Electives - Fine Arts, Music, Drawing, Drafting

[Julie in MN]

I was wondering what people are using for art and music with AHL. Can I use God and the History of Art and Intro. to Vivaldi, Bach, and Handel with her, as I am buying them anyway for my two younger children to use with CTG?

Hi Tracy,
My high school dd did some of the art & music back in CTG. Actually, she had used some of the biography CDs even before that. What I did was track all the different "fine arts" things she did over the years, and when she got to a certain number of hours, I counted a credit. I kinda had an idea of what I wanted for a high school credit -- it needed to feel well-rounded and not just something someone would do in their spare time. But I didn't do the usual part of a requirement, which is to require a certain amount of work to be done in a certain amount of time. I figured it was an elective so I could be looser. Not sure what your requirements are.

Also can my teen use English from the Roots Up? We have never used it and I would like for her to learn Greek and Latin roots. Again, if not High School level, what would others recommend?

My dd did EFRU in high school. Studying roots is very common in high school. It's not a complete credit, but part of an English credit. The problem might be that MFW already has a full English credit lined up. Unless you were adding enough for another full credit, you'd have to ask MFW what they recommend for add-ons/substitutions to their credit.

[cbollin]

Hello,
I am working on my teenage daughters education plan to submit to the school as required. I was wondering what people are using for art and music with AHL.

Are you able to wait until World History and Literature? I remember seeing the WHL (high school year 2) manual at convention and there was a section in there on how to do a fine arts semester credit. I think it was semester....

but MFW has something in that year.

Also can my teen use English from the Roots Up? We have never used it and I would like for her to learn Greek and Latin roots. Again, if not High School level, what would others recommend?

you might call the MFW office and ask their recommendation for roots alongside a Biology course.

-crystal

[TracyLee01026]

Thank you all for the great advice!
Tracy

[cbollin]

I was looking at our guide for World history and noticed in the back a listening log and a log that showed plays/concerts attended. I don't think this was in the AHL book, though I haven't pulled it out to see.

Nope. Fine Arts is in the WHL manual, but not AHL.

Anyway, dd has taken 8 years of piano and practices A LOT...A LOT!! Can any of those hours of practice go toward the fine arts? I really should know this by now.

Where I live, it would NOT count in any year prior to 9th grade. Try to make a log of the piano practice/lessons from 9th grade and forward and count those toward the credit.

Second thing, is it possible to take the one credit for fine arts and stretch it over the entire high school period? I seriously don't see us doing 4 hours per week on fine arts in a year, but I very easily see us doing 1 hour, or a little more, per week.

yes. Where I live, that is commonly done.

Third thing, she has the opportunity to be involved in a play this year. Would that count towards fine arts?

Count it Baby!

Fourth thing, she is practicing and preparing for a talent show coming up which she will play the piano and sing with a group. Would that count towards this?

you can. I probably would log it too.

I was wondering if I could pull something together like have her listen to 30 minutes of music with her brothers per week for their own music in the lower grades, then count an hour of her piano practice as well? I know that last year she spent a lot of time listening to Scott Joplin music while trying to make some decisions on pieces of his to play. I have no earthly idea how much time, but it was quite a bit. I think I could easily give her 5 or 6 hours.

Please don't ask me why I didn't look into the fine arts credits before now. I have no clue!! I think there are a couple of things like this that I haven't approached because I have forgotten. Now to remember the things I've forgotten to remember.

I have one friend who logged hours over 3 years of high school and was pushing it hard at end of the senior year to have those last 10 hours of listening to music. His parents told him "you have to finish this course before you get your diploma". So, he listened to a lot of those CD's from the 5 year cycle on a road trip. I told him he should listen to Joshua Bell b/c when he got to college "chicks would dig it". LOL. I was just trying to motivate him to finish his work. LOL LOL LOL LOL

So, take a relaxed approach on it. Do you want to have one semester or one year on the transcript? Will it matter to the college (probably not unless she goes into art/music study?) In my state, they want to see 1 year credit of performing/fine arts. So we plan to log the hours over 3-4 years. This year, my oldest will count her ballet class in the log, as well as attending any concerts, performances, recitals of friends, and as well as participation in the youth "choir" at church on occasion.
Then, we'll go back and listen a bit to those CD's and DVD from 5 year cycle.
We're thinking of doing some art work over the time.

So, our Fine Arts credit will be more along the lines of "performance and appreciation in a range of fine arts". Not sure exactly what I will name it on transcript. But if it takes 3-4 years to earn the hours, it will count.

Our umbrella school calls all sorts of things in this category of Fine ARts:
art history (why not do God and the history of Art again in high school?
commercial art
DRAFTING (MFW offers a 1/4 credit in drafting, so you could use that as part of it?)
photography
general music
music history
dance
vocals
music theory
theater
visual arts

So think along those lines. It doesn't have to be exactly all listening and logging. Be creative and enjoy it over the years.
-crystal

[Teresa in TX]

So, take a relaxed approach on it. Do you want to have one semester or one year on the transcript? Will it matter to the college (probably not unless she goes into art/music study?) In my state, they want to see 1 year credit of performing/fine arts.

