Information on the Born to Draw Children’s Holiday Drawing Workshop
Holiday Art Lessons information here. Download PDF Art Lesson Flier holiday Artlesson
Holiday Art Lessons information here. Download PDF Art Lesson Flier holiday Artlesson
Dean of Arts and Science Alistair MacLean attributes this to the pending retirement of one of the program’s three full-time professors (“I was concerned with admitting new students without being certain we could fulfill course requirements,” he said).
… “For MacLean any crisis is a broader one. In a tightening funding environment — Ontario schools have been told to expect no funding increases for at least six years — universities chase dollars wherever they can find them. Art programs, he says “can be seen as boutique — they take up lots of space, they have small classes. So if they’re not healthy, they’re vulnerable.”…
Kniazuk’s arguments are locked and loaded, like live ammunition.
“You’ve got your art for art’s sake, you’ve got your quality of life, you’ve got your economic, you’ve got your tourism, you’ve got your education piece,” he said. “Then the last piece of the argument — and I’m probably forgetting a dozen other good ones — is [drawing] businesses and the creative class.”
“Quite frankly,” he continued, barely pausing to catch his breath, “it’s a model that other sectors of the economy should probably be trying to emulate.”
Twelve Things You Were Not Taught in School About Creative Thinking
By Michael Michalko | Dec 06, 2011 (Creative Commons License Posted in its entirety)
Synopsis
Aspects of creative thinking that are not usually taught.
1. You are creative. The artist is not a special person, each one of us is a special kind of artist. Every one of us is born a creative, spontaneous thinker. The only difference between people who are creative and people who are not is a simple belief. Creative people believe they are creative. People who believe they are not creative, are not. Once you have a particular identity and set of beliefs about yourself, you become interested in seeking out the skills needed to express your identity and beliefs. This is why people who believe they are creative become creative. If you believe you are not creative, then there is no need to learn how to become creative and you don’t. The reality is that believing you are not creative excuses you from trying or attempting anything new. When someone tells you that they are not creative, you are talking to someone who has no interest and will make no effort to be a creative thinker.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/what_real_education_reform_looks_like_20111208/
Posted on Dec 8, 2011 (Reprinted in entirety)
By David Sirota
As 2011 draws to a close, we can confidently declare that one of the biggest debates over education is—mercifully—resolved. We may not have addressed all of the huge challenges facing our schools, but we finally have empirical data ruling out apocryphal theories and exposing the fundamental problems.
The Arts are imperative in education. Whether its music, drama, or painting, students should be encouraged to explore their creativity. They should not always be told what to learn or given a formula.The Arts empowers youth to express themselves and to be heard. Art gives students a voice.
I posted this article nearly a year ago on blogger spot. it received some attention and I think it is an important article. Here it is again. Rather long but very interesting especially when you have or teach gifted children.
Reprint of NYT Article February 2, 2010 Creative Commons license 2011
Op-Ed Contributor
By SUSAN ENGEL
New Marlborough, Mass.
THE Obama administration is planning some big changes to how we measure the success or failure of schools and how we apportion federal money based on those assessments. It’s great that the administration is trying to undertake reforms, but if we want to make sure all children learn, we will need to overhaul the curriculum itself. Our current educational approach — and the testing that is driving it — is completely at odds with what scientists understand about how children develop during the elementary school years and has led to a curriculum that is strangling children and teachers alike.
Read more →
By Lesli A. Maxwell
Premium article access courtesy of Edweek.org.
Thousands of California public schools face the prospect of slashing up to a week of instruction, canceling bus services, or laying off nonteaching staff in the middle of this school year because state revenues are expected to fall below what the governor and lawmakers counted on when they approved an $86 billion general fund budget last June.
The Legislative Analyst’s Office—the nonpartisan fiscal adviser to California’s state lawmakers—predictsRequires Adobe Acrobat Reader the state treasury will be down as much as $3.7 billion, which would automatically trigger up to $2 billion in midyear spending cuts in public programs that will fall hard on K-12 education. The analyst is also projecting a $13 billion shortfall in next year’s budget.
Read more →
A lovely story of random acts of kindness and art
Reprinted from NPR Creative Commons license
12:29 pm
November 30, 2011
by Robert Krulwich
He? She? It? Whoever it is, the Phantom Sculptor is suddenly back!
Book sculpture man standing outside
Enlarge Chris Scott/Flickr
As I recently reported, somebody has been dropping glorious little paper sculptures into libraries and museums all over Edinburgh, Scotland, and we’ve just heard (thank you, alert reader Paul Smith) that there are now three more.
And they will be the last.
Subscription Memberships for Classrooms or School Campus Sites, Home School or Afterschool Enrichment