Kamis, 15 Oktober 2015

Parents May Try Encouraging Students To Graduate By Providing A Place To Paint Pottery As An Elective

By Deana Norton


It is not simply the real housewives of Salt Lake City, UT, but their children who may want to seek a place to paint pottery, learn music, sketch, or sculpt. Some hobby stores offer classes in all of these activities, but there are also some retail businesses which have an area for the buyer to add their own personal touch to an item they bought. Even a store-bought item becomes more special when the buyer gives it a little something from themselves.

Many families engage in these artistic endeavors together, as they find they all benefit from it. Teenagers are able to perfect artistic skills which are still very important to them at that age, young children work on those fine motor skills they will need to learn to write, and the in-between age kids learn to concentrate and focus on one activity for a long period of time. Mom and Dad get to spend time together with the children, with no television intruding into their special time.

Public schools are cutting out more electives these days, and forcing children to take only linear types of classes. Most people agree that the basic reading, writing, and arithmetic are very important lessons students should focus on. However, by removing the arts they are taking away what is, for some students, the only class they enjoy at all.

When you remove the one enjoyable part of a school day, then the rate of students dropping out, skipping class, or engaging in other activities when they should be in class increases. This can only increase the rate of attrition in public schools, leaving this country in worse shape than ever. There are many bright young minds dropping out of public school these days, and a lack of opportunity to express themselves through art is probably at the core of their scholastic retardation.

Each year the numbers of students who drop out rather than graduate in the usual way becomes more and more nebulous. The frustrated students who do hang on till the end often do so because they are part of clubs in the school which allow them to pursue the arts still, or at least grant them understanding ears to hear them. The standardized testing system which was put in place during the 90s has been a sore subject for many creative-minded students because it requires them to have a learning style of rote memorization, which many do not possess.

What they are finding is that many of these activities may have been so poorly scheduled in schools so as to discourage students from taking it. By ramming in more classes, they can graduate others more quickly. By keeping standardized tests as part of their curriculum, teachers can focus all their attention to sending girls and boys off for "Creative education".

Creative education for most means special education where they may be granted a certificate of completion rather than a diploma. Most school districts have changed this tactic, but not all ? More than half of all public schools are still dumping students into special classes in order to help some students to avoid standardized tests, all so they can increase their overall test scores.

It is unclear whether or not pursuing artistic endeavors outside the educational setting will encourage students to stay in school or not, but it is a social test worth conducting. Even if the rate of attrition in public schools does continue, at least those students will have a better rounded experience overall because they have the ability to paint a portrait or play a song. The hope is that, with the proper creative outlets available, most any student will be better able to endure the boredom of the Three Rs.




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