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Back to Marks and Mind Book Series The Importance of Mark-making to Child Development....................................................................................................................................... 9 Rules of Thumb for Good Parenting/Caregiving Practices.......................................................... 13 Marks and Early Childhood.......................................................................................................................................... 17 Questions and Answers for Parents................................................................................................ 19 Benefits of a Scribbling/Drawing/Talking/Writing Program...................................................... 27 Unfolding Skills................................................................................................................................ 31 Why I Wrote This Book ................................................................................................................... 33 Mother, Teacher, Researcher............................................................................................................ 39 The Promise........................................................................................................................................ 41 Stories About Mark-Making: Using stories about nine children, including one autistic child to discuss why visual alertness, laughter, scribbles, child-artmarks, and the use of metaphor are important milestones in children's lives...................................................................................................................................... 43 Scribbles, Development and Meaning........................................................................................... 69 The Developmental Stages of Scribbling and Drawing: Beyond Child Art Overview, Scribbing............................................................................................................................. 73 Thumbnail Sketch, The Stages of Scribbling: Early (8-12 months, or up to 1 year), Middle Scribbling (12-24 months, or 1-2 years) and Mature/ High Scribbling (24-36 months, or 2-3 years) with First Transitional/ Transformational Stage (24-36 months, or 2-3 years)................ 86 Thumbnail Sketch, Stages of Drawing: Early Drawing (36-48 months, or 3-4 years), Middle (48-60 months, or 4-5 years), and Mature/High Drawing (60-72 months, or 5-6 years or older) with Second Transitional/ Transformational Stage (60-72 months, or 5-6 years old and beyond), and Third Transitional/Transformational Stage (60-72 months, or 5-6 years old).................................................................................................................................. 87 Looking at Early marks: Cave Paintings and Searching for Meaning (Download index:Wolves, Lizard, Spirals) ......................................................................................... 89 Early Scribbling and Developmental Stages, 8-12 months: What to look for, nurture and protect.................................................................................................... 102 Physical, emotional, social, verbal milestones........................................................................................ 102 How the Stage of Early Scribbling relates to visual, emotional and verbal growth................................................................................................................................................. 103 Middle Scribbling and Developmental Stages, 12-24 months: What to look for, nurture and protect................................................................................................... 110 Physical, emotional, social, verbal milestones........................................................................................ 110 How the Stage of Middle Scribbling relates to visual, emotional and verbal growth.................................................................................................................................................. 111 Mature/High Scribbling and Developmental Stages, 24-36 months:................................................................................................................................................ 120 What to look for, nurture and protect.................................................................................................... 120 Physical, emotional, social, verbal milestones........................................................................................ 121 How the stage of High or Mature Scribbling relates to visual, emotional and verbal growth................................................................................................................. 125 Still At 24-36 Months: First Transitional/Transformational Stage of Scribbling: Heading into Drawing.......................................................................................................................... 125 How the First Transitional/Transformational Stage relates to visual, emotional and verbal growth.................................................................................................................................................. 130 Early Drawing and Developmental Stages, 36-48 months: What to look for, nurture and protect.................................................................................................... 130 Physical, emotional, social, verbal milestones........................................................................................ 132 How the stage of Early Drawing relates to visual, emotional and verbal growth.................................................................................................................................................. 136 Middle Drawing and Developmental Stages, 48-60 months:................................................................ 136 What to look for, nurture and protect.................................................................................................... 136 Physical, emotional, social, verbal milestones........................................................................................ 137 How the stage of Middle Drawing relates to visual, emotional and verbal growth.................................................................................................................................................. 141 Mature/High Drawing and Developmental Stages, 60-72 months: Representational and Abstract Drawing and the Metaphorical Child. Getting ready for reading and writing words........................................................................................ 141 Physical, emotional, social, verbal milestones....................................................................................... 144 How the Stage of Mature/High Drawing relates to visual, emotional and verbal growth................................................................................................................. 145 The Second Transitional/Transformational Mark-making Stage: Proto Mathematics/Music/Writing, 60-72 months and beyond............................................................ 145 How the Second Transitional/Transformational Mark-making Stage relates to visual, emotional and verbal growth................................................................................................................ 148 The Third Transitional/Transformational Mark-Making Stage: Drawing/Writing, 60-72 months and beyond....................................................................................... 