by Pennie Sempell
Reading and math. Math and reading. While these giants need no introduction, this article is a gentle reminder that giving your child the opportunity to participate in creative activities and musical expression can help develop skills that are also important for success in school and life.
What is happening in the brain when children participate in the arts? This has been a topic of research since the 1990s, when parents began playing the music of Mozart to their babies, hoping to raise I.Q. While popularized theories such as the Mozart Effect, have not received the scientific backing that eager parents had hoped for, what is emerging is a body of new research on the unique contributions that arts education plays in cognitive development. The Dana Consortium Report of Arts and Cognition summarized research over a 3 year period, the results of a $2.1 million project, that published in “Learning, Arts and the Brain” (2008).
The researchers concluded that a child’s attention can be improved with arts education. This impacts cognition. Separate from the on-going inquiry into measurable results of arts education, there is an increasing look into the strengths that cannot be so readily measured. Jessica Davis, cognitive development psychologist and founder of the Arts in Education program at Harvard Graduate School authored “Why Our Schools Need the Arts”. She observes “The arts introduce children to connectivity, engagement, and allow a sense of identification with, and responsibility for, others.” The arts also provide a unique opportunity for emotional expression.
We need not chose between academics and the arts. Cross-curricular materials can provide children with the best of both – for example, supplemental materials that reinforce language arts lessons through sing-along. Seek out innovative tools that help your child use creativity to develop attention, cognition, and emotional expression, and likely more.
Pennie Sempell is an integrative health therapist and wellness educator who works with children and adults of all ages and needs. Pennie has taught preschool in Washington, D.C. and California, and directed an aquatic fitness program for children. She has earned numerous professional certifications in mediation and peer counseling, research-based mind-body therapies, and traditional healing art therapies.
Visit her new site for FREE resources: www.healthierhappierlife.com
Reading and math. Math and reading. While these giants need no introduction, this article is a gentle reminder that giving your child the opportunity to participate in creative activities and musical expression can help develop skills that are also important for success in school and life.
What is happening in the brain when children participate in the arts? This has been a topic of research since the 1990s, when parents began playing the music of Mozart to their babies, hoping to raise I.Q. While popularized theories such as the Mozart Effect, have not received the scientific backing that eager parents had hoped for, what is emerging is a body of new research on the unique contributions that arts education plays in cognitive development. The Dana Consortium Report of Arts and Cognition summarized research over a 3 year period, the results of a $2.1 million project, that published in “Learning, Arts and the Brain” (2008).
The researchers concluded that a child’s attention can be improved with arts education. This impacts cognition. Separate from the on-going inquiry into measurable results of arts education, there is an increasing look into the strengths that cannot be so readily measured. Jessica Davis, cognitive development psychologist and founder of the Arts in Education program at Harvard Graduate School authored “Why Our Schools Need the Arts”. She observes “The arts introduce children to connectivity, engagement, and allow a sense of identification with, and responsibility for, others.” The arts also provide a unique opportunity for emotional expression.
We need not chose between academics and the arts. Cross-curricular materials can provide children with the best of both – for example, supplemental materials that reinforce language arts lessons through sing-along. Seek out innovative tools that help your child use creativity to develop attention, cognition, and emotional expression, and likely more.
Pennie Sempell is an integrative health therapist and wellness educator who works with children and adults of all ages and needs. Pennie has taught preschool in Washington, D.C. and California, and directed an aquatic fitness program for children. She has earned numerous professional certifications in mediation and peer counseling, research-based mind-body therapies, and traditional healing art therapies.
Visit her new site for FREE resources: www.healthierhappierlife.com
