I had no idea what her point was (the

lobster thing makes me inutterably sad), but here in New England, lobster is

seldom considered anything other than dinner and my attempt to gently introduce

an alternate viewpoint in the classroom was met with blank stares.

Anyway, I suppose there's some book of art projects for young children somewhere

that includes a unit on sea animals. And, you ask if you're being weird by

thinking there's something wrong with it? No way. I went through the same

" hummmhhh, is it me or what " thing with my son's school and the dead fish.

Terry

Anyway, so Max and I get to the program today and the children are

making " squid prints " . I thought that looked like fun, figuring, as

any sane person would, that it was a rubber squid.

No - I found out, before Max did the project, which he wasn't

interested in anyway, that it was a real (dead) squid.

I just don't think that fits in with our values. And I'm not even

vegan - I mean, we do have some leather shoes and stuff. But that

just seems unnecessary and disrespectful to a fellow living creature

and with no good reason. I mean, even if they just found the squid

dead on the beach.

Am I being weird or are they? Any comments?

July 28, 2003

hi all...

i've been mostly lingering about reading all this on the preschool art

project and i thought i'd throw in my two cents from the other side. i

teach preschool to three and four year olds. i work at a very child

centered facility that really caters to each child and their individual

needs and skills. we are always looking for new and creative ways to expose

the children to the world. having said this, i too am grossed out by the

squid art. i am the only vegetarian teacher on staff so i know that this is

something that i would never choose to do. most of the teachers have been

there 15+ years and they continue to do the same things year after year.

this will be my second year at the school and i'm always looking for new and

better ways to do my job. i encourage all of you that have children this

age to go talk to the teachers about your concerns. any decent teacher

would be willing to modify the project to accomodate your child's needs.

also, i have learned that many times parents offer a wealth of ideas and

creativity. maybe bring in something from home that would work as a

suitable substitute for the project such as a plastic fish or maybe a rubber

dishwashing glove. i just know from first hand experience that if you let

it fester inside of you it will make you crazy. talk to the teacher and try

to work out a plan that you both can agree on. in the end all that matters

is that the child's needs are being met and he/she is not being forced to do

something that makes the child uncomfortable

blessings to you all~~

erin.

-

tsomerson <tsomerson

Friday, July 25, 2003 4:29 PM

Re: art for toddlers: dead fish

> My son's preschool did a similar art project, with a fish. Sam came home

one day with a tee shirt he had made in class that had an image of a fish on

the front, brightly colored with paint. It was really quite beautiful, and

I assumed the kids had used a woodblock of a fish that someone had carved.

I didn't learn until a couple of days later that a real dead fish was used.

I talked to Sam about it -- like you, sharing with him that I felt it was

disrespectful. I did not speak with the teacher, although I would have if I

had felt my message would have been heard. His previous teacher brought in

a live lobster in a tank for the kids to see and I had no idea what her

point was (the lobster thing makes me inutterably sad), but here in New

England, lobster is seldom considered anything other than dinner and my

attempt to gently introduce an alternate viewpoint in the classroom was met

with blank stares.

>

> Anyway, I suppose there's some book of art projects for young children

somewhere that includes a unit on sea animals. And, you ask if you're being

weird by thinking there's something wrong with it? No way. I went through

the same " hummmhhh, is it me or what " thing with my son's school and the

dead fish.

>

> Terry

> Anyway, so Max and I get to the program today and the children are

> making " squid prints " . I thought that looked like fun, figuring, as

> any sane person would, that it was a rubber squid.

> No - I found out, before Max did the project, which he wasn't

> interested in anyway, that it was a real (dead) squid.

> I just don't think that fits in with our values. And I'm not even

> vegan - I mean, we do have some leather shoes and stuff. But that

> just seems unnecessary and disrespectful to a fellow living creature

> and with no good reason. I mean, even if they just found the squid

> dead on the beach.

> Am I being weird or are they? Any comments?

>

July 29, 2003

Erin,

I'm sorry if I implied that my son's preschool teachers are not open to hearing

concerns or comments from parents. His school and his teachers are excellent in

lots of different ways, and in general the curriculum stresses respect and love

for all living things. But the economy in the area in which I live, and in

which the school is located, is heavily dependent on fishing, and there just

isn't a whole lot of sensitivity to the idea that it might be disrespectful to

use a fish -- or a squid, or a lobster -- in an art project. It's not that

Sam's teachers would have objected to my feedback on the project, it was simply

that I didn't learn that a dead fish was used until several days after the fact,

by which time it was kind of late to raise a concern. I've thought about it

since then, though, and feel that I would absolutely intervene if this kind of

situation arises in the future. A plastic fish or some sort of woodblock would

work just as well, as you suggested.

I think teachers are the true heroes of our society and you sound like a great

one.

Terry

-

Todd Ockenfels

Monday, July 28, 2003 12:12 PM