This is our fourth and last week for the Virtual Curriculum Fair. I hope you’ve enjoyed getting a glimpse into what resources other homeschool families are using and enjoying. If you’ve missed any weeks of the Fair throughout the month of January, you can learn more and find the links to each week’s post here. The cohosts of this week’s fair are Susan@Homeschooling Hearts and Minds and Lisa@Golden Grasses.
The Arts: I have to admit that it’s probably my least well-known subject. I didn’t do very much along the lines of visual arts when I was in school. Our school did do well in the performing arts. I was in chorus. We had a band. We did dramas each year. For two years when I was in high school, I went to a drama camp in the summer. But I never know lots about the technical side of performing arts. And there was very little I knew about visual arts in general. So when I began homeschooling, it was something I struggled to incorporate in our homeschool.
There have been several resources I’ve really enjoyed to study the arts. And, although I would consider myself an expert by any means, I do know more about the arts now than I did growing up.) In this edition of the Virtual Curriculum Fair, I’m going to share some of my favorite arts resources- some we’re using now and some we’ve used in the past.
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I had heard many good things about ARTistic Pursuits and finally had the opportunity to try a book last year as a review. We enjoyed it. I like that the book is very complete so that a parent with little to know art experience- ME!- can follow it. We reviewed one of the elementary books here. And this year Kathryne and Charles have both used ARTistic Pursuits as a part of their curriculum. Kathryne used one of the high school books, and Charles used the stand alone Sculpture book.
This is a free online resource. It is set up as a weekly radio program that features a composer or musical time period or style of music. All of the shows are archived, however, so if you are studying a particular time period, you can search for shows that feature it. Or you can search by composer or musical style. I love this because I can match it up to specific historical periods about which we are reading. Each week’s radio show show also includes a printable with more information and other activities. The site also has information about the orchestra, including printables, and other musical topics. It is truly a wealth of musical information.
Our curriculum from My Father’s World uses this resource. It follows great art through history, featuring classical art from the time periods and teaching art technique. It truly is art with a Christian worldview, focusing not just on the work of art but on how it relates to our Christian perspective. I really like that it alternated between featuring classic pieces from classic artists and teaching technique, giving the kids projects to try.
or read it free online at ReadCentral.com.
from Ken Ludwig is a book I chanced on to review. I loved it. Ken Ludwig focuses on having your children memorize passages of Shakespeare- which are detailed in the book. He tells you the whys and how tos, making it a book you can easily pick up and work through with your kids.
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