Amber Townsend Professor Duffus Composition 101 11 November 2013 Are English and Art classes necessary in Primary

Schools? Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.-Nelson Mandela. The debate has come up through an article that I had recently read called Fed Up With Fundraising. The article was saying how this woman had to fundraise for classes in her childs primary school, such as art, music, band and literature classes. She was saying how it was ridiculous that the government would not pay for simple classes that the primary students need. My question is do primary students really need to be in art and English classes? Many people would argue that it is not important when they are that young, but I think differently. To start off with, I do not think that parents should have to fundraise for school classes, which are something that should be provided to public school already. I feel as if we start fundraising for basic classes like that, then it will turn into the parents having to fundraise for every class in the school. The government should *ay for teachers and classes. I found an article online that say The Federal Government has a responsibility to help States and localities meet specific education needs that involve the national interest. It has a companion responsibility to provide such assistance with as much equity, simplicity, and stability as possible. For greater equity in the distribution of Federal funds, Congress should reform the ESEA, Title I, fund allocation formula to target the disadvantaged more precisely and to concentrate more directly on schools with the greatest proportion of students in need. For greater simplicity in the provision of Federal aid, several narrow-purpose categorical education programs should be consolidated into a form that will give State and local education agencies greater flexibility in meeting their own needs. Advanced funding of major elementary and secondary programs would

provide greater stability and certainty of Federal programs. (Ottina) Apparently lots of people fell that the government should step up their game and help out the people struggling in the education field. I believe that fundraising is okay when the parents have to do it to send their child off to a school camp or sports things. I found an article on the internet that showed the feeling of a school principal on the idea of fundraising, and this is what it says, Though principals have conflicting feelings about fundraising, the vast majority agrees that the results are worth the effort. "The Value of Fundraising," a nationwide survey of more than 1,000 principals conducted last spring by the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), revealed that almost all schools (94 percent) in the United States raise funds to pay for classroom equipment and supplies, along with important "extras" such as new playground equipment and field trips. While most principals report they would rather not have to raise funds, 87 percent believe fundraising provides valuable returns. Furthermore, the author states that principal involvement and focusing on fewer and more profitable projects would be the keys to successful school fundraising. (Krueger)What this says is that most principals love fundraising, because it helps the school pay for supplies which I can understand. However, I could not find an article on anyone having to fundraise to keep classes going in their school systems. Maybe this fundraising for school classes is anew thing that might be catching on. A big reason that they should continue to teach kids art and English in primary school is because our brains are more sustainable to knowledge from the day we are born until the age of seven. An eBook that I was reading said The younger the children, the more they learn from direct firsthand experience. The younger the children, the more they learn through interactive rather than passive processes. (Katz) So that means not teaching kids those basic elements such as art and English, could possibly result in them not learning them correctly later in life. Children are put in primary schools to learn the basics before they go off to a school where they have to use those basics to excel.

Likewise, I feel like English and Literature classes need to be in every grade level! Where would be without knowing how to read and write? That is one thing that primary school teachers get taken for granted. Primary school teachers are the ones who taught us the basics as a child. Without them we would have to learn all that on our own .One English teacher said The Utopia Project is usually a history class project, but me an English teacher wanted to so this project. We do this project because it is based on the book the Giver. My English class is getting bogged down in confusion about the restrictive rules of the community in which the protagonists lives. The elders are in control of everything and things are not working out too well, complains one reader. Do you think you can do better? I challenge. I am eager to get kids out of the book and actively doing a cooperative small-group role play, so I make the elders themselves. (Cannon) I think that this teacher is angry because her community is judging the way she teaches English; when she knows that her way is teaching the kids what they need. For some reason communities today are judging the way teachers teach classes. I am not sure if maybe the students are going and telling their parents bad stuff, but something is happening. English is the very heart of education; I believe that without it we could not do half the things we have accomplished today. I also believe that art classes such as chorus, art and band are so important for a child to take. Children have so much creativity flowing through them at every second of the day. What a shame it would be to never get to see how their creative minds work. I can personally relate to chorus classes throughout my whole life. I started out in primary school, and I realized how much I love to sing. I continued to take chorus classes all the way through high school. High school was really a tough time, especially freshman year, and I think that if I did not have a chorus class to separate my busy day I would have went crazy. Being able to have a class where one can just be creative is amazing to me; I believe that everyone should have something creative to do every day. There is a book that talks all about how important art is to students. This book explores why art is important in the lives of children and

adolescents, and why culture would be better served by fully integrating the arts into school curricula. Here is a little exert from the book, The current approach to art in the schools is neglectful and focuses on art history and appreciation rather than students' studio time. This article argues for more hands-on art classes and the need for a more interdisciplinary curriculum.(Burton) This is stating that students do need more hands on time in art classes, because you do not form motor skills from just learning the facts. In conclusion, I am a firm believer of having English and art classes in primary schools. We all have been taught our basics in primary school when we were kids, I do not feel it is fair to take away that privilege from the next generation. The future generation needs to know how to read, write and make beautiful creative things. I hope that the government realizes this and fixes the problem before it becomes more serious than it already has.

Works Cited Burton, and Judith M. The Arts in School Reform: Other Conversations. United Kingdom: Blackwell, 1995. Print.
Cannon, Susan Gelber. Think, Care, Act: Teaching for a Peaceful Future. Charlotte (North Carolina): Information Age, 2011. Web. Pg. 44 <http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzQ3MDM1Ml9fQU41?sid=4d3a d4de-2186-461f-96de-d13d0b927a9b@sessionmgr4001&vid=4&format=EB&ppid=pp_44>. Katz, Lilian G. "What to Look for When Visiting Early Childhood Classes." N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.prufrock.com/client/client_pages/prufrock_jm_giftchild.cfm>. Krueger, Jon. "Controlling Your Schools "Fundraising Noise"" (2007): 1-5. Web. <http://www.naesp.org/principal-archives>. Ottina, John R. Education: Who Should Pay the Bills? (1974): 1-8. Web. <http://www.eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED091852>.