About The Author
Hi! I’m Ms. Abbey.
I teach kids to love art through animals, travel, and step-by-step instruction.
I truly believe art class is for EVERYONE, not just the natural artist. The scientist, nature-lover, athlete, wanna-be vet, and gamer can all find fun and a sense of accomplishment in art. That’s why I’ve made my brand ARTventurous Animals. My classes engaging, full of animals and adventure, and uncomplicat
I have a Bachelor’s of Science in Elementary Education and have taught in a brick-and-mortar classroom for 4 years. But even after substituting, teaching 3rd grade, teaching Kindergarten, and teaching English in Thailand, being an online art teacher has been my favorite!
I have had over 2 years of experience teaching English to learners of other languages with VIPKid, and I welcome any ESL learners in my class! I am also TESOL certified through IOA (International Open House Academy). Message me before class so I can cater to your learner.
My husband and I just had our beautiful son, Liam James, on July 4th. He’s the reason I’ve chosen to be an online teacher and stay-at-home mom. If you met him, you would know why I can’t bring myself to leave him all day!
Oh, and we have a cat named Leo. He’s pretty great, too!
5 Benefits of Art in Academics
UNPOPULAR OPINION–art belongs in academics.
How could I, a veteran teacher and teaching business owner, say that? Check out my five reasons below and see if I can change your mind.
1. Art makes any academic subject hands-on.
I NEVER understood food chains in school. They were just a list of words and terms to me. What even was a tertiary consumer? Why on earth do I care?
I have since taught a food web/chain lesson to my students and they have LOVED it. What’s the difference? ART. I included art in the explanation, application, and assessment of this lesson. When you include art in an academic subject, it becomes hands-on. This helps students own the information for themselves. And that’s the first step in learning!
Some examples below:
2. Art adds adventure to learning by integrating an element of WOW.
When was the last time your kids were genuinely excited about learning? For younger kids, it’s usually when there’s an experience or activity involved. When they’re in upper elementary, they usually enjoy when there’s a sense of danger (big cats, volcanoes, sharks, dinosaurs). What both groups look forward to is the sense of adventure. Art adds this to academics! By encouraging kids to step out of their comfort zone and think outside the box, it gives them the same feeling of WOW that you feel when you adventure in a new country or hike a mountain.
Some examples below:
3. Art brings a sense of wonder through discovery.
“What???” is my favorite sentence to hear from my art students. If I can shock them with a crazy fact, explain a hard concept easily, or blow their minds with an art hack, I’ve done my job well. That’s because kids learn through discovery, but you have to spark their curiosity before they’ll go on a discovery journey on their own. Art is the perfect springboard for independent learning.
An example of this that just happened when my class was drawing a giraffe. We had only done the head and neck, and I prompted the class with the question, “Can you imagine this being a different animal besides a giraffe?” Well, that got their wheels turning!
“Brachiosaurus!”
“Goose!”
“Swan!”
“Snake!”
That simple prompt was all I needed to get them curious enough to make my real life point–there are patterns in nature that we can observe.
Some examples below
4. Art connects the dots between skill subjects and the “real world.”
Did you know that art can help with a struggling math student? I’ve seen it happen! Art brings abstract concepts like numbers and orders of operation into a real life context. Take story problems for example. I’ve seen so many students get overwhelmed with the long reading AND big math ideas. But bring in some colored pencils and a black sheet of paper, and kids can usually sketch the ideas as you read aloud! Once they’re able to visualize what the passage is saying, then they can reread it and work the math problem easily. Why? Because they visualized it with real life objects that make sense to them. Art makes a connection.
Some examples below:
5. Art, in the end, leads to deeper understanding of academic subjects.
Nearly all of my art students can also tell you the seven continents, can tell you which one key animal live on, and can tell you the difference between a carnivore and an herbivore. Why? Because I taught them how to draw animals from around the world. When kids are creating with their hands, it opens up their minds to receive information easily.
Basically, art creates an easy, flowing path for information to become ingrained in children’s minds forever.
Some examples below:
So, did I convince you that art belongs in academics yet?
If you would like your kids to experience loving learning through art, check out what I offer below!
Follow me for more art at:
Abbey Allen
Owner & Designer of ARTventurous Animals
Awesome info!! I can’t wait to get my daughter into more arts and crafts, but really engage her creativity and imagination
I LOVE your point about art makes any academic subject “hands on.” I took your idea and incorporated it already! We are reviewing a b and c letters with our 5-year-old and shapes with our 2-year-old. But we did art projects! And they loved it! Thanks for the ideas! And we will be following you for more inspiration!