Actually, she is planning to go into art/music study. This is a fairly new development, though. She decided late spring that she wants to be a music therapist. My mind has been on that somewhat lately anyway. I think her teacher is going to help her get all 12 years of her music theory tests taken so that will even count as a college credit, if I understand the whole thing correctly. I really need to be tracking in this direction right now anyway. Sitting and looking and planning all this stuff has made me feel we may not have enough hours in a day.

I wasn't planning on tracking any hours before 9th grade on the piano practice. She did do a lot, though. I remembered that she also attended her cousin's big high school dance team production at the end of the year last year. I can count that. I can make her listen to music on the way. I'm now trying to think of all the ways to multi-task her subjects. She could write her research paper on Joplin. I can make her listen to music each time on the way to piano practice. This is the type of stuff that reallllly annoys her when I get going!!! hehehe

[Julie in MN]

I agree that a fine arts credit can easily be done over several high school years, and can include several things.

If she is going to study music, then be sure to emphasize what she does for those credits *besides* lessons. If piano lessons are top on the list, I think folks might look at us like silly homeschoolers My dd got credit for band in public school, but private lessons were often assumed to be taken on the side. The band class really includes more variety -- learning the group experience, learning about conductors and different instruments, performances, marching band, competitions between chairs, etc.

When my dd did flute lessons in homeschool, I made sure she had those kinds of experiences. She was in performances, attended other people's performances, an adult flute choir, attended a flute seminar, flute camp, went to the children's orchestra & did their prep materials & workshop, tried an adult orchestra, toured Orchestra Hall, etc. I tried to keep samples of her music and the different events/materials/programs that were included -- and take photos.

I also agree that any of MFW's art and music materials from K-8th grade would be great. My dd had been using Drawing With Children & listening to those composer biographies & making a notebook page about each even before I found MFW. There are also lots of other materials like those. Your library may also have music courses by The Teaching Company. We did the jazz one and it wasn't too long.

Oh, and when my dd was in a couple of plays, I counted it as part of her English credit & had her read the book, the script, and possibly the movie. Sometimes I'd have her write a comparison. Not sure how much "independent reading" is allowed for in WHL. But I can see how it could also be fine arts. At this point, you might want to get more specific and have a "theater" credit, an "applied music" credit, and so forth.

More to annoy your dd
Julie

[Teresa in TX]

I agree that a fine arts credit can easily be done over several high school years, and can include several things.

If she is going to study music, then be sure to emphasize what she does for those credits *besides* lessons. If piano lessons are top on the list, I think folks might look at us like silly homeschoolers My dd got credit for band in public school, but private lessons were often assumed to be taken on the side. The band class really includes more variety -- learning the group experience, learning about conductors and different instruments, performances, marching band, competitions between chairs, etc.

Good points, Julie. I realize my brain has been turned off of homeschooling all summer and the switch is going back on. I hadn't even thought of how we were going to approach this for her plans for a music career, so I'm glad I threw this out here. Being in piano doesn't afford the opportunities for "group" performances like other instruments seem to, though she may wind up in some opportunities at church. She's played in a few festivals and in front of a judge this past year. She's taken theory tests and has received different awards for the above. We have a local youth orchestra and they do have a pianist position for that, but the pianist rarely has a part, and I believe they already have someone in that position, so I'm going to have to think about that part. I put a call in to her piano teacher this week to discuss some of this with her. She really wants to learn to play guitar and/or to have some voice lessons, so maybe we'll pursue that as well. Time and money are the other factors in that, though. Those were all great ideas. Thanks!!

[cbollin]

group performance ideas:

does she have a friend who does any other instrument? Can they go to retirement community, or something like that and play for residents? more service projects.

I'm wondering if some of them might enjoys hymns, or even some old ragtime.

oh girlfriend, if I can find the youtube channel again for that gentleman who does a bunch of gospel tunes in ragtime. oh, found him on the first google search. He calls his ministry Strolling Down Memory Lane, with billy and willie pollard. (Willie is his wife and she looks so nervous on camera, but billy's smile is contagious) He was so good!

p.s. My umbrella school says I can't double dip the hours the same year for dance and PE.

-crystal

[Wendy B.]

One thing that I had my HSers do was to keep a log of activities/hours. At the end of each year we would consolidate this log. This worked well for not only their Fine Arts credit but also for a PE credit.

My older dd also was able to legitimately claim a few creative writing credits this way.

I did make my kids create a "paper trail" of some sort. So I wouldn't just give them a credit for watching a play or listening to music. They had to write something or create something or perform something for the credit.

