BEFORE YOU START   a preview of through a child's eyes   Art museums collect and exhibit the best examples of works of art from all over the world. These artworks represent diverse cultures and a range of time periods in the history of humankind. The exploration of art museum collections provides an opportunity for children to discover emotions, new ideas, and innovation. Looking at great works of art can open up a whole world of possibilities for our youth.   The resources of art museums, such as the Cincinnati Art Museum, are especially effective in engaging young learners. Responding to a growing need to strengthen arts learning for young children, the Cincinnati Art Museum was awarded a two-year Learning through the Arts grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2004. The project has focused on creating an art-centered curriculum for children age 3 to 8 years.   Through a Child’s Eyes consists of seven sequential learning units: three for pre-kindergarten and one each for kindergarten, first, second, and third grades. Each unit in the curriculum provides a central Focus Artwork a Focus Book and a series of classroom activities that include a culminating art-making experience. The Focus Artworks are reproductions of works from the permanent collection of the Cincinnati Art Museum. If possible, teachers are encouraged to visit an art museum or gallery to view original works. Many teachers may decide to adapt the seven units for their students. The entire sequence compliments the children’s exploration of community and can be used to enhance their skills in language arts, math, science, social studies, art, and music.   Through a Child’s Eyes was developed by museum educators at the Cincinnati Art Museum in collaboration with the teachers of the Arlitt Child and Family Research and Education Center at the University of Cincinnati and Schiel Primary School for Arts Enrichment, a Cincinnati Public School. Partners—including the Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, CET 48, and the University of Cincinnati—have assisted the Art Museum in ensuring that the curriculum is securely grounded in current research on child development and museum education.   GOALS   primary   Provide meaningful curriculum-based experiences for students (ages 3 to 8 years) that focus on artwork and support the students’ overall learning and development. Develop, implement, and evaluate seven learning units that align with the theme of community by featuring the exploration of selected Focus Artworks from the Art Museum’s permanent collection and related Focus Books. Ensure that the curriculum is securely grounded in current research on child development and museum education.   secondary   Provide an awareness of meaningful leisure time experiences at the art museum that encourage intergenerational learning for families with young children.   HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE   what is community?   The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines community as an interactive population of various kinds of individuals (and species) in a common location. Through a Child's Eyes explores the idea of community from a range of viewpoints. Students are provided with art-centered learning experiences that enable them to discover the vitality and diversity of all that their community represents.       In the pre-kindergarten unit on farm animals, students explore life on the farm and are introduced to a big red rooster. Another unit focused on community helpers asks students to explore the market as a vital and necessary part of their community. In the final pre-kindergarten unit, students are encouraged to dance and to understand how and why people in their community celebrate.       In the kindergarten unit, students discover their family as a form of community. First graders investigate the natural community and all its creatures. The second grade unit enables students to learn how a community can depend on bodies of water. Finally, in the third grade unit, students celebrate on a global scale and understand that the definition of community across the globe can be both different and similar to their own. In each unit, students are introduced to a Focus Artwork from the Cincinnati Art Museum's permanent collection, as well as a Focus Book that connects to the community-based theme of the unit. Each unit encourages the students to develop art-looking and art-making skills as well as an ability to use appropriate language to discuss their reactions and responses to art.       The lessons in Through a Child's Eyes can be used independently, or, for those that are able to visit the Cincinnati Art Museum or their own art museu, as pre- and post-visit activities. Teachers may choose to complete a few or all the lessons in each unit. Individual lessons can effectively stand alone, and each unit may be used to complement current curriculum needs.