The Benefits Of Art Education
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- Helps Stimulates and develops the imagination and critical thinking, and refines cognitive and creative skills.
- Has a tremendous impact on the developmental growth of every child and has proven to help level the "learning field" across socio-economic boundaries.
- Strengthens problem-solving and critical-thinking skills, adding to overall academic achievement and school success.
· Develops a sense of craftsmanship, quality task performance, and goal-setting—skills needed to succeed in the classroom and beyond.
· Teaches children life skills such as developing an informed perception; articulating a vision; learning to solve problems and make decisions; building self-confidence and self-discipline; developing the ability to imagine what might be; and accepting responsibility to complete tasks from start to finish.
· Nurtures important values, including team-building skills; respecting alternative viewpoints; and appreciating and being aware of different cultures and traditions.
· Plays a central role in cognitive, motor, language, and social-emotional development.
· Motivates and engages children in learning, stimulates memory, facilitates understanding, enhances symbolic communication, promotes relationships, and provides an avenue for building competence.
· Provides a natural source of learning. Child development specialists note that play is the business of young children; play is the way children promote and enhance their development. The arts are a most natural vehicle for play.
Source: Americans for the Arts, 2002
Source: Young Children and the Arts: Making Creative Connections, 1998, Introduction
The Need Of The Arts Of All Ages
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- Preschool care and education, except for some low-income programs, are considered private services and receives little or no federal funding.
- While the importance of early childhood arts education has received greater attention in recent years, the majority of funding and programming is directed to grades K–12, with preschools being largely underserved.
- Arts education should not be considered unnecessary, but a necessity. Since preschools are not part of the public school system, funding sources vary greatly. When budgets are tight, arts programs, teachers, and supplies are often cut first.
- More than four million children attend preschool programs nationwide.
- Preschool-age children are primed for learning and greatly accepting of most art forms such as visual arts, dancing, and singing.
- Evidence exists that early arts experience has an impact on all aspects of a child’s learning, in many ways, “earlier is better.”
- Early childhood presents an opportunity and a challenge; a part of that challenge is to engage and support all who care for and educate young children.
- We know that art, understood as spontaneous creative play, is what young children naturally do—singing, dancing, drawing, and role-playing.
Source: Arts Education Partnership, Children’s Learning & the Arts: Birth to Age Eight
Source: Americans for the Arts, 2002
The Importance Of The Arts In Education
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- 91% of respondents believe the arts are vital to a well-rounded education.
- 95% percent of respondents believe the arts teach creativity, self-expression, and individualism.
- 76% of respondents somewhat or strongly agree that arts education is important enough to get personally involved.
- 67% say they do not know how to get involved.
- 89% of respondents believe that arts education is important enough that schools should find the money to ensure inclusion in the curriculum.
- 96% agree the arts belong to everyone, not just the fortunate or privileged.
Source: Americans for the Arts national public opinion survey, January 2001
Other Quick Facts
- Dance helps build motor control, body relationships, and a sense of direction.
- Drawing, sculpting, and other visual arts develop spatial acuity.
- Group activities, such as learning dance steps or singing songs, build social skills.
- As children describe people and things in their world using pictures, body movements, and mime, they enhance their descriptive, nonverbal, cognitive capabilities.
- Repeating stories, poems, and songs strengthens memory.
- The art supplies children choose for their work reflects their approach to process and outcomes.