The benefits of having a child participate in the performing arts are many fold, from character building to various personal skill development, to enhancing creativity and confidence.
In a speech and drama class, children are exposed to various art forms such as acting, music, dancing, and public speaking. All of these combined help to develop children in many areas and develop skills that are of life-long advantage to them.
1. They learn to explore ‘out of the box’ and develop new ways of thinking when adapting to different roles and experiences.
2. They learn to appraise new situations and even improvise instantaneously when performing on stage.
3. They get to express their thoughts and ideas, solve problems, and find ways to improve their performance and the roles that are given to them.
4. When acting, they also learn different tones of speech, with proper vocal projection and articulation.
5.To bring out the characters they are playing, they also practice critical and creative thinking, apply reasoning skills and assess how to portray certain emotions.
6. Involvement in reading music and playing instruments also improve one’s mathematical proficiency, supporting better academic achievement.
7. Dancing and movement improves their motor and coordination skills, flexibility, as well as body balance and control.
8. Being in a speech and drama class requires children to expand their imagination, to look beyond and examine various points of views and consider the 'big picture' in order to perform a role.
9. Speech and drama also involve constant interaction with others helping to build communication and interpersonal skills. The children learn different ways to effectively work with and communicate with others.
10. Children also learn collaboration, leadership, and gain a better sense of self-awareness when working with peers and facilitators.
11. In order to better portray a role, children are encouraged to explore a variety of literature to gain perspective and carry out their roles realistically.
12. Children are often required to creatively brainstorm, make choices, deliberate certain considerations and outcomes in order to make decisions on how to play their parts.
Speech and drama is a valuable journey in a young child’s life and nurtures them in so many ways. It presents many wondrous opportunities to empower children to put their best foot forward in life and enriches their hearts and minds.
Interested for your child to experience speech and drama as part of their preschool learning experience in Singapore? Check out how White Lodge’s Curriculum includes Speech and Drama and how this has developed and benefited many children under its care.
