WAND_PRAPAN/ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES PLUS
Parents can integrate art into learning at
home, whether it’s incorporating drawings,
photos or cartoons into a homework unit or
working on memory skills via repeated songs
(see “Studying Strategies with Art” at right).

“Most people are artistic and creative in
some way. If we communicate this to our kids,
we can support them in figuring out how they
express their own creativity,” Murtaugh says.

Beck hopes to see greater opportunities in
K-12 education for department collaboration
by challenging the current way schools are
structured. This action requires administrators
to support teachers working together and
cultivating professional development while
balancing other demands of instruction.

Looking at the positive effects of arts
integration, Beck sees “true engagement, not
just compliance,” she says. Arts integration
permits a deeper understanding of the academic
content, which ultimately leads to deeper or
sustained learning. T
Learn more about the design of arts-integrated
learning units that can be used in preschool, higher
education or professional training programs with
The Brain-Targeted Teaching Model.

Visit braintargetedteaching.org
Studying Strategies With ART
Parents can help their children study for a test or memorize content —
or make another day of virtual learning a bit more interactive. Mariale Hardiman,
professor and director of the Neuro-Education Initiative at Johns Hopkins University
School of Education, offers the following tips:
Make learning visible. Encourage children
to draw or doodle. A simple word can
imply the action is less focused on the
product and more focused on the process
of visualizing an idea or a concept.

Create a graphic organizer. Also known as
a concept map, this graphic uses images
or words to make content more
visual. Be careful about judging
the visual product the child
produces. Focus on the
process by asking questions
about what the drawing
means to them. What’s the
feeling they get when they
look at what they drew?
Make up simple rhyming phrases. A tried-
and-true way to recall info — for children
and adults — is to make it rhyme.

Use a familiar tune. Take academic
material and weave it into the
phrasing of a well-loved song. P
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