Every week, children would have singing lessons, be introduced to instruments, and learned about the great composers. Art instruction included using mediums such as watercolor, charcoal, and tempura paints, as well as art history lessons and exposure to artists from across the centuries. Children were provided with all the materials they would need, and musical instruments were rented to families who did not have their own, for a nominal fee.

At some point in time around the early 1980’s, music and art instruction in the public schools came to an end. Budget cuts were blamed and schools were left scrambling to find the money to continue their art and music programs in the schools. Art and music teachers were not rehired and classroom teachers attempted to take over. Much of what they taught was based on what they had learned from the professional art and music teachers in years past. Schools in more affluent area were able to carry on with their programs, in large part because of the donations of time and supplies made by their parents who could financially sustain them.

During the 1990’s they was a resurgence of music and art programs due to the efforts of the large artistic and musical communities who saw the need for this type of instruction in the public schools. Movies like Mr. Holland’s Opus opened our eyes to the need for these programs by our young people.

Do music and art programs in the schools really help our children learn academic subjects more easily? Music is associated with mathematics, patterns, and memory function. Art stimulates a part of the brain that has been linked to writing proficiency. Music and art programs do add to our children’s academic progress and should be a regular part of their school curriculum.

Music and art classes teach kids about creativity. When children are being creative they are using a different part of their brain that they don’t use in regular classes, like math and science. It is important to develop this creative part of the brain, so kids have a better chance at being successful in their chosen career path. For example, a child who wants to go into advertising as a career choice will need to have creativity to come up with new and innovative ads for a company. If kids only have an education in science, math, English, and social studies, then they will not be prepared for life after school.

There have been many studies that have proven that art and music education help kids do better in their regular classes. It is a fact that a good music education leads to better math grades. Art education helps teach children to be creative, which then helps them learn to come up with creative solutions to problems given to them in other classes. For example, in science class being creative would help the student come up with innovative and new hypothesis in class, which may result in better grades. Art and music class are important in helping teach children tools that can be applied to other classes.

Tools that are used in the art classroom and instruments used in music class teach kids how to be responsible for expensive equipment that they will most likely be working with for future employers. For example, having a child be put in charge of a musical instrument helps teach the child responsibility and it helps teach them to be respectful of equipment that is not theirs. This is important because employers will expect there future employees to be able to be responsible and take care of any materials that will be on loan to the employee, like a computer, for example.

Public school boards need to make sure that music and art programs in their schools are well funded. Art and music education helps teach children the creativity that is needed for numerous jobs. Art and music classes also help teach children tools that can be used in other classes that will help improve their grades. Finally, using instruments and art supplies in these classes help teach kids responsibility and respect for items that are not theirs. Children who do not have any kind of music or art education will surely be at a disadvantage when entering college or the work force.