Additional information
by Kathy Danko-McGhee (Author)
Viewing Art with Babies demonstrates how to facilitate quality art viewing experiences with babies from as young as two months old. Such experiences can help to nurture early literacy and receptive language skills, sensory stimulation, and early brain development.
Author Biography
Kathy Danko-McGhee, Ph.d. is the owner of First Encounters, LLC., an art studio that provides educational experiences for babies and toddlers. She is the former Director of Education at the Toledo Museum of Art and led the museum's efforts to be at the forefront of teaching visual literacy. During her tenure there, Dr. Danko-McGhee was responsible for creating Baby Tours, Toddler Tours, and spearheaded the publication of The Art of Seeing Art: A, B, and See book for preschool children, as well as the Art of Seeing Art for Babies book. Under her leadership, the museum provided many interactive learning experiences in the galleries. Dr. Danko-McGhee was instrumental in bringing the 2014 International Visual Literacy Conference to the museum.
Previous to her museum post, she served as a full professor and early childhood art education coordinator at the University of Toledo. During her tenure, Dr. Danko-McGhee conducted research projects in various countries around the world (England, Romania, Australia & New Zealand) studying the aesthetic preferences of babies. She also investigated the aesthetic preferences of toddlers and preschool children.
Her books - including The Aesthetic Preferences of Young Children (2000) and The Impact of Early Art Experiences on Literacy Development (2007) - have become the basis for early childhood art education programs both here and abroad. She has published numerous journal articles and has presented her research papers nationally and internationally.
