The Importance of Art Education

I have recently learned in my Art for Elementary Teachers class that Art Education is a language. Art is important because it allows children to express themselves. Just giving a coloring page to a child and asking them to color it is not exactly art. A child needs to be given the opportunity to do free style art. I know that in my son's kindergarten class, they are given time on the first day of the week to color a picture of something they did over the weekend. Children need to know that they are artists. If they do not get enough instructional time for art, then they begin to lose their confidence as an artist. By the time many children reach upper elementary school, they have little confidence left in their art abilities. Teachers need to remember that art is a subject and it needs to be taught quite often. Art is fun and it can be a valuable learning tool. Children can learn just as much from an art project as they can from reading out of a text book. I just wish every Elementary teacher would remember this when they get into the classroom.