The Arts in Fifth Grade

What kids should learn in the arts

Ideally, the classroom time devoted to the arts program is supplemented by after-school enrichment programs and small group lessons, particularly in music and the visual arts. The intermediate years are an especially fertile time for children who are interested in string instruments. Many children develop new interests in music at this time, and their physical growth enables them to handle a bow, to manipulate strings, and to hear sounds better than they could before. Throughout the intermediate grades, children are readily drawn to painting as a means of self-expression, and they are also attracted to group choral singing.