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The attentin given to the individual arts varies. Much of the art work is done in the classroom or art room. The art class is a favorite of many children permitting all kinds of hands own activities. Music, drama, and dance is persued more variously. There has always been a tradition of drama reflected in the school play. The attention on music has greatly increased in recent years. Quite a number of children at most schools now take individual music tradition in addition to the standard music curriculum. The dance program is more varried. It tends to be limited at mant boys' schools, but more attention is given to it at girls' and coed schools.
Almost all modern prep schools have a well equipped art room. Art classes are enjoyed by almost all the children. Art like the other fine arts is both a curriculum subject as well as a popular activity for the children. All children of course enjoy art and the purose of the art program is to acquint the children with a wide range of artistic formats. This depends somewhat on the available facilities and the skills of the at teacher. The children during any term are involved in a range of artistic projects. Some children develop impressive skills, but all benefit from the artistic experiences.
The dance program is highly varried. Dance is the fine art often given only minot attention, at least for boys. Often there are rythmn and motion lessons in the Pre-Prep. Dance activities tend to be limited at many boys' schools, but more attention is given to it at girls' and coed schools. Here ballet lessons are often given. And here mostly girls participate, althogh zt a few schools a few boys also particiate. More commonly lessons are given in social dancing and Englih.Scottish country dancing, but this is less an arts program and more a social effort.
Drama is not a substantial academic subject. The children do study Shakepeare in their English classes, but this is more a literary study than drama as a subject. The major experience with drama occurs in work on school plays. Virtually every school has at least one production annually and offten there are two or three productions to provide opportunities for children in different levels of the school. These plays are often very popular with the children and provide a range of useful experiences.
All schools have a music program. any Modern preparatory schools plade considerable emphasis on music. Here there are considerable differences from school to school.The aim is to arouse interest in and enjoyment of music and to provide the opportunity to develop individual talents. As one headmaster told us, "We actively encourage the slighest interst in music." With school-age children, it is important to provide opportunities for active participation. Most schools provide the younger children up to two class periods per week. The younger children are introduced to basic rythm and listening through percussion. They generally progress to the recorder which provides an understanding of self notation which will be valuable if the child decides to learn a musical instrument. All children have singing and the older children usually are given some music appreciation classes as part of the normal time table.
