Drama, Music, Dance: It's All Good for the

Young Brain
http://www.parentmap.com/article/dramamusicdanceitsallgoodforthe!oung"rain
By Linda Morgan
How important are the arts? Right up there with
vocabulary and literacy, claim many educators, who advise parents to begin engaging their
children in art activities early on. Researchers say there's reason to believe music stimulates your
infant's brain, dance helps develop motor sills, and drama teaches emotions and problem
solving.
!nd that's "ust the beginning. #$reschoolers who were given eyboard lessons and did group
singing scored higher on tests measuring spatial reasoning,# reports a %&&' (.). *epartment of
+ducation Bulletin.
)uch information on the arts has not been ignored by sharp,eyed toy e-ecutives. .n fact, it's why
formally /uiet ob"ects,say dollhouses,now play Beethoven while stimulating your child's other
sensory receptors with flashing lights and fu00y ob"ects. .t's also the reason there are more early
music, dance and drama programs out there than ever,with a plethora of boos, 1*s and *2*s
to accompany them.
3hile e-perts and educators agree that some parents tae the theory too far 4you'll probably
en"oy 5chaiovsy more than your 6,wee,old will7, they also report that music, dance, painting,
storytelling and acting can indeed help children learn.
#5he arts are a thining tool, a way for children to communicate understanding and
misunderstandings and confront them,# says Margie 1arter, an early childhood specialist who
has co,authored many boos, including 5raining 5eachers8 ! Harvest of 5heory and $ractice. #.f
you turn an idea into a drawing or sculpture, you can figure out things you'd never figure out if
you "ust try to e-plain. 5he purpose of the arts goes way beyond creativity and imagination.#
+-posure to the arts is a critical school readiness component, according to Rachael 9lass, who
teaches creative movement at the 3est )eattle :M1!. !n actor and director, 9lass has also
taught preschoolers drama, music and dance in Head )tart programs.
#)chool is so much more than reading, writing and arithmetic,# 9lass says. #5he arts provide a
way for children to discover they can mae a contribution; it empowers them and raises their
self,esteem. 5he arts let children put their own individual stamp on what they are good at.#
.nvolvement in the arts also helps broaden children's abilities in other ways. *rawing, for
e-ample, can address emotional development, 9lass says. #3hat does a happy face loo lie? !
mad face? 1hildren can draw and describe it. 5his is an important way for them to understand
what maes them happy, sad or afraid.#
!cting can help children learn about self,control, empathy or even bullying. #.t is a way to
problem solve, to learn to deal with frustrations, conflict resolving and social situations,# 9lass
notes.
*rama and storytelling are good ways to help increase a child's vocabulary, she says. #! <,year,
old can get up and act lie an animal; other ids can describe what they see. !nd a child who is
performing must remember what step comes first. .t enhances mental organi0ation.#
Music earned particular bu00 after researchers identified the #Mo0art +ffect# more than %= years
ago and suggested that listening to %= minutes of Mo0art before a spatial sills test improved
performance.
3hile the actual relationship between music and .> remains unclear, music and movement
instructor $atty ?eitlin feels that music can enhance cognitive sills. ?eitlin is also a recording
artist and the author of A Song is a Rainbow, a te-tboo for preschool and indergarten teachers.
#5he more you use language , taling or singing , the richer the brain connections are. 5he long,
drawn,out vowels of singing nourish brain development,# she says.
Music also serves as a language and learning vehicle for preverbal children, ?eitlin says. #Music
can connect a child to language,# she notes. #1hildren respond naturally to music; they can move
to it, create their own verses and learn more easily in that mode.#
Music, as well as the visual arts, drama and dance, give us insight into the way a child's mind
wors, 9lass says. #5hey show us what ids understand. 3e should build upon those as another
form of literacy.
Children and Drama
A Creativity Institute Guest Column
Drama - The Most Important Subject?
By Marilynn McLachlan
So, you've got a child at school, and they know how to read and write
well. Perhaps they do very well academically.
This is, of course, very important, but how well does your child
communicate orally? Are they a confident, clear speaker?
hances are, that within the school system, your child spends the
ma!ority of time focused on writing and reading skills, while not so much
time on oratory ones. "f you look ob!ectively at your own life for a single
day, you will notice that most of your interactions with other people re#uire
you to know how to speak and listen well. $ood oral communicators find it
easier to make friends and will find it easier in the long term to find and
hold good !obs.
$ood oratory skills are only one of the benefits that learning drama gives
your child.
%ere are some more&
' "n learning drama, your child is learning a wide range of appropriate (and inappropriate) ways of
communicating. They learn to pro!ect their voice and to speak words clearly.
' *our child learns those subtle cues that we all give away when we are interacting with someone else. "t
may mean a mannerism, or understanding that someone is angry even when they say they are not but
their lips are tightened in a line, arms are folded across the chest.
' "n learning drama, your child is learning that important #uality of empathy. "t allows, if
only briefly, for the actor to e+perience how someone else thinks and acts.
' *our child learns how to act, obviously. This may seem a weird thing who but actors
need to act? ,e do. ,e do it every single day. ,e put on a smile at the checkout lady
when we really feel like crap. ,e go to a !ob interview, terribly nervous and yet hide our
nerves (that is act).
' -rama works to promote your child's imagination. "magination is one of life's essential
ingredients. Take for e+ample, the teenager who has !ust been 'dumped' by their
boyfriend. "n amongst the tears and heartache, imagination (if it has been allowed to develop) begins to
take hold. The 'minds eye' starts working, and the teen can begin to see other possibilities a new
boyfriend, or how staying single could actually be a good thing. "t starts as a seed and grows until what
was imagined becomes reality.
' "magination gives life e+citement it keeps things interesting. .ven our top scientists need an
imagination. "n order to find a cure for cancer, for e+ample, the scientist must first be
able to imagine a cure.
' -rama, by its very nature re#uires that the child be put into circumstances
physically, mentally and emotionally that are outside their understanding of how
things should be. This helps them to grow as a person.
So, you can see that by encouraging drama both at school and in the home, you are
giving your child some enormous personal benefits that will stay with them long into
adulthood.
Marilynn McLachlan
Author: "The New Parent Code: 12 Vital Clues to Achieving Modern Faily !anity""
Penguin #oo$s" 2%%&'
To learn ore a(out encouraging creativity )and a whole lot ore* in +,-. hoe" visit her site
htt/:00www'arilynnclachlan'co' !ign u/ 1or her 1ree e2ine and ta$e the 32% dress4u/ (o5 challenge'
Article Source& http&//.0ineArticles.com/