The Benefits of Art Education on Children essays

The Benefits of Art Education on Children essays Over the past decade, the dramatic growth in promoting early childhood education and the encouragement of the four stages of child development (which are, cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development) has become a widespread trend across America. Promoting these stages are essential for the growth and development of tomorrows leaders. The two most important stages of child development, that often times go unnoticed, but is very essential for positive growth is social and emotional. Having art in early programs is one of the most important ways to encourage social and emotional behavior. Research (Bovey, Strain, 2003) indicates that having activities such as art lessons can support social and peer interaction. One of the roles as teachers and parents are to help young children identify and communicate their feelings, become attuned to and accepting of the ways young children approach and deal with emotional issues, and provide environments that enable young children to express their feelings (Dettore, 2002). Many children stresses that come to children and their families may include illness, job loss, economic crisis or poverty, relocation, birth, death, and trauma (Hatfield, 2003, p. 471). Socially and emotionally, young children of working parents, victims of abuse, or sufferers of constantly moving families may not develop completely as a child that may not have any of these issues. Young children are capable of deep feelings of lasting sadness and grief in response to trauma, loss, and early personal rejection. They can be seriously moved negatively by these emotions. A childs earliest human relationships affect later childhood relationships and provide the building blocks to future development (Hawley, 1998). The growth of self-regulation is the cornerstone of early childhood development (Raven, 2003). The way that family reacts to the stress affects the...