Archives for May 2016

Regardless of the social and economic circumstances of our time, the arts have an essential place in the balanced education of our children.

In all the education discussion I hear and the literature I read, the arts are consistently given little to no attention.  At the same time, a large portion of our population is tired of having to plead to make the case for arts in schools.  We all want an education system that delivers a broad-based curriculum that takes into account the continuing and varied needs of our children — not a system obsessed with academic learning alone.

While many in our world still think that the arts are for a chosen few and that “artists” are simply “born that way”, I believe that our narrowed thinking of creativity is more due to a lack of contact time of creative subjects in schools.  To get people to think about the issue of arts in a child’s school life, I start with a basic question:  What would happen if any subject was delivered only once a week in school?  And doesn’t that mean that there aren’t more creative people in our world simply because we do not cultivate that creativity in school on a daily basis?

Here are three awful truths about the adverse effects from a lack of arts in schools has on our children:

[Read more…]

There is no more exciting or important time in a child’s musical life than the day they choose which instrument they want to learn to play in school.  More often than not, this choice occurs on a day where the instruments of the band and orchestra are introduced to students during an assembly or some other format.

In order to ignite the proper spark in students, it’s crucial that their first exposure to instruments that are offered is well planned and extremely well executed.  The more thought and preparation that goes in to the presentation, the more rewarding the musical experience will be for years to come for students, parents and teachers.

The instrument demonstration is also a unique opportunity for children, teachers, and professional musicians to come together in mutually beneficial ways — this “trifecta” of arts immersion is the key to a successful school arts programs.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when introducing instruments to children on a “recruiting day”:

[Read more…]