CSA opening Preschool for the Creative Arts

Picture this: You have a preschooler who attends a place where their day is filled with singing, playing instruments, painting, drawing, working with clay, dancing and acting. Children are engaged in singing their ABCs and 123s; they’re painting and drawing the shapes of letters and numbers; they explore dance movements and other motor skills to reinforce the curriculum; and they spend time in theater creating characters that teach all of the elements that a preschooler should know before moving into kindergarten and first grade. And your child loves it.

Children are engaged in group activities where they are free to develop their imagination and work together. Instructions are sung to the children to keep them focused, stimulate memory and keep order without ever raising a voice. Children are well-behaved and love being at school because they are immersed in activities that are hands-on, develop strong social and emotional skills, and build great self-confidence.

So, what am I talking about? An arts-based preschool.

There is a lot of information coming out about early childhood education and how the arts positively affect young children. Multiple studies have shown that children who participate in the arts at an early age develop motor skills, communication, decision-making, visual learning, creativity, and focus at a faster rate than those who do not.

In a nutshell, an arts-based preschool is a school that uses the arts as the center of all teaching and learning. Singing, playing instruments, dancing and movement, painting, making crafts, and acting out stories and songs are all part of an arts-based preschool. Teachers in this preschool are professionals in an arts field who happen to love working with young children. So, not only do the children learn the curriculum through the arts, they also find their artistic talents at a young age.

I have personally visited such a place in Iowa and as a professional artist, I can tell you that it is not like a traditional preschool at all. I witnessed young children totally enthralled in their activities. They were focused, working together, and communicating extremely well with each other and their teacher. And the level of talent that I saw displayed at such a young age was amazing.

The reason I went all the way to Iowa to visit this preschool is because Arkansas does not currently have an arts-based preschool. Well, that’s about to change.

Arts-Based Preschool Coming to Fort Smith

Beginning Aug. 22, Community School of the Arts in Fort Smith is opening an arts-based preschool called the Preschool for the Creative Arts. It is for children ages 3-5 and will be the first ever arts-based preschool in Arkansas. Led by director Judy Riley, children will be immersed into music, theatre, dance and visual art as they explore everything a preschooler needs to learn.

Children may arrive between 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, and may stay until 2:30 p.m., or they may stay for extended arts care until 5:30 p.m. During the afternoon sessions, children will participate in ballet classes, Suzuki strings, children’s choir, instrumental ensembles, language classes, including Spanish and sign language, visual arts classes, puppetry and musical theater.

For more information about the Preschool for the Creative Arts, visit csafortsmith.org or call 479-434-2020.