My older son earned a 1/2 credit by teaching himself to play the guitar. He keep a log of materials he used, how long it took him and he did a family performance. He also earned a 1/2 credit in music history ( I think that is what we decided to call it). He gathered a group of friends and they investigated some of the past influences of their favorite bands. Sounds a little lame but there was A LOT of discussion and they read quite a few books and listened to artists that they weren't initially interested in. In order to earn this credit I made him write a paper.

HTH

[cbollin]

I see in the four year plan that one of the electives for 10th grade with WHL is fine arts, it then tell you to see the appendix in the WHL manual.... does anyone actually know if I need to purchase anything for that. I'd like to do it all at once, but can't see the appendix, till after I order WHL... If you have WHL would you mind telling me if I need anything? AHL has been incredible this year!

Blessings
Sandra

it's a build your own ideas. No further books "must" be purchased as far as I can tell. ideas are given to tackle it in various ways. if no one else chimes in ... I'll double check tomorrow on what's in the whl manual,

****
in spite of that, I splurged and bought Professor Carol Reynolds's fine arts program to do instead of the build it route. It just made a fine arts year credit look so easy to accomplish at quality level and tied in with WHL years.. I need to go back to her booth and chat some more. She's a fun exhibitor. and the most comfy flooring. ahhhhhh

I see the value in what MFW suggests with open ended approach to fine arts log, and use the resources from younger years in new ways and all of that. And some value in the let the student participate in building their own unit study. It's a good approach and has lots of skills. I'm just a saying, that in case some structure is needed to help your student try to follow plans or ideas.

if they need some kind of model to look at, well, maybe a classical homeschool fine art link might help. http://www.harmonyfinearts.com/section/freedownloads/ The students don't have do all 4 years on that website. It's a lot to do. I'm not sure we'd be able to follow one year! Not all is needed. And I like the MFW log because it includes ways to record going to performances and things like that.

-crystal

[Teresa in TX]

We are in World History. I have the guidelines right here. I'll just summarize. It tells you what is involved in a 1-credit unit: 150 hours. It gives ideas for listening to composers, writing papers, ideas for art, watching or being involved in plays and dances, watching videos of Shakespeare plays, ballets, attending performances. Then there are record-keeping forms, which you could easily keep on your own. There is a page-long listening log with date, composer, name of piece, comments. Then there is a pag-long concert exhibition performance log with date, description of event, comments.

I tried to summarize without giving details. I don't want to step on MFW toes with that.

If you started this in 9th grade, I think you could easily come up with some great ideas and do it with ease.

[ilovemy4kids]

We are in World History. I have the guidelines right here. I'll just summarize. It tells you what is involved in a 1-credit unit: 150 hours. It gives ideas for listening to composers, writing papers, ideas for art, watching or being involved in plays and dances, watching videos of Shakespeare plays, ballets, attending performances. Then there are record-keeping forms, which you could easily keep on your own. There is a page-long listening log with date, composer, name of piece, comments. Then there is a pag-long concert exhibition performance log with date, description of event, comments.

Hmm... sounds interesting....my WHL will be here this week, so I'm eager to peek. I looked at the Professor Reyonlds stuff that cyrstal mentioned and also at the Harmonyfinearts materials that are free. Decisions, decisions....

[Julie in MN]

My dd 14 is doing AHL this year and I understand that the fine arts credit is discussed in the WHL which we do not have yet. This past summer she had the opportunity to be in a local play (Seven Brides for Seven Brothers)and I documented all the hours she spent from auditions to after play stuff for her transcripts. I figured that I would just wait until this spring/summer when I got the nre IG to fill in the rest.

My question is this: this month we have begun to watch some of the old musicals such as "The Sound of Music" and Showboat" etc. Should I be counting this towards her fine arts credit as well or does it not count. Thank you.

Hi Kay,
I would count it all. You might have her do some kind of comparison to get her thinking more deeply about what she watches. My dd did things like a Venn diagram comparing the script and the book. The lesson plans in WHL have a simple sheet for recording and evaluating performances the student attends or listens to -- something like that would work, too. Just a little nudge to get them thinking about more than just "what happens" but how it is staged, who was involved in creating it, what period it portrays, and even how well the student thinks these types of things were accomplished in the particular performance.

I always wanted to do some kind of an "American Musicals" study -- I think what you're doing sounds so fun! I haven't used it but the feds have a lesson plan of sorts which I've glanced at: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/broadway/for-educators/
Julie
P.S. However, if she has plenty of credits, another option would be to list it as a good extracurricular.

Thanks so much Julie for your ideas and link and answer. It was very helpful.

[Poppy]

Please excuse my silly questions.
I ordered Drafting for elective.
Where do we get the materials/tools needed for this elective?

We live in a pretty rural area so I just ordered everything from Amazon. Otherwise I would have tried Hobby Lobby or Office Depot/Staples. I was not able to find a complete kit or anything which is what I was hoping for.

[TriciaMR]

I've seen drafting tools at Office Depot.

[sbbrown425]

Thanks for your help.