Arts and music are two important disciplines that form part of the joy of humanity. Sadly, these two subjects are too often considered to be more of a luxury than a necessity. Over the past several years, schools have overlooked creative arts and music in education, in favor of subjects they consider more ‘useful’ and ‘relevant’ such as mathematics and science. It’s important to note that music and arts play a significant role in the development of young minds and help the community thrive economically. Here are some of the ways arts and music help young people learn and develop important characteristics that will be valuable to them when they become adults.
Art and Music Programs Give young minds “the desire to learn”
Art- in the form of crafts, cutting things, painting, and drawing- involves fine motor skills which allow children to learn basic concepts of borders and boundaries, patterns, size and shape, color, design, and direction. Music, on the other hand, allows the young mind to learn how to identify rhymes and discriminate between different pitches and sounds. Music makes children better learners since discipline is involved. Arts and music programs, therefore, provide educators with an opportunity to kick-start the children’s desire to learn, establishing a strong foundation for learning.
Creativity
Arts and music allow young people to express themselves better than other subjects like science and math. Music has a way of engaging people that are disengaged, vulnerable, or less confident as it creates a different kind of creative space. Arts and music programs often involve the practice of thinking creatively which develops naturally and become beneficial in the future.
Visual Learning
Art activities usually involve many different fine motor skills which teach student how to create, criticize, interpret, and use visual information. Through painting, drawing, sculpting, and other arts and crafts, your child will develop numerous visual-perceptual skills and learn how to make choices based on visual information.
Confidence
Whether your child intends to pursue creative arts or music as a career, or whether it’s just for fun in school, it’s important he or she gets involved in these subjects. Arts and music play a crucial role in the mental and physical wellbeing of young people, building confidence even as they get challenged and inspired. These subjects give people an opportunity to step outside their comfort zone, thereby growing their self-confidence.
Decision Making
As mentioned, music and creative arts allow people to express themselves in a creative manner. As a result, these subjects help you to learn and develop critical thinking and problem solving skills. To be a good mathematician you need to be creative and have decision making skills. These are the same skills you need to be a good artist. Being involved in arts will strengthen your child’s decision making skills which they’ll certainly carry over into other parts of life.
Accountability
Arts and music programs in education involve working in groups which provides for accountability. One gets to learn that they can’t just make mistakes since they’re accountable to the group. There’s no better way for your child to learn to take responsibility for their actions and contributions than through arts programs. As they participate in these programs, they learn to accept their mistakes, fix them, and move on. You realize this is an important aspect of life as mistakes are inevitable.
The collaboration that comes with working together teaches your child the importance of sharing responsibility and compromising to achieve a common goal. Furthermore, they learn to persevere and stay focused, despite feeling frustrated and wanting to quit. Everyone should view arts and music programs as an investment and not a burden. There’s no better way to get kids and young people to express themselves in a healthy way than through arts and music.