5 Reasons Why Students Should Take Art Or Music Lessons After School

5 reasons to take art or music lessons after school

The classroom offers students a great environment to learn about core subjects, learn to work in a group, and develop time management skills. Some schools offer extracurricular activities in the sciences, art, and music but most children’s creative experiences are limited to afterschool opportunities. One of the best things for young children to try includes music and art lessons. Creative subjects do all sorts of great things for young minds including the development of great problem-solving skills, thinking outside of the box, working as a team, and learning excellent social skills. Here are five reasons why students should take art or music lessons after school.

1.  promote creativity

The most obvious reason to take part in art or music lessons is to promote creativity. Creativity helps keep kids happy and curious and can even help them improve their concentration for when they need to work on English and math. Many children are creative by nature but often lose this creativity as many other demanding assignments take up their time. Afterschool art and music lessons allow kids to discover paint, color, clay, melody, and rhythm and also make them feel happy and excited about learning.

2.  Diversified interests

Another great reason for students to do an afterschool creative project is to diversify their interests. Many schools focus well on reading comprehension, writing, and math skills but today’s student doesn’t have as much of a chance to diversify their personal interests and explore what they’re really good at. Some students have an innate ability in the arts and music while others might learn a new skill or just enjoy their time in a hands-on environment. It’s not essential that kids develop a specific talent but just that they explore new activities and learn to share their new found creativity with others (READ: Los Angeles Tutoring Tips: 5 Study Habits That Help Every Student).

3.  Problem-solving

Students who participate in creative extracurricular activities such as art or music can also learn great problem-solving skills. For instance, perhaps a student is trying to create a certain shade of green to paint with, but they only have yellow, blue, and red paint. There is a relatively simple solution to this particular problem but, a young kid will have to think about what they should do next. Once students learn these simple problem-solving skills, they can apply them to other creative projects as well as their academic activities within the classroom. A student who can problem solve can find a solution to any academic or career issue down the road – our private San Diego academic tutors are here to help your child with his/her problem-solving skills.

4.  Socialization

Students who participate in kinesthetic activities such as art also have the opportunity to socialize in a semi-structured environment. Students might play different parts in an orchestra or be involved in a group art project within their community. They might share materials and a workspace while creating their masterpiece. Kids won’t have the same restrictions on behavior as they do in the classroom, but there will be some adult supervision so students can learn how to share, deal with different personality types, and have fun in this type of social situation.

5.  Reduce stress

Reducing stress is a real issue for students of all ages these days. Art and music have been known to soothe anxiety and help stressed out students from K through 12 learn how to cope with difficult times. Whether a student is studying for an exam, applying to college, or trying to get through a challenging passage in a chapter book in the second grade, creative outlets help keep kids happy, calm and focused on the big picture.

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