Arts & Music: Singing Praises of Arts Education
By Mimi Rothschild
It's no secret that California school children are shortchanged when it comes to arts education, but the extent we've fallen behind is truly sobering.
According to the California Arts Council, the state spends just 3 cents per capita on the arts, ranking it dead last among the 50 states.
That said, we in San Luis Obispo County owe a debt of gratitude -- along with a standing ovation -- to the dedicated educators and the generous private donors and arts organizations that are keeping music, art, dance and drama alive in our local schools.
One example: San Luis Obispo Symphony is gearing up to conduct a schoolwide pilot program in music appreciation at C.L. Smith Elementary School.
Starting this fall, daily five-minute lessons in classical music appreciation will be taught in every class at Smith.
Here's more music to the ears: The symphony is footing the bill for all the materials, which consist of a library of classical CDs and "scripts" that will help teachers present the lessons. Eventually, the symphony hopes to expand the program to other campuses throughout the county.
Why devote time to classical composers -- Mozart, Vivaldi and Bach among them -- in this high-tech age when computers, science and math are considered the key survival skills for the 21st century?
As county schools Superintendent Julian Crocker notes, there is plenty of evidence linking training in the arts to higher student achievement. But it goes far beyond that.
"It's not just that art has a utilitarian purpose," Crocker said. "It has a personal purpose. ... It gives us pleasure, expands the mind, creates a more livable community. That's worth it in and of itself."
As arts educator and author Laura Zakaras recently told educators gathered at Cal Poly, the arts have value that can't be measured in dollars and cents or higher test scores.
We're in harmony with that.
Learning to appreciate and evaluate art at an early age will have lifelong benefits -- long after the historical dates and scientific formulas learned in school have faded from memory -- and that's striking the right chord for our kids.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mimi Rothschild is a homeschooling mother, writer, children's rights advocate, and Founder and C.E.O. of home education company Learning by Grace, Inc. She and her husband of 28 years reside with their 8 children right outside Philadelphia, PA.
Rothschild launched Learning By Grace, Inc. because she believed that our nation's public school system has failed parents and students. Learning By Grace, Inc. offers online education through a multimedia-rich curriculum to PreK-12 children across the country and throughout the world.
An accomplished author, Rothschild has written books regarding education published by McGraw Hill and others. Her Homeschooling News Café Blog consists of the most current and relevant education news.Electronic reproduction of this article is permitted if content is published unchanged, appropriate credit is given, and the article title links to corresponding article webpage.
