Back to School - Do Your Kids Have Art?

I've noticed flyers starting to advertise back to school sales so as your kids go back to school ask yourself - do your kids have art classes?

When budgets are tight one of the first things school boards will cut is your child's art class. Followed closely by your child's music time. Too often, these are thought of as "extras" and the current feeling is that not enough kids are doing well in English and Math so let's cut the "extras" and get down to "basics."

This the wrong thing to do. Children who have art and music routinely do better in school than those who don't and this has been proven time and time again.

What will you do if your child's arts classes are cut?

1. Write to your school board. Don't get nasty, just state the facts. If you need statistics and case studies to back up your arguments Google search arts advocacy or go straight to the Americans for the Arts site and start there by following their links. (See my hot links at the right.)

2. Convince others to write letters and write to your local newspaper. School boards hate bad publicity so keep pushing until you get coverage.

3. Volunteer. There are art programs out there that can be taught in the classroom. They just need the volunteers. The program is furnished, all you have to do is present it to individual classes. The teacher will stay in the classroom with you while you teach (they have to if you're not a trained teacher.) Try it, you'll like it.