Welcome to the Dear You community!
Since August 2013 Dear You has grown quite fast! Now we have participating schools in Finland, Germany, Czech Republic, Taiwan, Vietnam, USA, Estonia, Belgium, Denmark, Austria and Greenland, to name a few. The aim of Dear You is to connect children internationally through creativity, reading, writing by sharing art and culture. Dear You is about making friends all over the world and there is always room for one more!
“I’ve realized that even though we’re different people that we’re also the same in a different way.”
Let's make & share art!
Moonstone Preschool in Philadelphia, USA are one of the participating schools in the Dear You art project. Moonstone Preschool's 4-5 year old artists have been corresponding with the 4-5 year old Helsinki artists since August 2013. These budding artists from both USA and Finland have been making art for each other and create dialogue through their artwork as a means to learn about each other’s cultures and languages. This process of exchange also encourages one to read and write whilst developing artistic skills.
Some Participating Schools:
Moonstone Preschool in Philadelphia, PA, USA
Oulunkylän Englanninkielinen Päiväkoti in Helsinki, Finland
Your School in Espoo, Finland
U.S.KIDS Language School in Taipei, Taiwan
Panda Learning Center in Prague, Czech Republic
Kita Felix and Friends in Berlin, Germany
Atuarfik Otto Frederiksen in Qassiarsuk, Greenland
Lasteaed Illikuku in Põlvamaa, Estonia
Da Vinci International School in Antwerp, Belgium
Nuuk Internationale Friskole in Nuuk, Greenland
Bulli Public School in Bulli, Australia
Taizhou Phoenix Primary School in Taizhou, China
Кепская школа им. Ортье Степанова (Kepa School) in Karelia, Russia
How it works:
This concept is similar to having pen friends, but in Dear You every time the students correspond with each other, a new art technique will be introduced. Every participating class will receive an age-appropriate Dear You Art Project, which all the artists will create for each other. The classroom teachers will assist in all these fun and creative things to share- anything that fits in an envelope!
This program is run on a monthly basis and has two sessions, each lasting 4 months each. The first session is from September to December and the second is from January to April. The only thing we ask for is that a time commitment is confirmed so that the students in both countries will know how long they will be corresponding with their new friend.
To learn more about starting Dear You digitally with IPEVO Classroom at your school please have a look here: http://classroom.ipevo.com.
We will:
Make process-based art works
Plan, imagine, make art and letters
Develop social, visual communication, and literacy skills
Introduce and play with new art techniques
Make new friends in another country
Have a better understanding of our environment
Receive and create letters from our new friend
Understand our world through open dialogue with others
Follow the blog to see how every child experiences the art making process in their unique way.
Get involved! For more information, please contact me at arlene.dearyou(at)gmail.com.
“Projekti edistää lasten taidekasvatusta ja tukee moni-kulttuurista yhteistyötä Yhdysvaltojen, Taiwanin ja Tsekin tasavallan kanssa. Projekti sitoo erinomaisella tavalla sekä valtakunnallisen että yksityiskohtaisen varhaiskasvatussuunnitelman vaatimukset taidekasvatuksen osalta yhteen ja toteuttaa niitä monipuolisella ja mielenkiintoisella tavalla.”
“Привіт! Мене звати Анатолій Верлань, Я дуже радий брати участь у проекті Dear You, тому що мені подобається створювати цікаві проекти. Цей проект дуже класний, а також дуже цікаво знаходити нових друзів! Я дуже любля природу і малювати! Черепаха - моя улюблена тваринка), вона красива, мила і супер класна! Це важливо захищати черепах та не засмічувати океан!”
Anatolii is a 4th grade student at Grand Expo Online School in the Ukraine. He has been making art with Dear You and his friends in China since January 2021.