Posted on 01/10/2011 at 07:01 PM by Global Reach
Northwest AEA Fine Arts Blog
Volume 2 Number 6
Marlin Jeffers, Educational Consultant
Music Web Site of the Month www.americansforthearts.org
Feed Your Kids the Arts
The arts are enriched with the stuff kids need to succeed. Just like kids need to have good nutrition on a daily basis, kids need to have their daily serving of the arts. Studies have shown that involvement in the arts helps kids increase test scores and promotes academic achievement. Kids who are involved in the arts are:
- 4 times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement
- 3 times more likely to be elected to class office within their schools
- 4 times more likely to participate in a math and science fair
- 3 times more likely to win an award for school attendance
Chances are, though, that your kids are not getting enough art—in or out of school. "The Arts. Ask for More." public service advertising (PSA) campaign is designed to educate parents and citizens on why the arts are essential to a child's development and empower them to get more art into kids’ lives, both in and out of school.
Article of the month:
Music education curriculum in public schools
Budget cuts in schools across the country have slashed music education curriculum from public schools. Researchers found music adds in children's mental development.
Across America schools are cutting their budgets and one of the programs being left out is music. Reading, writing, and arithmetic are the important subjects according to many taxpayers. They don't see the value in music education even though researchers have found a correlation between music and development of children's mental abilities.
Studies prove that listening to music at a young age helps a child do better in math and science. Music has a powerful and positive influence on the brain. Sharon Begley wrote about this in the July 24 issues of Science and Technology. Music promotes connective ability. It isn't just a means of recreation. It increases brainpower.
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What does music teach other than an appreciation for rhythm? I'm speaking of classical music here, not rock and roll. Measurement, proportion, and pattern perception are some of the positive affects of music education. I'm a former teacher, mother, and piano player so I am biased in favor of music education. It gives me great pleasure when my son visits and we play our keyboards together. And when I go to his house he has tambourines, drums, and other percussion instruments.
When I taught kindergarten music was always an activity that all the children enjoyed participating in. As a group activity it is great. Children pay close attention to the words of songs and love to join in. This helps increase their ability to listen and learn. Musical instruments add to the pleasure while teaching children a sense of rhythm.
Experts such like Jeanne Bamberge, MITprofessor have done studies to prove the positive affect of music on children's learning abilities. She is the designer of programs for the Graham and