My daughter is thirteen and has been attending OAM Studios for the better part of eight years, since she was five. Before her very first trial class, I was afraid she would have trouble focusing and following directions. (Let's just say that in dance class she had mostly made faces at herself in the mirror or freestyled it unless I expended 200% of my energy making her practice her routines at home.) She went into her first art class wanting to draw a peacock chasing a cat, with no idea how. After an hour, her teacher had modeled a drawing for her, and she had paid attention beautifully, following his directions carefully.
The teachers who work there have, from what I understand, been trained to teach art by building skills in sequential stages, helping students accomplish one skill and one project before moving on to the next. I believe this works well for all types of kids, not only for self-guided, serious kids, but especially for the playful ones, who need direction for their ideas. The staff knows how to be serious, but they are also wonderful at relating to some of my daughter's interests and talking to her in ways that I can't. She takes both pottery and the regular two-hour art lessons. Miss Molly and Miss Anissa are her teachers now, and she truly values their instruction and her time with them.
OAM Studios continues to teach my daughter the importance of patience, perseverance, and attention to detail, values not only important to artistic growth but also in life. It takes a village to raise a kid, and OAM Studios has been a valuable part of our village. read more