Have You Seen What's on View at the San Jose Museum of Art?

Sh! No talking at the museum. People are looking at the art.

OK, so I wouldn't go to the museum with my kids if we were practicing our inside vs. our outside voice. But I would go see what's on view at the San Jose Museum of Art where are short stroll let's me target deductive reasoning and storytelling.

So what's on view? The first exhibit called Momentum: An Experiment in the Unexpected is open until February 22, 2015, so go see it soon.

While the artists explore the ideas of movement and the passage of time, kids can explore Slip by Tony Oursler. It's green and sort of smiles at them. Who wouldn't have something to say?

There's some more time to go see the Koret Family Gallery: Maker Space, on view until January 2016.  This exhibit is really inspirational and get you thinking about how art can be made out of so many materials. The artists upcycle objects thrown away to make art. Sounds like what my kids do with milk boxes in kindergarten. Just take a look at Three More Flags by Ray Beldner, made out of dollar bills and thread.

So what's there to talk about? Well other than what we all might first notice about art: color, shape, or materials, parents can engage their kids in some other activities that will promote concepts I target in language therapy such as deductive reasoning and storytelling.

Deductive reasoning is the process of reasoning from one or more statements to reach a logical conclusion. For example, all oranges are fruits, all fruits grow on trees. Therefore, all oranges grow on trees. Deductive reasoning helps us understand the world around us.

So, you know how to play I Spy. While exploring the Maker Space, give your kids some clues:

I'm thinking of something hanging on the wall (...so not a sculpture)

It's made of something we pay with (...so money)

See how many clues you need to give? Can your kids give you clues?

Want a challenge for kids who are a bit older? Watch the Abbot & Costello classic Who's on First, to laugh and use deductive reasoning (and listening skills) to figure out who's on first!

At the Momentum exhibit, get your kids to create a story. Speech language therapists are always targeting story elements, especially when providing services to kids in school. Story elements include title, character, setting and order of events. You can first model making up a story:

The title of my story is Mrs. S slips to Sacramento.

Once there was a slippery Mrs. S who loved to slip away from her house to explore...

Without being too explicit, these two sentences model coming up with a title, a main character, a setting, and an initiating event (she likes to slip away to explore). See what your kids can come up with and use the art at the museum as a starting point.

Have fun.
Michelle Lachman
Schedule your free consultation today: 1.408.365.4423 / mlachman.speech@gmail.com