In the 26 years I've been a middle school counselor, I have observed a general decline in students' exposure to activities and events that might be found in the category of "arts and culture." A majority of the students I've known have never been to a concert featuring classical music, have never attended an art show, or read a work by any of the literary masters.
As part of my extensive 😉 research in preparation for this post, I conducted a google search on this statement: "How to add culture to your life." This yielded suggestions such as the following:
(1) Find out what local arts and cultural events are taking place in your own community, such as art shows, poetry readings, events at the public library, concerts, museum displays, and visits to historical sites
(2) Read a work of classic literature
(3) Learn about another culture, past or present
(4) Try new foods
(5) Listen to different types of music
(6) Do something creative yourself: write a story, paint a picture, participate in a craft, dance, or learn a musical instrument, etc.
Schools often try to provide students with opportunities to be exposed to arts and culture. This happened recently at my grandson Eli's school when a local ballet company presented "Swan Lake." What a great opportunity to be exposed to a bit of arts and culture, right?
His teacher, of course, used the performance as an opportunity for practicing writing skills, and asked her second graders to both draw a picture and tell what they liked about the performance.
Here is Eli's response:
So much for arts and culture. 😆
As part of my extensive 😉 research in preparation for this post, I conducted a google search on this statement: "How to add culture to your life." This yielded suggestions such as the following:
(1) Find out what local arts and cultural events are taking place in your own community, such as art shows, poetry readings, events at the public library, concerts, museum displays, and visits to historical sites
(2) Read a work of classic literature
 |
| "Hamlet" by Kevin Stanton is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 |
(3) Learn about another culture, past or present
(4) Try new foods
 |
| "Food Photography" by Satheesh Kumar is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 |
(5) Listen to different types of music
(6) Do something creative yourself: write a story, paint a picture, participate in a craft, dance, or learn a musical instrument, etc.
 |
| Image by andrew lorien is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 |
Schools often try to provide students with opportunities to be exposed to arts and culture. This happened recently at my grandson Eli's school when a local ballet company presented "Swan Lake." What a great opportunity to be exposed to a bit of arts and culture, right?
His teacher, of course, used the performance as an opportunity for practicing writing skills, and asked her second graders to both draw a picture and tell what they liked about the performance.
Here is Eli's response:
So much for arts and culture. 😆
