“The arts provide a more comprehensive and insightful education because they invite students to explore the emotional, intuituve, and irrational aspects of life that science is hard pressed to explain. ”   - Charles Fowler

There is a good article from the A R Valley Arts Center about the importance of arts in education with references to research that backs it up.  It starts out with…

One of the most important aspects of art shows in the results of extensive studies that have proven that students who participate in the arts score higher on SAT tests regardless of socio-economic status. (1)  

Art programs targeted toward very young children help prevent negative choices later on. Young children who participate in after-school arts programs have shown a decrease in negative behaviors and increases in attention span, commitment and tolerance. (4)

Check out the rest of the article here. http://www.arvartscenter.org/education.htm

More and more evidence is being found that for children (and consequently adults) to increase their academic success as well as a whole range of other good skills, it is vital for them to learn and participate in arts and music.  

Does your child learn and practice art and music?  What can you and your local schools and politicians do about that?

Here are some videos talking about the importance of art and music in education.  Make sure your government reps are taking steps to truly educate your children in public school.

 

Have some fun on the web with art.  This blog post lists several fun sites for exploring art.
http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/kbosch/2009/04/06/eight-great-interactive-sites-that-let-you-paint-like-a-famous-artist/

 

“Art doesn’t transform. It just plain forms.”
Roy Lichtenstein

by David Morgan

In every class you will find children displaying this phenomenon.

There are many children who struggle with reading, while being evidently bright and hard working.

Initially everything can seem OK. But, while other children’s reading progresses steadily, these children will hit a plateau at around 6. As the text they are expected to read gets more complicated, they will get more and more confused, often guessing wildly.

In the end their reading will go into reverse as their confidence implodes. They can feel the worry of their teacher and parents, but don’t know what to do.

These children will often be labelled dyslexic. But that is quite wrong.

Dyslexia suggests there is some underlying problem that cannot be overcome.

But these children have no real reason not to be able to read. They are just approaching it in the wrong way.

Let me explain what’s happening.

A very visual child will find the alphabet easy to memorise. Then the first words they are show they will memorise as well. Everyone praises their progress and as far as they know, they are reading. The early reader books feed into this by using a very limited vocabulary that repeats a lot.

So all seems well.

But this approach implodes on them as the text gets more complicated. Some children will be able to switch to decoding words phonetically, because they also have a strong natural auditory ability. They can see how the sounds within the speech relate to the text.

Others cannot make the switch without careful instruction. Their auditory perception just isn’t up to hearing the phonic structure of the words.

And these are the children that get stuck.

You will see them guessing wildly, just using the context and the first letter of the word.

They find themselves down a cul-de-sac and don’t know the way out. At the same time they can feel how worried their teacher and parents are, but can’t do any more than they already are.

Without expert guidance, these children will become part of the 20% who still cannot read properly by the age of 11. Their academic career and earning potential for the rest of their lives hangs in the balance at this moment.

And what a tragedy. We routinely watch them become confident readers in just a few weeks. They only need to be guided back onto the right path.

The label dyslexic is very dangerous. It lets everyone off the hook of actually finding a solution. And still consigns the child to a lower and tougher track through life.

About the Author:
For more information on how to help a child learn to read have a look at our site. You will find a range of information on ways to fix most causes of dyslexia. It’s often quite easy!

by David Morgan

In every class you will find children displaying this phenomenon.

There are many children who struggle with reading, while being evidently bright and hard working.

Initially everything can seem OK. But, while other children’s reading progresses steadily, these children will hit a plateau at around 6. As the text they are expected to read gets more complicated, they will get more and more confused, often guessing wildly.

In the end their reading will go into reverse as their confidence implodes. They can feel the worry of their teacher and parents, but don’t know what to do.

These children will often be labelled dyslexic. But that is quite wrong.

Dyslexia suggests there is some underlying problem that cannot be overcome.

But these children have no real reason not to be able to read. They are just approaching it in the wrong way.

Let me explain the process.

A child will always approach a problem in what seems the easiest way. To a visual child, memorising the alphabet and simple words seems easy. People praise their achievement. So they think that they are reading. And early reader books encourage this with a very limited vocabulary.

So all seems well.

But this technique gets more and more difficult as the text gets more complex. Children with a good natural ear for the phonic structure in words will now switch to decoding the words instead.

Others cannot naturally distinguish the sounds within the words (phonemes) and so cannot relate them to the letter patterns that represent them in text (graphemes). At least not without quite a bit of careful instruction.

And these are the ones that have major problems.

You will see them guessing wildly, just using the context and the first letter of the word.

They are frustrated and puzzled by their situation and don’t know the way out of it. They can sense the frustration of their teacher and parents, but have actually been doing their best.

One in five children reach the age of 11 unable to read properly and these children make up a large proportion of that group. It is a disaster for their academic career and working life.

And what a tragedy. We routinely watch them become confident readers in just a few weeks. They only need to be guided back onto the right path.

The label dyslexic carries a great risk that everyone will just relax into acceptance of the situation as inevitable. That leaves the child to deal with a much harder path through life.

