Using the Born to Draw Children’s Drawing program From the New iBooks series, participants will learn observational drawing through mark making, line, shape, placement, textures, value, color and perspective. Each class is geared for a child to complete a drawing of an animal or a still life during class time. Other activities include making a portfolio, learning about the color wheel, and more. Materials will be provided.
this class is a more formal drawing class that children will develop skills that they will have all through life.

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We invite you to read the NYT article by Nicolas Kristof. There have been other studios that Elaine Cimino Studios has been working with who have seen the Born to Draw iBooks and have commented on the environmental aspects of the books and said they would not want to stress these type of issues in their children’s educational programming. I am glad to see that this article was published and that it gives others the courage to teach sustainability in their classrooms.

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Born to Draw Presentation on IBooks Offereings

Check out the new presentation for iBooks offering and collaborative support materials.

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Submitted By Les Krifaton, Reporter – email
Improving student grades through the arts

LAS VEGAS (FOX5) –

It’s called Any Given Child. The program aims to provide a more balanced education through the arts.

“I am a firm believer as has been my husband of how important art is to the development of the whole human being” said Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn.

Las Vegas is only the fourth of seven cities selected for the program by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts based in Washington, DC.

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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.”…

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.
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