MADELEINE'S COLORED ILLUSTRATIONS

Colored Illustrations
go with Madeleine's Coloring Book

These colored pictures are food for the absorbent mind of the young child. The child from birth to age six absorbs his environment. The impressions he absorbs become the very stuff of which his mind and psyche are formed.

Lady Madeleine's illustrations stimulate joy and radiate the feeling of peace and many other positive qualities for your child to absorb, such as orderliness, cleanliness and cheerfulness!

Showing children grotesque pictures of monsters and hellish creatures will inflict harm upon the mind that is forming. It is essential that whatever is appropriate, purposeful, wholesome, harmonious, beneficial and beautiful surround the young child whose mind is in the formative state.

Montessori points out that it is the normalized child who will grow into an adult capable of correcting the ills of society. The normalized child is the child whose mind is formed with order and beauty and the practicality that was in her day defined as the norm, which was healthy. The mind that is formed with degenerative, disorderly patterns is the mind that is unhealthy. (Read The Absorbent Mind by Maria Montessori.)

We highly recommend that the colored illustrations be shown to babies because of the positive impressions that can be gained from each picture. Children may see the colored illustrations starting from infancy as soon as they have recovered from the birth experience. From age 0 to 4 months parents have a very captive audience because the child has little mobility and dearly appreciates whatever stimulation or attention you can provide.

Babies need to be provided with many objects and items of practical value and beauty while the mind is forming. Large, colorful flashcards with pictures of useful objects or simple scenes of childhood, in all its wonder and beauty, are ideal for a baby. And you can show the pictures again and again.

PRESENTING THE ILLUSTRATIONS

We recommend inserting colored illustrations in loose-leaf page protectors and storing them in a ring binder. It is advisable to use cardboard backing with flashcards.

When presenting the cards, hold them steadily at the baby's eye level, about 18” from the child.

If you prefer you may hold the baby on your lap while you show the pictures. In this case, cardboard backing is unnecessary.

When you give presentations, eliminate noises and distractions and provide adequate lighting.

On the last four pages of the PDF you will find a label for each picture, which may be cut out and pasted on the back of the flashcards. Labels are descriptive sentences which you would read as you show the flashcards. If the pictures are shown in a ring binder, labels would go on the page next to, or opposite, the picture.

A baby’s attention upon a picture should be natural and not be forced. Allowing the baby to see a picture for a short time works best rather than holding it in front of him for too long. The length of time it takes for you to read the descriptive sentence on the label, slowly with deliberation and clear pronunciation, is as long as you would need to show the picture – unless you were to make a picture book out of the illustrations where you would point out things in the picture, make comments and perhaps ask questions.

You may find that your baby has as much interest in what you have to say about the picture, as he has in looking at the picture. Therefore, speak slowly and articulate each word precisely. Babies learn to talk by watching their parents' mouths when they are speaking.

You may show the baby as many pictures as he wants to see. If the baby gives you his attention, then, he wants to see the pictures. Otherwise he will look away. You might want to provide several short sessions per day or make them a little longer if the child is interested in longer sessions.

These hand-colored illustrations are the gift of children's artist Madeleine Soltis. They are ideal for children ages 0-6 years or for any age. The colored illustrations accompany Madeleine's Coloring Book.

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THE COLORING BOOK

Coloring prepares the hand for writing and all types of handiwork. Children 3-years-old and younger will work to perform, and perfect with their hands what they have absorbed with their minds. They will color the pictures again and again until they achieve the level of perfection they are striving for. It is crucial that children have the example of excellence set before them. That is why we let them have the colored illustrations to see, along with the coloring sheets.

Parents can set high standards for their children by providing them with examples of excellence, such as these colored illustrations that are intended for use with the coloring book, for this very purpose. Simply remove the colored illustration, still in its jacket, from the ring binder and offer it to the child so that he can look at it while he is coloring.

If you do not have access to a colored printer we suggest that you take the PFD file to a color-coping center.

DOWNLOAD COLORING BOOK

DOWNLOAD COLORED ILLUSTRATIONS

DOWNLOAD COLORED ILLUSTRATIONS

DOWNLOAD COLORING BOOK