After various surveys and research, Irish teachers have realized the significance of the arts and its impact on early childhood. They now understand that an art is similar to breathing air for children. Think about it, a discipline so commonly ignored in modern-day societies yet ironically so important that recent research has pointed out and underpinned its cruciality in how children ought to be properly schooled.
According to Gráinne Powell, the chief executive of Sticky Fingers, the prominence of the arts in pupils' lives have come severely into attention within weeks. Irish Times reported kids and youngsters who perform activities such as painting, drawing, sketching, dancing or even singing seem to achieve better at school and also have an affirmative attitude towards schooling.
Not only that but they tend to be happier, less anxious and negligible to no levels of experienced social awkwardness. Last month, an All-Ireland Arts Conference was organized in which different ways to promote arts were discussed.
This seminar was organized by the National Childhood Network (NCN) along with Northern Ireland's Early Years and Playball organizations. In this seminar, they talked about the exact age period where arts should be introduced.
At the end of the conference, it was decided that three months to twelve years is the best age for kids to expose their minds to arts. Kids who take interest in arts are found to be more creative and rational thinkers.
In addition, they have a far better concentration span and are better at making links or even decrypting problems, making them become good problem solvers. They even tend to have more confidence compared to other children their own age.
Powell stressed introducing additional art activities to children must be done by parents or school teachers and basically by all those who work with them. Arts should be all about experimenting and discovering.
A bit of structure and direction are also good but when children reach their teens, they must be allowed to take the tool of art into their own hands and be creative in making anything they want. Of course, guiding them is can also help.
Arts has been the root of creativity similar to how philosophy has been the core from which Mathematics, Logic and various other disciplines have emanated with time. It's quite unfortunate that after subsidiary disciplines emerge, the core seems to be forgotten because of its tendency to be abstract and rather impractical. This is why most countries sideline arts and focus more on STEM education, which comprises science, technology, engineering and Mathematics.
The loss is huge when children are being coerced into learning only one side of the equation while studying to be ignorant of what lies on the other side. So, as parents, let's not forget that among the world's most influential people were artists like Leonardo Da Vinci who was an expert in a variety of disciplines including the arts. Who knows, your kid might be the Da Vinci, Picasso, Monet or Van Gogh of the future generations.
