Dear concerned parent,

It has been my hope this year that the parents of my 3rd grade students are involved in their education. Your contribution with Johnny’s education is wonderful, he has benefited greatly as a result of you being an active parent. With that being said, I would like to explain some of the research behind incorporating arts, movement and music in the classroom and clarify my educational goals for the students. 

Art has become an isolate subject with math and literacy taking its place in the classroom. As adults, we know that soft skills such as creative thinking, evaluation and providing rationale for responses are useful skills to have. In my art lessons the students are responding to works of art to develop these skills. Brain development is a dynamic process that needs to be nurtured. Your child is gifted academically, by incorporating art into the math he is doing, it will solidify the skills he is learning. Our brains are capable of a limited amount of information in one sitting. We need a break from learning to process the information so that it can go into our long term storage and we can retrieve it later. Time spent not learning is just as important (Pelligrini, Huberty, & Jones, 1995). Overloading our brains with information creates a crash and this will result in no new learning. 

Whenever children can use multiple senses they will understand a concept better. Ideas and feelings start in the body before they are translated to words (Minton 2003, 37). If you’ve ever played Simon Says, and someone tells you to touch your head, but they have their finger on their shoulders, chances are you touched your shoulders as well. This physical response helps learners’ process information better (Coulter, 1995). Movements and art is a beneficial tool to help develop intellectual intelligence. I can assure you, Johnny is a strong learner and by incorporating arts and movement into our learning process is only aiding in understanding. 

Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions. 

Thank you,
Ms. Weinman

References

Coulter, D. 1995. Music and the making of the mind. Early Childhood Connections: The Journal of Music and Movement Based Leaning 1: 22-26.

Minton, S. 2003. Using movement to teach academics: An outline for success. Journal of Physical Education, Recreating & Dance 74 (2): 36-40.

Pelligrini, A.D., Huberty, P.D., & Jones, I. (1995). The effects of recess timing on children’s playground and classroom behaviors. American Educational Research Journal. 32(8), 845-864.