finding music/art stuff for my son. I am so clueless about music in general, so that's probably the problem. What do you guys do for these subjects?
music we are in piano lesson with a wonderful teacher. art we are in lesson too. Check out our YMCA they might have something for crafts or check out homeschool group they might do art class.
Emma takes piano lessons and is in choir for music. But we also expand it beyond piano and choir. When Ems learns a new song, she also learns who wrote it, when they lived and when the song was written. So basically she learns music appreciation. For art she was taking painting lessons but we took her out for a couple of reasons. But we are using How Great Thou Art as well as learning art appreciation through her arts and crafts book.
For music we're doing the DVD series called the "young people's Concert". It is set in the 50's and the kids can only hold their attention with it for short amounts of time (about 1/2 an hour) then it loses their attention (((but up until that point is good))). It has a conductor talking about what music is, what it means, etc. For art, I plan on tying it into our history (we'll be studying/ practicing the style from whatever period in time we're studying). But for light stuff we do play doh and drawing, coloring, illustrating pictures. Jen has a wonderful site full of links that has good art pages/ info on, I've used those as well. BTW...as they get older, maybe next year, I'd like to have them start piano lessons. And maybe a few years down the road, take art classes (although I do art and have taken many classes, so this would be just to be around other kids)
We are using Artistic Pursuits for art, which is really good for us. It requires nothing from me (I'm art disabled, lol), It includes art history, art appreciation and art making.
We have Music Ace Maestro (computer software) but haven't used it a ton (the kids used Music Ace at their Dept of Defense school and begged for it). Music Ace usually suggests Music Ace Deluxe for homeschoolers but Maestro has ALL 48 lessons from Ace 1 and Ace 2 ....Deluxe just has about 36 of them....and Maestro has teacher manager tools. For Art, we did an outside class for several sessions and are taking a sabbatical from them right now. The kids do independent crafts for now. Rhonda
We take piano, too! There's a great series called Classical Kids. There's "Beethoven Lives Upstairs", Hallelujah Handel!, Mozart's Magnificent Voyage, and some more. They're story CD's, but some have been made into DVD's. Also, another great CD for classical music is "Beethoven's Wig". There's at least two volumes. They put music to classical music. REALLY great stuff!!! Here's a great series my library carries for art: King, Penny and Clare Roundhill. “Artists’ Workshop” series. Crabtree Publishing. Each book has a theme, such as ANIMALS. Then they show a piece of art based on that theme, talk about it, and then present two different projects the kids can do. Each book presents several (seven or eight...?) different pieces of art, and includes a wide variety of projects.
We study classic composers and artists. We pick one artist and composer each term to study. For music we read a biography and listen to the music. Sometimes while doing art work and sometimes in the car. I have just begun teaching my oldest piano. My mother was a piano teacher and has given me everything I need. For the artist we read a biography and study one piece of their art a week. We study the piece and then she tries to recreate it herself. I also give various art projects determined by what we are reading in history or literature.
This is so informative! Especially tying stuff into history...hmm, getting me thinking. Thanks so much!
Wow! You guys all do a lot for music and art! I had my son take a homeschool co-op art class this fall (once a week for 10 weeks). It was taught by an artist/art teacher turned business owner. This lady has her own business teaching different art classes in the evenings and on the weekends. She makes a special trip to our town to teach to our homeschool group. I should have my son taking piano or voice lessons from my sister seeing as my sister teaches music out of her home. I don't though. My 8 year old son just listens to music and is a walking iTunes library. He loves learning about songs and who sings them and how long each song takes. My son also records his own music/songs using a computer program called Audacity. Some how (dh showed him once, I guess) he has learned how to transfer his recorded songs to a wav file, move them into iTunes and then he can burn his own cds. For homeschool students in my state the law does not require the teaching of Music, Art or PE.
My son takes guitar and voice 1x per week. My daughter listens to music and we (like monkeymomma) try and do a different artist and composer by term. Last term was Bach and honestly I am now tired of listening to the CD My kids loved listening to it though! I have a couple of choices picked out for next term - so we'll see. Same with artist - I need to figure out who we are doing and print out the pictures etc.
We don't do much really, just sounds like a lot. Our state doesn't require anything either. I just do it on 1 day a week and it's not something I try to make up if we miss it. Its just for our fun day.
www.classicsforkids.com is what we use for music. For art we have Art Basics for Children by Rich and Sharon Jeffus, but we usually just color, free drawing that kind of thing. If you look at Rainbow Resources, they have tons for art and music both, but most stuff isn't in our budget.. so I make due with what I can get free or cheap.
We did Bach this past term too! Today is actually our last day of Term 1 and we finished his bio this morning. Next term we will do Listz and last term will be Bruckner.
Don't forget about field trips! We attend several concerts and art exhibitions each year. Check your local colleges--any one that offers music and art should have free performances and exhibitions that you can attend. The symphony offers a few free things each year as well. Juried craft shows usually require the artists to be present, and most artists are eager to explain their methods to the kids. Think out of the box, and you will find numerous opportunities around you.
Wow, what great ideas. We use the pottery class that our charter school offers for our art. And then we do art projects at home. For music...we haven't done anything because they haven't been interested. But I like the idea of studying artist. I really like that, what a neat idea.
We've been hsing 4 years now and have yet to find a music class. We nearly had one twice, but it fell through both times. Now, I come up with a genre each month and we learn those. For art, we finally have an art teacher. We are also finishing up Drawing Basics With Thomas Kinkade.
Oh - I want my husband to set up a better stereo system - something in my "game/family room" that I can do CD's with and maybe MP3 player capable so I can play classical music or whoever we are studying in the room we mostly use
And we are doing Franz Liszt as well - I'm trying to follow Ambleside for as much as possible with a few differences on other subjects - but a lot and the concept is the same - turns out my kids really like "workbooks" - go figure
We go to the theatre a few times a year. Most of the shows are musicals. I usually forget to use these as fieldtrips. Thanks for the reminder!
