When people ask why a preschool focuses on something which sounds as if it’s Medieval (and is) – the liberal arts – the answer is a question: What else is there? And why would any parent want anything less for their child? Liberal arts are life’s free treasures, the product of free people thinking and doing free things which set people free from the tedium of life’s banalities.
If the liberal arts become a way of life at the preschool age, you can guarantee that the whole of a child’s life will be greater the rest of their lives because they will know how to enjoy what is truly free. Unfortunately, many people including early childhood educators have trouble defining just what the liberal arts are, so let’s review.
Art is a liberal art. It always amazes me that art is the thing many teachers do last because they just don’t have time. When art is reduced to something as offensive as the proverbial “coloring page” the liberal part of the “art” is damaged by very narrow limits.
Art is an expression of the soul. Like other important things, it takes time and a treasure of ingredients that begin with multi media and teachers who are equipped to teach the love of fusing incongruent things as well as teaching spatial concepts and visual esthetics.
Music is a liberal art. Music has many avenues for exploring sound like singing, playing, dancing, creating instruments and making music through a variety of sounds. Music should be fun. Music should lift the spirit and give breath to the heart as children begin to understand the exchange of hearts that goes on between cultures when music is shared.
History is a liberal art. History is a treasure of real life stories that come to life when the teller has some insight into the human condition now and before. Explaining the richness of a smaller life takes a gentleness towards others most people can’t muster – it’s called historical perspective.
Very young children love history and geography because since the beginning of time, people have loved travel. History and geography become mind travel when the teacher opens a story about people with an intention of bridging differences and understanding.
Literature is a liberal art. Perhaps literature best defines the liberal arts because literature is all the above. It’s the music of words, the story of life, the picture of people, things and places told over and over again. Literature is written as well as told. It’s as old as the first story told. It’s cross cultural, and without limits.
Telling stories, reciting poetry, acting out the theatre of life is all connected to literature. Children love to do these things when the enthusiasm and interest of the loving adult is not only aware but able to show these things to children.
Mathematics is a liberal art. The understanding of numbers, groups, shapes, sizes, colors, and patterns are all a necessary part of learning the world’s dimensions. The understanding of space and distance and quantity comes early.
Science is a liberal art. In a modern world so distracted by unnatural things, science should be a refreshing and interesting avenue of study of how things work – naturally --in the world. It should be hands on and active rather than passive. It should touch and see and taste and hear and smell the forgotten things and the things we hardly know anymore.
Top notch preschool activities will be the liberal arts. Teachers who teach them will know what the liberal arts are outside the text book by life experience and the desire to be fully engaged in the world. They will have some knowledge about art, music, literature and history, math and science. It’s called being educated. It separates babysitters from teachers.
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