ART

In our first Arts input we were introduced to the benefits of art in the classroom and how children actually begin their development in writing with a form of art. Children do not have the experience to be able to form letters when they are young, therefore, the begin with scribbles and drawings. This is described by Lowenfield and Brittain as the scribbling stage, the pre-schematic stage, the schematic stage and finally the gang stage (McAuliffe, 2007).

This was interesting as I have never been enthusiastic towards art during my school career, but I now understand how important it is for children in beginning to form letters. It is also important that children get the opportunity to express themselves through art during their time in primary school as it has been shown to have positive effect on other areas of the curriculum for them (Smith, 2009).

During this input we had the opportunity to look at artwork from children at all stages of the primary. Seeing this was helpful in many ways as we not only got to experience the progression from early level up to second level, but we had the chance to consider the resources provided for each piece. Resources are a huge part in the making of artwork and this is entirely down to the teacher.

What I have taken from this input is that no art is too messy when it lets the children be creative. There is always a way around mess and resources. Allowing children the opportunity to create something with appropriate resources allows children to really open up and have a tolerance for ambiguity.

 

Music

‘Music has a power of forming the character and should therefore be introduced into the education of the young’ – Aristotle 

In this session we got an introduction into music within education. We discussed how music can have an effect on our moods and also how it is a fun way to remember facts, for example the alphabet. Learning music can really benefit children and has shown to have links with performance in other curricular areas.

We looked into how certain types of music can convey different moods and make you feel different things. There was a particular piece of music we listened to which was a piano piece by disney, and from listening to this we were to create our own story that fit with the music.

Doing this kind of activity with children would really allow them to us their imagination and be creative. Not only do they get the opportunity to engage with the music, they can go about it in a way that is their own. I feel that this is beneficial way to begin teaching young children music, especially in early and first level, as they can really connect with the music and imagine in their heads what kinds of different moods different music can have.

Not only is music itself a subject that children will be taught and have the opportunity to engage with, but using music cross curricular can be a really effective way of learning.

I feel that throughout these music sessions I will become more confident in teaching music to children, as for me, music was not one of my favourite subjects in school I hope that I can become more knowledgeable on the subject and hopefully one day make it a fun experience for children in schools.

 

References

McAuliffe, D(2007) Foundation and Primary Settings. In Teaching Art and Design 3-11. (Edited by Sue Cox, Robert Watts, Judy Grahame, Steve Herne and Diarmuid McAuliffe) London: Continuum

 

Smith, F. (2009) Why arts education is crucial, and who’s doing it best [Online]. Arts Integration. Available: https://www.edutopia.org/arts-music-curriculum-child-development [Accessed 30 Dec 2016].