The No Child Left Behind Act, which was signed into law in 2002, includes art as one of the core content courses. The arts are not merely support systems for academic courses such as math, science and language arts; they are important in and of themselves.
Students enrolled in art programs in school scored consistently better on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) than students who were not enrolled in art, according to Pam Stephens, who coordinates art education at Northern Arizona University. Stephens was referring to the 2004 SAT results reported by the College Review Board. This finding is consistent with similar findings from previous years, making this being merely coincidence unlikely.
Art provides an outlet for children who want to express themselves but do not have the vocabulary to do so, says Stephens. It also teaches children to make decisions and solve problems, such as which color to choose or how to draw a straight line. Art teaches children that there can be more than one right answer or response to viewing a piece of art.
If your child is whiny and bored, give her some art materials and allow her to use her imagination to create a masterpiece. You can work on the project with your child, if you want to spend some quality time together. Drawing and painting can be a way for children to release some pent up feelings they may have.
Many administrators report that students who take art classes are less likely to be truant from school, says Stephens. Art helps at-risk students as well. One group of Texas fifth-graders who were at risk of failing reading comprehension, succeeded because they had a teacher who taught in an innovative way using art. By teaching the students how to interpret artwork, they learned other concepts as well, such as fact versus opinion, finding the main idea and determining reasonableness, according to Stephens. When an art museum adopted another at-risk school in Texas, opening their galleries to students, these students went from exploring art to exploring literature and improving as students overall.