by Chloé Langley

Is studying the arts in school valuable only for those wishing to become artists? Pablo Picasso answered this question when he said, "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist when he grows up." As Dissanayake pointed out art is a crucial part of what makes us human. We are all born with an artistic soul. Watch a four year old "dancing" to music only she hears or coloring a huge mural with only two shades of pink. Artistry is everywhere and so accessible. Children have the capacity to see beauty in the simplest things. A child will observe the sun and draw every picture for weeks with a huge yellow blob gracing the sky. They draw the same pictures over and over again just to illustrate the small differences. Children dance and dance, not needing to turn or to leap to impress their peers but just to move to express their joy. It is beautiful! But by not teaching the arts, we are allowing our cookie cutter, technological society to educate out this innate, fearless creativity.

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by Chloé Langley

Proponents of a strong education in the arts suggest that they should be a required component of primary and secondary education because they make a specific contribution to academic achievement. The Executive Summary of the REAP project reported that there were "three areas in which clear causal links could be demonstrated between the arts and achievement in a non-arts, academic area" these being Listening to Music and Spatial-Temporal Reasoning; Learning to Play Music and Spatial Reasoning; and Classroom Drama and Verbal Skills (Hetland and Winner). The LTTA study in Canada found that 6th grade students showed an 11 percentile increase in math computation and estimation skills at the end of three years in an arts enriched scholastic environment (Uptis ). Other studies show that students seem to gain a greater understanding of subjects when they work through their bodies or witness the material in a different perspective. Teachers who use rhyming and song can boost memory and recollection and yet other studies report increases in knowledge and understanding as well as in critical thinking, concept organization, and divergent thinking (Eisner 1999 145).

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by Chloé Langley

As a young person educated in a public school environment where art permeated every aspect of the curriculum, I have often wondered what affect this emersion in the arts had on my academic learning experience. The effect on my craft is clear. But did this course of study improve my ability to learn in other fields? Did I do well academically because I would have done well in any environment or did my early and continued studies in the arts give me tools that allowed me to be academically successful? Do I perceive benefit solely because my chosen field is in the arts? Is an education that includes a rich tradition in the arts of benefit only to students that wish to pursue an artistic career? Intuitively I know that the arts made me a better student. I see myself using creative thinking skills every day. “The human brain is the most complex system on earth, yet it is too often used…as a simple device for storage and retrieval of information” (Dickinson). Dogs can be taught to ring bells and rats to navigate mazes but memorization does not make them thinking animals.

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A great opportunity to take your young kids to the Children's Theater to see If You Give A Mouse a Cookie.

Keep learning fun this summer with activities such as the Children's Theater.

BrainworX Health Tips

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) may be important for brain activity involved with cognitive functions in healthy boys, investigators found in a new clinical trial. Previous research indicated that DHA is important for the development of cognitive function in the brain.

This study analyzed the effects of DHA supplementation on brain activity. In this study, 33 healthy boys, whose ages ranged from 8-10 years old, were supplemented with 400 mg per day, 1200mg per day of DHA or a placebo for 8 weeks. Brain activity was evaluated using fMRI at the beginning of the study and again after 8 weeks of supplementation. The subjects were also evaluated for DHA levels, which were measured in the red blood cells (erythrocytes) at the beginning of the study and again after 8 weeks.

The results showed that the red blood cell DHA levels were higher in the boys supplemented with DHA compared to the placebo group. The boys that received the higher dose of DHA experienced an increase of 70% in erythrocyte DHA, while the boys who received the lower dose of DHA experienced a 47% increase and the placebo group had an 11% reduction in levels of DHA in their red blood cells.

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Jan Van Blarcum, Owner and Founder of Creative Tutors was recently featured in Frisco Style Magazine.

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Today I was privileged to introduce Dr. Cavazos to a family in my community that has an 8th grade son rising to 9th grade. He has struggled his entire academic life. After reading this child's educational file, I immediately saw an opportunity to help this child and his family find new options to support his academic success. Not every child is a candidate for neurological support but this child had all the signals. After our meeting with the parents, I could see renewed hope as stressful faces eased. I want to share with you information from Dr. Cavazos' website and if you feel you need to call him and set up an appointment for your child, let him know you found information that I posted on my blog. Dr. C's success with struggling students is amazing. Find his website: BrainworX Centers.

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