Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Art, part 1

Art, part 1

What is art and why is it important that we include it in home education?
By one definition, art is the product of human creativity. Wow, that is an incredible definition. Another definition says that art is what gives form to the imagination of man. By both of those definitions it is possible to see how important art can be to education. Beyond the nebulous definitions of art, it is possible to see that art and music are both associated with higher scores on standardized tests. If you just take that much information it is easy to see why art should be included in homeschool education.

In a time when society is putting increased emphasis on the scores of standardized tests, and schools are responding to the emphasis by “teaching to the test”, art and music are two types of courses that tend to be downsized. Some parents have pulled their children from institutional school settings as a response to the de-emphasis on art and music. And among those students who remain in schools, parents increasingly argue that art and music not be deleted from their children’s course of study. They quote the statistics that show higher test scores among students who study art and music as reasons to continue funding of those programs.

One question to ask here is whether the art and music actually cause the higher scores. Some people would argue that the study of art and music does not, in and of itself, make students smarter, resulting in the higher scores. Those people would argue that maybe the study of art and music actually teach skills that are not taught in other subjects. It is possible that new skills are not taught, but that skills taught in other subjects are reinforced in a different way. Next time, we will look at some of those skills.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Audio Books, part 2

Audio Books, part 2

Previously, we mentioned audio books and their benefits to young readers. Audio books offer the opportunity for your child to practice listening skills and comprehension. Improved attention span is another benchmark that gets listed for fifth grade. A story that is engaging, entertaining, and does not require working at the written word makes it easier for students to pay attention to it longer. Some students, with ADD/ADHD teaching challenges, find that because their hands can be occupied with something besides holding the book, they can listen longer, extending their attention span. Listening to an audio book also means that children with attention issues get more practice, and the reward is that they get a good story out of it. If their attention wavers, then they miss part of the story.

Even if you do not want to consider audio books actual “reading” there are two other skills that are improved by listening to audio books. Grammar and vocabulary use both can benefit. By hearing the way a sentence should be structured, and realizing what type of sentences sound right and which sound wrong, children learn by example. Vocabulary use and comprehension can also benefit from hearing the words spoken. Children are presented with examples of words used in sentences, in a spoken format, so that they know how a word is pronounced. By hearing the word in context, they are presented with a meaning of the words, and examples of use. Children who listen to audio books often score higher on vocabulary portions of tests.

As a final thought when deciding whether or not to utilize audio books in your child’s homeschool education consider these benefits. Your child will still get practice in critical thinking. He or she will still have practice in recognizing the literary elements of theme, character, plot, climax and conclusion. They will gain an appreciation for literature. And they will still have the opportunity to escape to other worlds and other times, exercising their imagination. Aren’t all of those examples part of the reason we read in the first place?