Visual Thinking Strategies for Preschool: Using Art to Enhance Literacy and Social Skills Paperback -

From the rear cover

Visual Thinking Strategies for Preschool shows how teachers can add visual thinking strategies (VTS) to their existing curriculum to encourage language, critical thinking, and social skills for children ages three to five. In this sequel to his popular book, Visual Thinking Strategies, author Philip Yenawine describes using art and other visual experiences to create powerful learner-centered environments for young children just beginning their formal school experience.

Drawing on interviews with preschool teachers from public, private, and charter schools from around the country, Yenawine highlights the benefits of these discussions for students, including English language learners and students with special needs.

"VTS masterfully encourages children to see, think, speak, and analyze--enhancing vocabulary and fostering creative thinking. Philip Yenawine provides a step-by-step guide on how to implement VTS in a classroom with young children, while providing an in-depth overview of the theory behind the method."
--Keith Whitescarver, executive director, National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector

"Visual Thinking Strategies for Preschool is a wonderful resource for early child educators! Drawing upon theorists from Piaget to Vygotsky, the methods of Montessori and Reggio Emilia, and the practices from early childhood classrooms across the country, Yenawine provides innovative strategies for creating environments rich in language and visual stimuli for teaching young children."
--Martha Barry McKenna, university professor, director of Creativity Commons, Lesley University

"One can learn much, with pleasure, from this book. Yenawine shows that children in preschool learn that images can be interpreted with simple strings of words which, as the children realize they are being listened to, become sentences describing their own interpretations, and thus their own stories."
--Lella Gandini, US liaison for the dissemination of the Reggio Emilia Approach

Philip Yenawine is a cofounder of Visual Understanding in Education, former director of education at the Museum of Modern Art, and a recipient of the National Art Education Association's Award for Distinguished Service.