Make Art a Part of Everyday Life
Research has shown the arts can enhance learning—the key is how parents, teachers and communities can incorporate the arts in children’s everyday lives
This article was originally published in Mind, Brain and Education
Family engagement, in many forms, has been shown to be an essential component to successful learning for children. A child’s first exposure to the arts is often through family rituals and traditions. New research suggests these activities can form the basis for personal exploration and skill development and reinforce in-school learning. Because public schools continue to reduce art programs due to budgetary contraction, families and communities need to enhance and increase their commitment to informal arts and learning opportunities. These experiences can occur at home, in youth and arts museums, and in libraries and family-based organizations as evidenced by a range of events already underway throughout the country. Communication and outreach about the relevance and the science of arts and learning for families needs to be expanded. By recognizing the important role families hold it is possible to enhance learning through the arts at home and in the community. More targeted research is required to better understand how families can use the rich array of arts-integrated experiences in age-appropriate ways to enhance literacy, numeracy, social-emotional skills, and more.
For additional references and to view Susan’s original article which appeared in the IMBES Journal, click here.
Home is where the arts are often first shared with children. From lullabies to bedtime stories, finger painting to bucket bands, home is where families naturally introduce the arts to translate and symbolize values, ethics, habits, and cultural rituals and traditions. Regardless of a child’s age, there are developmentally engaging, and medium-specific, explorations for a child to experience the world through the arts. Home is where rich, positive, and safe environments are created to allow children to explore, create, make mistakes, and try again. It seems that, regardless of time limitations on busy families, parents and primary child care providers bring art experiences to children through endless personalized interpretations.
Yet we often labor under great misconceptions about the value of the arts when it comes to raising children. What if parents could be informed with knowledge about how the arts can enhance learning? Imagine researchers, families, and educators joining together to expand the impact of the arts at home, in school, in neighborhoods, and in the community at large. The benefits could be significant for our children and society.
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The Challenge to Build Strong Bonds Between Home and Schools
The loss of the arts in schools robs many children of much of their access to music, dance, theater, creative writing, and visual arts—the very vehicles by which motivation, problem solving, self-discovery, context, and meaningful learning may be gained. With or without much knowledge or training, the reduction and loss of arts programs in the schools put even more responsibility on families and the community to provide quality arts experiences that inform learning than ever before. Families need to be strong partners with schools on behalf of their children.
As the most influential people in a child’s life, families have a tremendous opportunity to support, enhance, and promote the arts. ‘‘Everything points to the critical link between schools and home that bridges performance arts, arts appreciation, and arts integration. This link needs to be nurtured so that the arts can contribute fully to the development of future skills including collaboration and creativity,’’ said Kurt Fischer, the Charles Bigelow Professor of Education and Director of the Mind, Brain, and Education Program at Harvard Graduate School of Education. ‘‘Without this consistency and integrated support between school and home, it is very difficult for children to succeed in learning the many skills and strategies that they naturally learn from the arts.’’
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