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My high school had us do a term of music history and a term of art history. (Also two terms of drafting. Fun times.)

 

I would like the 7th grader to study both as well, possibly over the summer so that a. her best friend who is attached at the hip could learn something this year and b. her sister, who is in school-school now, could participate. (If she wants to.)

 

Are there any easily available textbooks that are not written for a college or advanced high school audience? We can work around if necessary, but I just want something that is engaging and that won't scare off her "can't we just tell people we're twins?" friend, because gosh knows I can't get rid of that girl. I've had stray cats that were easier to dislodge. (And I want to move past simple "exposure". She's exposed. Now I want her to learn stuff in an organized fashion.)

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I own this, but I am embarrassed to admit I have not looked at it in the five-six years I've owned it. Maybe check it at the library?  Classical Music for Dummies (note: should come with CD)

 

Also I enjoyed The Story of Classical Music (audio recording only, with narration) by Marin Alsop  https://www.amazon.com/Story-Classical-Music-Darren-Henley/dp/9626343109/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=JKG1Y2BTC9DXFGN9SJHT

 

We started listening to "The history of classical music" by Fawkes. It is a lot more dry and my kids were not engaged at all. However, that was last year, and they were 4th and 5th grade. Maybe it is worth checking out from the library? https://www.amazon.com/History-Classical-Music-Richard-Fawkes/dp/9626341408

 

These aren't for high school, but I have found these lesson plans by Concordia University to be well done. They appear to go through 8th grade.  https://www.cuchicago.edu/experience/arts/visual-arts/art-lessons/

 

 

I have not used these but there are some lesson plans here:

https://www.nga.gov/education/teachers/lessons-activities/9-12-lessons-activities.html

 

I would also check the homeschool freebies thread. I believe there is curriculum mentioned there.   http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/638531-free-homeschool-curriculum-resources/

 

ETA: I forgot that Harmony Fine Arts has some of their high school lesson plans for free: http://harmonyfinearts.org/free-downloads/

 

 

Some random links I had bookmarked because they looked promising:

 

https://www.amindinthelight.com/the-arts

 

 some ideas on how to do it

 

http://www.libertyhillhouse.com/2013/08/25/free-art-history-resources-for-kids/

  art history resources/links

 

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ Art timeline

 

https://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/c/cimabue/index.html

access thousands of images of works

Edited by cintinative
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Have you looked at Harmony Fine Arts?

 

I put together something that worked for us by using multiple books and guides.  We covered architecture, classical music, art, dance, theater.  I tried to keep it in line with our history and/or literature studies.

 

The Daily Book of Art is an interesting look at various types of art.

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ETA:

OOPS! Disregard all of the below (except perhaps the Sister Wendy videos -- and try out the matching Sister Wendy's Story of Painting book -- both are secular in presentation) -- I missed the final line of your post wanting something more than basic exposure. Sorry!

__________________________

 

ART

Don't know if it's too old for your 7th grader, but you might check out the Sister Wendy videos -- seeing the art with a "guided tour" is kind of fun, and Sister Wendy is sweetly goofy and quirky, so that might appeal. ;)

 

Not a program, but we enjoyed:

- Looking at Paintings (Richardson) -- gr. 4-8; great intro into the world of paintings (see inside in the OLD edition)

- Usborne Internet Linked Intro to Art -- gr. 5-8; 2 page spreads following the History/movements of Art, so short and sweet -- plus you can have fun exploring some of the links

- Usborne Internet Linked Intro to Modern Art -- gr. 6-9

- Looking at Paintings series by Peggy Roalf -- gr. 4-8; painting + page of explanation -- great for beginning art appreciation; books by topic -- some are better than others

- Masterpiece board game -- my childhood game, plus we threw in art postcards DH and I had collected over the years

 

A few more books that look fun (no personal experience):

- Children's Introduction to Art: The World's Great Paintings & Sculptures (Alexander) -- gr. 4-8

- Discovering Great Artists: Hands On Art Projects in the Styles of the Great Masters (Kohl) -- gr. 4-8 

- Usborne: Understanding Modern Art -- gr. 4-8 ?

 

 

MUSIC

We didn't do nearly enough of this during the years :( ... But DSs tolerated working through this website pretty well:

- Classics For Kids (gr. 3-8)

 

And this book:

Meet the Great Composers (Montgomery) -- gr. 3-8

 

See if you can attend a few free "summer concert under the stars" in your city. Or attend a few special school matinee performances -- esp. ones where, afterwards, the students get to hear from the musicians, or get a backstage tour, or can ask questions.

 

And, no experience, but this looks good:

- Story of the Orchestra (Levine)

Edited by Lori D.
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Hey, not sure how I missed all these posts!

 

May I ask what history you'll be doing?

 

For history-history, you mean? Honestly, I had had a plan back when I started, but now we're jumping around based on interest (mine, mostly) and not using a plan at all. AT ALL. So I'm definitely not going to try to correlate the art and music history with world or American history. I don't see how that's going to work out. (The funny thing is that our jumping around ended up because it turns out I think history is super important and interesting, and worth doing each aspect in depth. Not sure it's working out the way I'd wanted, but  she does at least learn things. Well, it's middle school, anyway, so I'm not terribly worried about history and science so long as we manage to at least do as well as the local schools. On the one hand, that's a low bar. On the other hand, my goodness, the amount of time she's been able to devote to her personal studies and interests - international cooking, art, music, creative writing - is astonishing. And she's not depressed, which I was in middle school, which was the whole point of us homeschooling.)

 

And thanks for all the links, everybody! I'll go browsing through them now :)

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