Visual Arts

The visual arts are an essential element of a Pathfinder education, an avenue through which students explore the broader curriculum. The arts are integrated into the curriculum by the classroom teachers, with enrichment projects through cooperative ventures with the art teacher, such as creating art from a given country during a social studies unit. From Kindergarten up, students meet twice a week with the art teacher. They become more proficient by working with a wide variety of media. They use clay, markers, tempera paint and watercolors and colored pencils. Students can practice creating collages, printmaking (using linoleum blocks and water based inks, plus plastic engraving plates with oil based inks) and constructions from a variety of materials.

Art

Pathfinder kids learn to appreciate art; but their primary task is to make art, not look at it. Students create works of art using natural found materials, clay and construction materials. They also draw self-portraits and learn perspective techniques. Art History is incorporated into the curriculum with a timeline covering artwork from the Prehistoric through Modern times. Students can also learn design techniques through the middle school Design and Production elective course, which offers projects in vehicle, home and furniture design as well as the opportunity to work on the sets for the drama production. MIADs are available to students in the visual arts domain include drawing and painting, clay and studio art.

Music

Our elementary and middle school music education programs engage children through song, speech, movement, listening and instrumental play. The curriculum is influenced by the pedagogical premises of Carl Orff’s Schulwerk, which focuses on developing the musicianship of every child. Children learn by doing by interacting with their environment and acting upon it through exploration and experimentation, play and discovery. Music education and other types of learning at our school are active processes, engaging children in holistic and meaningful experiences that lead to further growth and understanding.



A variety of learning activities in our music education programs are designed in the concept areas of rhythm, melody, form, texture/harmony and expression. The content of music education classes is often interdisciplinary and multicultural. Students learn about the lives and works of composers and styles of music ranging from medieval times to the present.



Applications to Literacy

• An Orff-based approach is easily integrated with literacy at all grade levels.
• Children who understand music can better understand word language.
• Music education classes constantly build vocabulary: spoken, visual, aural and body.
• Students enjoy creating sound carpets to accompany familiar stories. Older students can present musical stories to younger grades or grade levels can work together. Sound, movement and image enhance and broaden literacy.
• The goal: learning to read becomes reading to learn.

Theater

Theater is both a co-curricular activity at Pathfinder and a common element of classwork. Children in our early elementary program frequently engage in dramatic play; this is a daily activity especially with our youngest students. As children move through the Pathfinder curriculum, their experiences in theater become more formalized. Fourth graders write and perform monologues as figures in Michigan history. Fifth graders have a semester of readers’ theater, which, in the 2009-2010 school year, culminated in performances of short works by Matt Groening and Simon Rich, as well as an Indian fable adapted for the stage by Aaron Shepard. Middle schoolers have the option to pursue technical theater, performance and playwriting through elective courses. Under the direction of Audrey Pittinos, the Pathfinder players toured Leelanau and Grand Traverse Counties with Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost. Following this tour, the students presented "Murder at the House of Horrors", a quirky audience-participation mystery that was also staged on our campus.

Movement and Dance

Movement and dance are folded into the music and performance program at Pathfinder. Our kids get the chance to move every week—particularly as they prepare for Tapestry, our springtime extravaganza, presented at the City Opera House in downtown Traverse City. In addition, we are introducing dance instruction in our After School Enrichment program in 2010-2011.