Visual and Performing Arts
Drama assists children in making significant social and emotional skills by ensuring they take part in their own learning. Dance and movement are also an important part of life since they strongly assist in making expressions and expressing human experiences. In that light, drama and dance are arts that give meaning to different expressions for individuals and communities where words alone cannot sufficiently express. The chapter emphasizes the meaning and importance of art and ensures the reader understands that art materializes thrives differently but to all children and is strongly dictated by their childhood setting. To understand the important, effect and development of art we shall carefully highlight the key points of the book chapter embracing the two key areas discussed; drama and dance.
Drama
Learning and development of drama
? Developing curriculum in drama- Drama is essential to all children and they can all enjoy drama. Learning drama begins straight from home where children have to role play in different areas. The most common play that assist in learning are solitary play, parallel and group play, this plays begin to be noticed as early as when the child is 36 months. Leaning drama for children is also enhanced by providing dramatic play areas when they can freely act out.
? Importance of drama as a learning guide– Rather than drama being enjoyable and fun to pre-school children it also serves to teach them valuable lessons. To begin with drama ensures children learn how to interact with others, improve self awareness and understand different cultural activities and besides make decision. These lessons are learnt through drama by the fact that children require to relate and communicate with their mates as they play. They also need to be creative and express themselves. This lessons can be learnt by every child and be essential to them irrespective of their cultural, religious and social background.
? Learning drama based vocabulary- Children learn drama not only from role play but also from school classrooms where they are taught how to express their ideas and observations in a dramatization as well as relate their dramatic actions to drama. The learning also includes correct use of drama vocabulary. Drama vocabulary in general encourages children to improve their vocabulary and other models of expression in areas of interest and preferences.
Develop skills to create, invent and express through drama
? Drama social and educational tool – role play which is a major sector in drama, strongly assists in developing several skills on social and educational sectors. These skills are mostly cultivated in cases where a child has to change posture or voice in order to portray a specific character. Using these two ways of experiences in drama children are encouraged to view the world in new ways and also embrace challenges. For instance, children learning English can easily feel the need to learn new vocabularies. In addition children with special needs get an opportunity to relate and interact with other children in a safe environment. Basically all drama opportunities are unique and of great benefit to children.
? Observing role play – Teachers and other adults need to pay more attention to children when role playing to be able to monitor progress. Learning through drama needs to be a progressive act where children are expected to develop their skills as they continue playing. Observing children role play makes it possible for adults to tell whether children are learning well in areas such as vocabulary development, confidence and interrelations. To be able to make quality observation, one needs to note the activities and settings of a specific drama and then carefully relate it to duration, complexity and content required for the specific play.
? Step in model in drama – Step in model involves adult involvement in children’s drama development. This assists in enhancing quality and avoiding repetition. Adults, both parents and teachers can assist children developing drama by offering a good suggestion, a comment or an illustration. Step in model assists children learn of available possibilities and resources that they can utilize. By offering an actual illustration, children develop better dialogue techniques and problem solving. This model also presents a bridge between dramatic play and drama in process.
? Use costumes, props and scenery to inspire drama – Dressing up makes the drama experience fun and creative. Adults can assist preschool children to gain access to different costumes before starting a play because costumes also assist to enhance the play meaning. Props on the other hand are equally important especially when used appropriately. Props and sceneries when used appropriately yield a variety of results; they make dreams seem more real to children, encourage them to make their own art activities and also encourage children to feel equal.
Dance and Movement
Developing curriculum in dance
? Dance and movement act as a learning tool – Just like words are used in expression dance and movement can also be adequately used in expressions. Children learn movement from the early age and they use it to express their feeling, to move from one point to another and for entertainment in dance case. Learning opportunities that revolve around movement and dance are several since they are essential in drama or play act and also in real life where culture deviations are required. Children can learn dance that assist them be part of their culture or even be more creative and physically fit like in cases of dart and wiggle dancing.
? Teachers and Families involvement in dance – Adults should also be involved in assisting children develop this addition communication skill. Dance and movement provide an emotional tool of communication which ensures they properly use their body as a language. Movement as a communication tool further assists children understand their body better thus enhancing proper development. It’s worth noting that, at first children only like to dance for joy or in acceptance of art but with the help of guardians they are able to dance for many more reasons. Its evidence that most adults have difficulties assisting the children learn dance as they feel it tests their limits, but this should not be the case because children will automatically embrace the adults willingness to explore.
? Including dance in preschool curriculum – From the article the body is a theater of emotions and it’s responsible for profound changes in the body. Emotions are classified into three primary; secondary and background. Primary emotions refer to familiar emotions that can easily be recognized on a preschool child such as happiness, sadness or fear. Secondary emotions are mostly socially related they include envy, shame or jealousy. The third is the background emotions that tend to be developed over time such include moods like calm and cheerful. Background emotions are strongly influenced by activities and dance tends to influence them greatly. In that light, in child’s development all these three emotions should be carefully monitored in order to bring up a cheerful good adult. Therefore, introducing dance in preschool will strongly assist in positively influencing the children’s background emotions.
Chapter conclusions
The arts bring different meanings and expressions to different individuals and societies. The chapter embraces the facts that arts is thrived straight from childhood and therefore the settings and frameworks available then shape a child’s development. Art revolve around drama and dance which both provide adequate learning opportunities, therefore adults should assist children in improving and understanding drama and dance. Arts commonly refers to drama, dance, visual arts and music, all these influence teaching methods, interactions and support from the environment. These characteristics make it possible to relate arts to other disciplines such as science, mathematics and literature and if they are all properly embedded children will attain both emotion and physical growth and development adequately. As art becomes an essential aspect in preschool, the teachers are encouraged to take part of their learning and growth of the same, consequently children growth in different areas is catalyzed and besides their natural artistic capabilities. Parents on the other hand get an opportunity to participate in their children’s learning process. Bottom line, introducing art as a learning tool provide a chance to provide diversity in school as it is in homes, thus providing preschool children with an opportunity to learn different things relating to the diversity.
