From Day 1, BudBud (our middle child and oldest son) has obviously been wired differently. He lives and breathes creativity and artistic capacity. He’s wired differently than the other kiddos, and is very similar to myself in that regard. BudBud sees life in a different way than most other kiddos. He has always described every day things in very unique ways. And he’s the one I’m always saying, “it’s time to go – put away the colors/legos/blocks” – he’s always creating things and drawing non-stop.
So when it came time to put him into school, we had some things to consider. His older sister was already enrolled at our neighbourhood elementary school in their French Immersion program. But also in our community was an Integrated Arts School (at that time still being called a Fine Arts school). After more investigations, we decided that Integrated Arts was definitely the way we wanted to go with BudBud. French would be a benefit of the Immersion program, but everything about him said ARTIST and we felt like the Fine Arts school was the best way to go.
BudBud is now in Grade 4 and has been in Integrated Arts since Kindergarden. We were fortunate enough to have the option of Fine Arts when we moved to Lethbridge, too, so he has been able to continue with that same focus.
What does Integrated Arts look like in a school and why does it work well for so many kiddos?
Integrated Arts means that art of all kinds (drawing, coloring, painting, sculpting, dance, poetry, drama, music, etc.) is used in all aspects of teaching and learning of all subjects. My daughter in French Immersion was taught only in French from the very beginning – math, science, social studies, etc., all in French, thereby learning French and the subject of study at the same time. Integrated Arts is like that in a way – math, science, social studies, etc., are all being taught with and through the Arts, so the students are learning both the art and the subject of study at the same time. The difference here is that French Immersion is focused on getting the French INTO the students, and Integrated Arts is focused somewhat on getting the Arts out of the students.
For example, BudBud is doing a math unit on shapes – learning all about the various different kinds of 2-D shapes and 3-D shapes. They are learning to calculate basic perimeter, area, and volume as well as identifying those shapes in every day life. The Arts integration comes at the point where BudBud has to use the shapes – his choice: building a castle. In his castle he has to have at least one of each of the shapes represented. He used recyclable materials and his Legos to build it. He had to make it on his own, cutting out the shapes and labeling them. Can he tell you what a rhombus is? Can he point out a trapezoid? Can he make and recognize a tetrahedron? You bet he can do all those things and many more. Shapes are in his back pocket, so to speak, because he’s interacted with them in a way that makes sense to his brain. (I wish I had taken a pic before he took it to school….)
Another example – part of their recent units on social studies and language arts merged together. While studying Canadian history, the class also prepared and performed a Choral Speech piece based on Gordon Lightfoot’s Canadian Railroad Trilogy. Literature, poetry, music, history, and drama all rolled into one unit. Can he tell you a lot about how the railroad formed Canada’s history? YUP! He can also identify different kinds of poetry, has honed his dramatic presentation skills, and gained an appreciation for classic Canadian artists.
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| BudBud with his Clown Nose which he got as part of Drama Club last term |
I could go on and on – but maybe you get the point. Integrated Arts really means that BudBud gets to used all his hard-wired artistic traits to learn all of his subjects at school. I think it has helped him immensely, especially through what can often be boring subjects (math and social studies, for him). If he was forced to just sit in his desk and be lectured to on Canadian history, he wouldn’t learn nearly as much as he has with this hands-on approach. I think that’s why many students do so well in Integrated Arts schools even if they aren’t artistically inclined – they are just able to use more and different parts of their brains for learning and to apply what they are learning.
I feel like we were very blessed to have this option for BudBud. He thrives in this school environment, and we’ve sometimes wondered if it wouldn’t have been better for MrCutie to have gone this route as well. I don’t think Integrated Arts is for every student – some really do need more rigid structures with less going on at once. But for those like my son, school is a much happier place because the Arts are a part of everything he does.
