TITLE: THE ARTSIN THE DISCIPLINES OF DRAMA, MUSIC AND VISUAL ART IN EARLY CHILDHOODSTUDIES
Inearly childhood education, it’s important to rely on the knowledgeof maturational and child development theories. It is vital tounderstand the important roles that are played by culture, responsiveadults, and experience in the emerging of children abilities andskills in every developmental domain. A number of studies demonstratethat children can develop and learn better when the learningexperience is handled by knowledgeable individuals who are responsiveto the individual capacities of the children. The children should beguided through the three activity levels which include development ofphysical coordination and sensory abilities, discovery of new ideasand use of material that stimulate constructive interest andcreativity. This will equip the children with new information thatthey will use in the learning process as it creates an environmentthat offers adult responsiveness and stimulating experiences insupport of their development. Responsive adults not only influencecognitive learning but also the social economic competence of thechildren(Spohn2008).
Childrenwho have the secure emotional relationship with their teachers ,willuse that relationship to take part in pretend play in exploring theclassroom, develop self-regulatory behavior and anticipate learningas well as the good relationship among their peers. It is importantto impart cultural knowledge to the children through thinking,materials, toys, and social event. This introduces children to theenvironment of their homes and shapes their performance and thoughtprocesses(Spohn 2008.Developmental profiles and continuums are necessary tools in planningexperiences and curriculum that fit the developmental abilities andstrengths of children. The chosen profile program should use a toolthat is preferred by staff members and teachers .Children have adevelopmental pattern that is predictable, pace ,the rate and actual manifestation for each of the child hence stages and ageguidelines should not be fixed .This calls for the need for teachersto adjust to individual differences, learning styles, temperaments,gender, special needs, culturally diverse and native languages asthey contribute towards attaining the developmental milestones. Theuse of developmental profiles, information got from the family andobservation should enable teachers to generate an environment thatcaters to the individual needs ,avail different materials for thedifferent skill levels for all learners. A plan such that time isflexible and prioritize on the individual children’s need needs byproviding the learning experience in a number of the group setting,small, large and individuals. Teachers should foster a two-waycommunication between them and parents so as to come up with sharedgoals and partnership and do assessment and screening of learning inthe different ways over time (Hetland 2013).
Creativedramatics is the expressed ability of a youngster inimprovisingand acting out of emotions, feelings and altitude using motormovement or verbal actions. A child who is two years old will use anobject that represents another or behaves as though he/she wasanother person. Creative dramatics is integrated with anothercurriculum to make children express their feelings and thought .Mysuggestion is a Role Play (Bamford,2006). Arole play is an informal play in which the teacher is the leader inthe role play in terms of setting the stage, initiation of ideas,guiding the discussion and setting limits. They include chants,songs, rhymes and chants that have to be recited and acted out. Eachchild will use his/her own voice which will increase risk taking andself-esteem of the student (Mc 2011).
Thepuppetry of thinking and creativity is instilled by parents andteachers through role playing. This is mainly workable becausechildren have a natural attraction to puppets and usually think thatthe puppet might be real. The best practice involves children beinggiven time to play with masks, puppets or costumes(Bamford 2006).The teacher creates a story which is passed around a circle with eachof the student adding a part of the story which has a beginning,middle, and end. The teacher writes a story on a big chart paper or asentence strip and then guides the children in illustrating thestory(Gullatt 2008). .For instance, a collection finger plays like that of little fivemonkeys that are going on a bare hunt, ten in a bed and a story of anold lady who happened to swallow a fly and music should be playedwhile reciting the rhyme and students are encouraged to act out thewords. Play opportunities are created out of cardboard boxes that arelarge and materials are provided to the children to paint the boxesand decorate them into a house, spaceship or a store. While using apuppet a situation is created in which friends differ and thestudents are directed to come up with a solution for the difference.The classroom space should be open ended with flexible materials suchas cardboard boxes, scarves, and blocks
InVisual Arts, the children are encouraged to create stories, draw,ideas and actions with images. This is very easy for children forthey are generally image makers who use any available medium togenerate marks with a meaning to them. From the visual images,children gain the ability to read musical notations, read, usemathematical symbols and reconstruction. On top of symbolicrepresentation, children are able to organize shapes, textures, formsand colors. The interaction of children with writing utensils, clayand paper are all-encompassing as their feelings are inseparable fromwhat they feel. As a result, visual arts will contribute to theemotional well-being of the children and give them and give form totheir thoughts. Through this experience, the children are able tounderstand their relationship with the rest of the world. Theteachers models and encourage experiments with various media andmaterials which make children realize that mistakes are part of theprocess and that trial and error is normal while creating. Thechildren’s artwork is saved as it is an important window towardstheir development and growth and an emphasis is made on the processthan in the product(Cornett2006).
Musicprovides children with an opportunity of expressing their investigative rhythm, their feelings ,develop an understanding oftheir bodies ,exploration of their movement and strengths as wellas experiencing concepts such as soft and loud, slow and fast , andlow and high. The music is used to excite, soothe and interpretfeelings as well as promoting oral language, fostering thedevelopment of listening skills, providing an opportunity toproblem-solving and strengthening discrimination of auditory. Thisis because movement and music go hand in hand in a classroom of earlychildhood(Bresler 2007).
Foreffectiveness in teaching music in prekindergarten, children shouldbe supported for total emotional, cognitive, physical and socialdevelopment. Learning should be facilitated through activeinteraction with other children, adults, and music materials. Thisincludes materials that are concrete, relevant and real to the livesof children. To actualize this, children should be provided with anopportunity of choosing from a variety of musical activity,equipment, and material of different degrees of difficult .Theyshould also be allowed to explore music through direct activeinvolvement. Experiences in group music are necessary for a propercurriculum of music .Musical materials and instruments should beprovided to children to help them explore sound as this will, inturn, help them develop the understanding of vocabulary and skills.
Reference
Bamford,A. (2006). Thewow factor: Global research compendium on the impact of the arts ineducation.Waxmann Verlag.
Bamford,A. (2006). Thewow factor: Global research compendium on the impact of the arts ineducation.Waxmann Verlag.
Bresler,L. (Ed.). (2007). Internationalhandbook of research in arts education(Vol. 16). Springer Science & Business Media.
Cornett,C. E. (2006). Creatingmeaning through literature and the arts: An integration resource forclassroom teachers.Prentice Hall.
Gullatt,D. E. (2008). Enhancing student learning through arts integration:Implications for the profession. TheHigh School Journal,91(4),12-25.
Hetland,L. (2013). Studiothinking 2: The real benefits of visual arts education.Teachers College Press.
McNiff,S. (2011). Artistic expressions as primary modes of inquiry. BritishJournal of Guidance & Counselling,39(5),385-396.
Spohn,C. (2008). Teacher perspectives on No Child Left Behind and artseducation: A case study. ArtsEducation Policy Review,109(4),3-12.
Spohn,C. (2008). Teacher perspectives on No Child Left Behind and artseducation: A case study. ArtsEducation Policy Review,109(4),3-12.