Overview
Art Education has its own unique place in the total developmental process of each individual student in the Madison School System. the elementary art teachers strive to capture the interest of the students by having the students use their own experiences as an art comment. Through growing awareness, art education offers children the daily opportunities for emotional release and personal integration. Art activities are planned to develop and enrich appreciation of beauty in the fine areas and daily living. Children are helped and encouraged to develop attitudes of self-evaluation and strive to reach the highest quality of work that is possible.
To accomplish this, the components of media, elements, manipulative skills, and appreciation are sequential and integrated experiences in the elementary program. the program seeks to acquaint the students with a wide range of art materials allowing them to constantly refine manipulative skills and techniques necessary to create. The component on "Elements" emphasizes the principles of art, helping students translate their ideas into visual images. "Appreciation" seeks to assist students to perceive and respond intelligently to art works produced by their peers as well as by contemporary and historical artists.
This program takes place in classes that meet approximately for 30 to 40 minutes a week in grades kindergarten through six. Every art experience should be understood as a unified activity, neither product nor process in orientation. Emphasis should be placed on: observing, becoming aware of problems, probing the unknown, searching for solutions, selecting and modifying approaches and expressing meaning in the final visual form. The total learning process therefore must incorporate the affective, cognitive and psychomotor aspects of learning.
