In my district, they have reduced the elementary students to ONE day a week (45 minutes) of both art and music. Imagine trying to teach anything to kindergarten students for 45 minutes. And imagine trying to provide consistency for 5th grade students and only seeing them once a week.

When they hit sixth grade, they have one elective every day. The options are Art, Band, Choir, Spanish, Strings, Theater Arts, or Office Aide.

This means that nearly half of the students in the district end up graduating with a grand total of somewhere right around 325 hours of combined art and music classes.

We are not in peril of funding cuts for the programs (Texas high school football requires a well-funded band program). But there are numerous foreseeable problems that could potentially happen as a result.

For the quick answer, Ashok, I would say both are important and it is never really too early. But obviously what you covered has to be geared to the age group you are talking about.

I have connected art with science, history, math, etc., but we take time to appreciate it on its own as well. It does tell a lot about a culture and about an individual within the culture so can easily be used to demonstrate themes of a period.

Just curious, kinda want to see the reasoning that might go into this in a later entry.

I enjoy art, so I know that my children get some knowledge just through that, but as you thoughtfully stated there is much to be learned by taking the time to teach and reflect on the creative expressions of man.

1. http://www.aboutadidam.org/readings/art_is_love/index.html

Plus a related essay on the necessity of Sacred Culture for the cultivation of true sanity, and also the necessary place within which Sacred Art can only be “produced”.

2. http://www.dabase.org/restsacr.htm

Plus unique essays on Conscious Child-Rearing

3. http://www.dabase.org/children.htm

Kaz, I think you misunderstood my entry. I have no “fear and disinterest in using art to teach mathematical skills.” It is a wonderful addition. I do that myself with my children.

But that is not THE reason for teaching art and should not be THE reason that we argue for keeping the arts in schools. Art is important in its own right, not merely for its ability to promote skills in the core areas.

Good luck!
Kaz
http://mathematicalpoetry.blogspot.com

I studied Egyptian, Greek, and Roman art and history all in one course. It was fascinating. Since children have a natural affinity for “hands on” projects, art as a course provides the “doing” part of school while at the same time giving historical depth. Crafts are fun for elementary age, but as the child matures, art can be the greatest tool in exposing the student to other cultures, concepts, and histories.

I especially liked your cartoon, lol. I do not remember my own art classes ever being like that (although my teacher once gave me an A- because I copied his own drawing perfectly– as a prank), I can understand how children can take such things to heart. Kids are very sensitive about their self-expression. Throwing them into a performance-based class where their individual expression is judged by their peers expressions, is, in my opinion, harmful to the young student. Art is an expression of what you see and what you think. In education, it is an important component of understanding other people and their environments, too.

Art is an interpretive subject when taught well - what did the artist mean, what is he/she saying, what is her/his history that might prompt the creation of this particular arwork, what could you say yourself through art, etc..

Particularly in school outside the home, critical thinking and original interpretation are exceedingly rare. Creative writing, art, and even art history are important core subjects, I think, for future success.