Aesthetic education: A curriculum supplement for elementary music class

Over the last several years the Broward County, Florida school system has experienced a dramatic decline in music programs. In Broward County, as in many school systems across the nation, programs in music and the other arts are finding themselves reduced because of curtailed funding. The problems are constantly debated by school board members and top administration officials. Meanwhile, young people are deprived of music. A major concern of the music community has been an inability to propose a truly self-justifying curriculum. Therefore, an aesthetically based curriculum supplement has been developed with the intention of cementing the place of music in the overall elementary school curriculum. This will be a major approach to curriculum building with instruction, which will include music theories, musical styles and periods, musicians, composition and historical facts. The objective is to create an understanding of music, establishing music as an integral part of school curriculum.