A mother of one student told me that the first day we had the art class her son arrived home and told his mother: “I’ve learnt more in one hour than I have in my whole life”

I observed a new teacher 2 weeks ago.  She taught the Alien Faces cartoon lesson and the class was very excited and thought that the Aliens were fun to draw.  Toward the end of class a second grade boy said,"This is the best day of my whole life!"  A third grade girl said to him,"What about tomorrow?"  The boy said,"Tomorrow won't be as good." It was a great class to observe and the teacher did an excellent job.

One mother told me that after every class, her son goes home and teaches his family the lesson. No one is allowed to skip his class, not even Grandma and Grandpa. Everyone sits at the table and the boy very seriously teaches every step of the lesson. That is a kid who loves his art.

One of my students in a K-6th class said: I love to draw and I draw all the time at home now. Being in class is fun because it gives me good ideas for when I grow up to be a famous artist!

The children have been so proud to display their weekly works of art in the Community Center and the adults seem thrilled beyond measure at the progress and success of their children. I believe that this drawing program gives courage and confidence to those involved in it. It gives these children a sense of accomplishment, increases their self-discipline, motivation and desire to learn more about the world they see. They seem to look forward to the next class as much as I look forward to teaching it. The Young Rembrandts program is amazing and I am proud to be a part of it.

After a year of teaching pre-school through elementary drawing with Young Rembrandts, I was thoroughly prepared for the kindergarten class of Lyons school district. As a substitute teacher, I am required to walk into the classroom with only a few minutes to read over the lessons plan and begin to teach for the day. My experience with Young Rembrandts has me so attuned to skimming over the lesson, figuring out how long each task will take and what the objectives are that it is already second nature to me.

Throughout that first session with Young Rembrandts, I saw the children apply the methods I was taught to teach them. And, they were enjoying the process! Trust me, I learned as much as they did! Nothing can compare to how at the end of a session, you can clearly see that something got through. If not everything, at least some things. There is pride in knowing that you have influenced several people positively, possibly for the rest of their lives.