Key points from the article -
- Skills development
- Expressing your feelings
- Confidence
- Perseverance and Dedication
- Accountability
- Focus
- Visual Learning
- Connection to your roots
A child’s all round growth and development depend on a lot of factors. Bookish education is not enough, all children are different and while some are good at math some are good at art. Honing and crafting your own skills are essential for an all-round education for children. Listed below are a few benefits of learning art.
- Skills development:
Art helps with the development of motor-skills, language skills, social skills, decision and inventiveness. Art experiences boost critical thinking, teaching students to take the time to be more careful and thorough in how they observe the world. Simple skills such as holding a paintbrush and scribbling with crayons are important elements in developing a child’s mind. According to the National Institutes of Health, developmental milestones around age 3 should include drawing circles, starting to use safety scissors. Around the age of four, children may be able to draw a square and begin cutting straight lines with scissors.
- Expressing your feelings:
There are many benefits to learning an art form. Be it dancing, singing, drawing, artists alike will agree that expressing you feelings through your art form is a great way of channeling all your energies towards what’s yours. Art is about expressions and when and how do you choose to display it. Let your kids learn to channel their anger, their feeling through their art form.
- Confidence:
Getting up on a stage and performing requires strength and confidence. Performing arts lets you step out of your comfort zone and perform. As they improve and see their own progress, their self-confidence will continue to grow. As parents we must also tell kids that it’s okay if they mess up on the stage. When performing live, it’s easy to forget a step or make a mistake. As the primary caregivers of our children it’s important to teach kids that a small failure won’t define them and that their failures won’t define them. As long as you have the confidence and the right skill set, nothing is impossible and too difficult.
- Perseverance and Dedication:
Learning anything comes with its own set of challenges. There will be times when your child becomes frustrated with trying to learn and master their art and may want to quit, that when you as parents should step in and talk to your children. It’s important to show them that nothing is impossible. Encourage them to take a break when things get tough and that they come give it a try again with a fresh mind. Kids should learn the importance of hard work and perseverance.
- Accountability:
When kids perform together in a group they learn that they are accountable for their contributions to the group. When performing in a group, there’s the pressure to perform and also to take responsibility of their actions and the impact it can cause on others. This teaches kids responsible behavior. When things get tough, children must talk to their peers and or teachers and seek help when required rather than just giving up. That’s when they need to refocus and continue with learning their skills because what they do affects others in their group. This teaches children responsibility. They’re responsible for their actions and hence their inevitable consequences. Teach your kids that mistakes are a part of life, learning to accept them, fix the, and move on will serve kids well as they grow older.
- Focus:
You can’t master a craft without putting your mind to it and focusing on it wholly and completely. Kids learn that focusing on the task at hand is pertinent for their own personal growth. Ignoring any and all distractions they may face will help them greatly in the future. Focus is vital for studying and learning in class. Being able to focus and ignore the factors that are
disturbing them is a great skill for children to learn and will help them through the course of their life.
- Visual Learning:
Especially for young kids, drawing, painting, and sculpting in art class help develop visual-spatial skills. According to Dr. Kerry Freedman, Head of Art and Design Education at Northern Illinois University says, Children need to know more about the world than just what they can learn through text and numbers. Kids will leave school eventually and face the real world. The real world is soo much more than just numbers and texts. There is art everywhere we look. Art education teaches students how to interpret, criticize, and use visual information and how to make choices based on it.
- Connection to your roots:
Indian art forms are rich in culture and is filled with history. Learning an art, their origin and their story while performing is a great way for children to learn their about their roots and their rich culture. Bharatnatyam for example is a major form of Indian classical dancing that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one the oldest classical dance traditions in India. It has been nurtured in the temples and courts of Southern India since the ancient era. This shows the kind of history that’s deeply rooted in this dance form and dance forms like these should not be forgotten.
At Shivneri boarding school students can learn classical dancing, play the tabla, draw and cook. Learning these skills give your kids an edge over others. Here they can really master their craft and learn from it. Joining our school’s club means that they’ll be learning and practicing with their friends which can be great because when kids learn together, the chances of them quitting is less. Moreover, since we are a boarding school, your child has more hours to practice here with their friends even outside the realms of their classrooms. Teachers are always around campus, kids can go talk to their teachers anytime they’re stuck somewhere. They won’t have to wait for the next working day to solve a problem. Morever, nowadays dancing, singing are not just hobbies. You can do your post-graduation in these fields and can be great as a career option for your children.