About the Author:
For more information on helping every child learn to read have a look at our site. You will find a mass of tips on ways to fix most causes of dyslexia. There is usually a solution!

by Danise B. Keasda

As parents, we all know the importance of a top quality education for our children. It does not take a special education degree to know and understand just how important schooling is for our children. Now, you can become your child’s teacher and reap the rewards of home schooling! In the past few years, a strong movement has occurred in the home school endeavor. Parents everywhere are joining together and enjoying educating their children at home.

Today, more than ever before, parents are starting to know and understand the importance of a solid education with active participants from the family. Here, I will express the benefits of educating children at home as the parent of two children that are home schooled.

When a family decides to homeschool their children, it is extremely beneficial in that it actually enables the bond between all individuals to become stronger. In families where the children attend a traditional “brick and mortar” school, it is common to see distance between everyone – as each person seemingly goes their own way. In the home school family, nine times out of ten, the focus of attention goes to the children and their upbringing.

In the homeschool family, it is common to see that the attention is placed on the education of the child, or children in the home. Schedules put the educational and moral upbringing of the child or children as priority. The bond of the entire family unit is actually strengthened.

The next benefit to providing a home school education to your child is that you can take their individual beliefs, learning styles, personalities, and more and turn it into a customized learning plan that can be really beneficial to that child. You have the choice to teach the lessons as you want and apply the plans that are best for that particular child. Just as long as you stick to the educational guidelines that are put in place by your state, you have as much flexibility as you want and/or need.

There are many different ways that you can teach your children from the comfort of your home. You can integrate the use of poetry, puppets, blocks, art, music, and more! In addition to this, if you have specific religious values that you want your child to learn, you can also incorporate these lessons into your day to day activities. You and your child can experience a lot of flexibility when it comes to scheduling, lesson plans, and activities in general when home schooling!

Many children are locked in the same classroom day after day, studying the same books, and not receiving the personalized attention that they need to succeed. However, if you elect to home school your child, they can enjoy a lot of flexibility in where they study, where they receive instruction, as well as how they learn in general. This is a major benefit of providing your children with a home school education!

There are many unique strategies that can be used to teach children in a homeschool environment are numerous. Many parents incorporate field trips, community service, nature walks, and various other types of outdoor and educational experiences in order to supplement the lessons that they provide to their students. Having this luxury is extremely beneficial.

Home schooling allows parents the opportunity to take responsibility for the education of their children. The home classroom has evolved in such a way that it makes use of computer technology, the internet, hands on training and lessons, and various other things. All of these, when combined, creates an enriching and stimulating educational setting for children. There is no more “uniformity” in the educational environment. This environment has flexibility and creative approaches when it comes to stimulating the minds of today’s youth.

If the home school approach sounds exciting to you, and you feel that your child will grow from it, you should research the opportunities in your community. You may find that there are a lot more resources and methods of assisting your child than you ever imagined! Home schooling your child may be the best choice you ever make!

About the Author:
Authored by Danise B. Keasda, a skilled teacher for more than 12 years. She has been writing about home schooling since the 90’s. She is an expert in helping families find resources for writing lessons and paragraph writing exercises.

by David Morgan

Most teachers of 5 and 6-year-old children will tell you how baffled they can be by this phenomenon.

There will be bright children in the class, who work hard but struggle to read.

Initially everything can seem OK. But, while other children’s reading progresses steadily, these children will hit a plateau at around 6. As the text they are expected to read gets more complicated, they will get more and more confused, often guessing wildly.

And then their confidence collapses under the pressure. They can feel everyone’s concern and don’t know what to do to fix the problem.

Sometimes this leads to a diagnosis of dyslexia, which is quite wrong.

Dyslexia is a broad term that covers any fundamental problem with reading despite normal intelligence.

But these children are usually just trying to read the wrong way. There is no reason why they should not be able to read.

Let me explain what’s happening.

A very visual child will find the alphabet easy to memorise. Then the first words they are show they will memorise as well. Everyone praises their progress and as far as they know, they are reading. The early reader books feed into this by using a very limited vocabulary that repeats a lot.

So all seems well.

But this technique gets more and more difficult as the text gets more complex. Children with a good natural ear for the phonic structure in words will now switch to decoding the words instead.

Others cannot make the switch without careful instruction. Their auditory perception just isn’t up to hearing the phonic structure of the words.

And these children are heading for failure

They become more and more addicted to wild guessing, using the context and the first letter of the word as cues.

They find themselves down a cul-de-sac and don’t know the way out. At the same time they can feel how worried their teacher and parents are, but can’t do any more than they already are.

Without expert guidance, these children will become part of the 20% who still cannot read properly by the age of 11. Their academic career and earning potential for the rest of their lives hangs in the balance at this moment.

And what a tragedy. We routinely watch them become confident readers in just a few weeks. They only need to be guided back onto the right path.

The label dyslexic carries a great risk that everyone will just relax into acceptance of the situation as inevitable. That leaves the child to deal with a much harder path through life.

About the Author:
For more information on helping every child learn to read have a look at our site. You will find a mass of tips on techniques to cure almost every form of dyslexia. It’s often quite easy!