Why Arts Education Is Crucial

I feel incredibly lucky to work at two schools that value our arts programs and support them as we build our schedules and budgets.  However, in education as a whole right now, there is a push to focus on the Common Core-- literacy and math.  Of course these areas are immensely important, but it is equally important to recognize the role that the arts may play in helping children to achieve in all areas, including these Common Core subjects and areas of social and emotional growth.  This article shows that there is a strong connection between art education and academic success and that the arts are essential to the development of our students.  

From the article

Why Arts Education Is Crucial, and Who's Doing It Best

on Edutopia.com

"Art does not solve problems, but makes us aware of their existence," sculptor Magdalena Abakanowicz has said. Arts education, on the other hand, does solve problems. Years of research show that it's closely linked to almost everything that we as a nation say we want for our children and demand from our schools: academic achievement, social and emotional development, civic engagement, and equitable opportunity.

Involvement in the arts is associated with gains in math, reading, cognitive ability, critical thinking, and verbal skill. Arts learning can also improve motivation, concentration, confidence, and teamwork."

Click here to read the rest of this article.  

Sunflowers in the garden

Despite this morning's frost, 9or perhaps because of it,) today was the most beautiful fall day.  Our wonderful school garden is in full bloom, especially the many varieties of sunflowers.  Kindergarten artists took advantage of these simple joys by taking our art class outdoors.  We brought oil pastels and clip boards into the garden to work on drawing sunflowers from observation. 

Kindergarten Stations

In kindergarten art class we explored different types of art materials at stations. We used construction paper crayons, dot markers, white boards and free draw with markers. In addition to improving our art skills, we are practicing working together, listening and following directions and caring for our art materials.

Portrait drawing tutorials

Here are three online guides to portrait drawing.  These should help you learn about proper placement of all of the facial features and will give you some tips about how to make your self portrait more realistic.

The first link gives a basic overview of drawing a proportional face.  The second link is more detailed and focused on making your portrait as realistic as possible.

Choose the one that is right for you, use what you can from the online lesson and proceed at your own pace!  

Click here to watch a "Show Me" tutorial about portrait drawing:

Portrait "Show Me" Tutorial

Check out this link for a more detailed tutorial about drawing realistic faces:

Drawing Detailed Realistic Faces

Here are some tips for drawing each individual feature on the face:
artifactory.com

ARTISTS:  Please Comment!  Were these online tutorials helpful to you?  What did you like about learning this way?  What was challenging?  Are you proud of your work?

Why art matters in education

"Working together" Circles

"Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success." -Henry Ford

Each student made an individual quarter circle. We put the pieces together to make whole circles, illustrating the point that we are each essential to the whole and that together we can do great things. Artists focused on using patterns and making their artwork stand out. 

It's photo day!

I love photo day because everyone looks so sharp!  Don't worry, we will not be using clay, paper mâché or permanent paint in art class today!

We Rock!

Students are excited about our new system of recognizing positive behaviors around our school. In art class and all other parts of the school day, a student may receive a small card if he or she is "caught in the act" of following our school-wide expectations. We are especially promoting several key student behaviors, which we have identified as essential for student success in and out of school. They are engagement, responsibility, safety and kindness.  With a little creativity, this loosely works out to the acronym WE ROCK.  In art class over the first few weeks of school, we will be discussing what this "rockstar” behavior might look like.

Being ENGAGED looks like:
listening, following directions, being focused, raising your hand, helping clean up, answering a question, looking at the speaker, doing your best, "Stop, look and listen" when you hear the bell, working hard

Being RESPONSIBLE looks like:
keeping a reasonable volume, helping clean up, taking care of art materials, respecting musical instruments, respectfully helping others remember classroom expectations

Being SAFE looks like:
moving carefully in the art room, using materials safely and appropriately, following instructions, having safe hands and bodies

Being KIND looks like:
using kind words, sharing materials and space, giving thoughtful and truthful compliments, helping a classmate, making all classmates feel welcome and valued


WHAT ELSE??  Classes will continue to add to these lists as we discuss our art room expectations and continue to earn cards toward our school-wide goals.

Building Citizenship

I believe that it is essential for our schools to prepare students to be engaged and active citizens. We are lucky enough to live in a tightly-knit community that thrives on community involvement and strong support for our neighbors. One of the main focal points of our art program is guiding students toward active citizenship. Check out this great article about ways to promote community involvement. Are there any items on this list that your family already has done?  

Click here to read about the Building Blocks of Citizenship

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