148 How the Third Transitional/Transformational Mark-making Stage: Drawing/Writing, relates to visual, emotional and verbal growth........................................................... 150 Conclusion........................................................................................................................................... 154 Parallel Systems: Child-Marks and Child-Speech................................................................................ 154 Lesson Plans for a Marks-based Literacy Program: Getting Ready.................................................................................................................................... 157 Warm-up exercises for parents............................................................................................................. 158 Warm-up exercises with children 1 to 3............................................................................................... 162 Early Work: Daily scribbling with very young children ages 1 to 3..................................................... 162 Starting the Drawing/Writing Program Beginning benchmarks for attention, mood, and behavior..................................................................... 167 More warm-ups: Drawing in the air................................................................................................................................. 168 Dancing the Alphabet........................................................................................................................... 169 Starting the Five-Step Drawing/Writing Lesson Plans Materials, procedure............................................................................................................................. 169 Tracing................................................................................................................................................. 170 Preliminary Drawing and Talking/Writing........................................................................................... 172 Lesson Plan I - Step One: Contour................................................................................................................................................ 177 Blind Contour...................................................................................................................................... 177 Regular Contour................................................................................................................................... 181 Lesson Plan II - Step Two: Basic Shapes........................................................................................................................................ 183 Euclidean............................................................................................................................................. 183 Organic................................................................................................................................................. 191 Fractal.................................................................................................................................................. 194 Lesson Plan III - Step Three: Light/Medium/Dark............................................................................................................................. 199 Lesson Plan IV - Step Four: The Perfect Whole............................................................................................................................... 202 Pattern for Practice: A multi-sensory set of writing exercises............................................................. 207 Lesson Plan V - Step Five: The Composite Abstraction, CA#1 and CA#2...................................................................................... 214 Closing Drawing and Writing: Quick Evaluation................................................................................. 216 Closing Benchmarks for Attention, Mood and Behavior: Quick Evaluation......................................... 217 How caregivers and children feel about mark-making after the scribbling exercises and the Five Drawing/Writing Lesson Plans......................................................................... 221 Translating Across more than Two Sign Systems........................................................................ 221 Where do We go from Here? Useful information about technology................................................................................................... 232 Television and computer watching and children................................................................................... 232 Childhood development and electronics............................................................................................... 233 Caregivers, cell phones and children..................................................................................................... 234 Autism: induced or inherited?............................................................................................................... 234 Research with speech and behavior...................................................................................................... 234 Would research support the following speculations?............................................................................ 235 Toward a new, brain-based science of early childhood: the bi-hemispheric brain and Neuroconstructivism............................................................................... 236 Scribbling and the brain........................................................................................................................ 236 Neuroconstructive experience............................................................................................................... 236 Until brain scans compare brain states, what can we know?.................................................................. 237 What powers do parents actually have?................................................................................................ 237 Thirteen Brain-based Principles of Child Development............................................................. 239 Toward a Peaceable Kingdom The logic of environmental pressures.................................................................................................. 246 Changing brain chemistries.................................................................................................................. 247 Rage control and the possibilities of peace........................................................................................... 247 Research Questions........................................................................................................................... 251 The Peek-a-Boo Principle................................................................................................................. 265 Printing the Alphabet Using a Standard Approach (Download index: A-I, J-R, S-Z)....................................................................................................... 269 Acknowledgements Bibliography......................................................................................................................................... Photography......................................................................................................................................... 273 Children............................................................................................................................................... 273 Other sources....................................................................................................................................... 274

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