The Early Learning Program utilizes art as a sensory tool. Finger painting and age-appropriate projects allow them to create their own masterpieces. Students develop fine-motor skills through the use of paint brushes, crayons, and play dough.
Art classes are attended by students in Kindergarten through fifth grade in a fully equipped art suite.
Students develop small motor skills such as cutting, coloring, gluing, and shaping small clay forms. They are also taught the basic elements of art (line, shape, texture, form and composition), spatial relationships, background consideration, and color combinations.
Media for older students include oil, chalk, ink, and mixed media. Older students will gain an increasing respect for art, familiarity with great artists and their work, and will fine tune their skills by using perspective and observation skills of sizes and shapes in placement of a composition.
Art projects often correlate with classroom curriculum across all grade levels.
Performing Arts
Children have the opportunity to gain confidence and develop a sense of self by performing in front of an audience. They continue to participate in musicals and theatrical productions throughout their time on the Beaches Campus.
Dance
The Lower School Dance program gives elementary aged students the opportunity to participate in dance regardless of level or years of experience.
Students are introduced to and explore movement, while also focusing on coordination, flexibility, and strength.
Music
Students practice skills and enhance their music reading abilities with both hands-on instruction as well as assistance through technology.
Annon-pitched percussion instruments (drums, rattles, and bells), pitched percussion (xylophones, metallophones, glockenspiels, and timpani), as well as guitars, ukuleles, and soprano recorders. Students also use the Quaver Music computer program to learn music reading skills.
Fine Arts Wheel
The Beaches Campus fine arts curriculum for fourth and fifth grades includes both a year-long fine arts class concentration and a fine arts wheel program that is split into trimesters.
The year-long class options are band or visual art. Students select the discipline they are most interested in pursuing and explore their choice for the entire school year. These classes meet twice a week.
In addition to the year-long concentration class, students also take a trimester based wheel program. The wheel program consists of a trimester of dance, a trimester of drama and a trimester of the discipline the student did not select for their year-long concentration class, either music or visual art.
