Curriculum
“A-PLUS”
Art+
Art
Comprehensive visual arts courses.
Play
Immersive, scene-based teaching, multisensory inspiration, free expression and equal exchange.
Learn
Breaking down the walls between art, science, the humanities and nature: art never stands alone.
Use
Product design, architecture, technology: more and more future industries will rely on creative thinking.
Spirits
Respecting feelings, building confidence and self-awareness, embracing diverse cultures.
| Level | Parent–child | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class type | Immersive art, with a parent | Immersive art, on their own | Immersive art, on their own | Immersive art, on their own |
| Age | Ages 1.5–2 | Ages 2–4 | Ages 4–6 | Ages 6–8 |
| Duration | 45 min | 60 min | 60–90 min | 120 min |
| Course focus | Observing, exploring, sensing, motor skills and more | Build observation skills and, by working with a wide range of materials, form habits of active thinking and independent problem-solving. Value the process and respect the child: guide children to make work of their own ideas, and to finish it on their own from start to end. Take the long view: children’s work reflects the normal development of their age. | ||
| Seven areas of knowledge | Perception, space, humanities, nature, technology, materials, design |
|---|---|
| Five teaching methods | Playful exploration, guided inspiration, interactive exchange, positive encouragement, independent creation |
| Five strengths | Multiple perspectives, creative thinking, a sense of beauty, emotional growth, self-confidence |
Mixed-Age Teaching
Learning Across Ages, Where Differences Inspire
YiLi Art uses stage-based mixed-age teaching, grouping children into classes by three developmental stages: ages 2–4, 4–6 and 6–8. We deliberately keep a modest age gap, so that as children explore together they watch one another, learn from each other, and find new inspiration in different ways of thinking and expressing.
What makes mixed-age learning possible is that our classes never set one expected result for the artwork.
Within a shared theme, teachers help children understand the ideas, explore the materials and learn to use them safely — but never dictate what everyone’s finished piece must “look like”. Which materials to choose, how far to take them, how complex the work becomes: each child decides independently, according to their own abilities, interests and ideas.
So in the same class, younger children can make simple, genuine expressions in ways that suit where they are developmentally, while older children move naturally into more complex structures, finer making and deeper thinking. Difference is not a problem to be erased; it is how each child’s real stage of growth shows itself.
We believe children don’t need to reach the same answer at the same age, at the same time.
At YiLi Art, mixed-age learning doesn’t mean children of different ages doing the same thing — it means each of them, in the same world, finding a way of creating that is their own.