Fine Arts elective--what is included?

[Garga]

This is a little murky for me, so I'd love some input about the norms for fine arts and what colleges expect to see for that credit.

 

Let's say that I want to teach a fine arts elective that includes music appreciation and art appreciation. Is it the norm for fine arts to be a full year elective (1 credit)? Or just half a year (.5 credit)?

 

Can we study both music and art in our course? Even if it's just a .5 credit course? So, it's really only about 40 hours of music and 40 hours or art for a .5 credit total. Or do people normally study one or the other so that there's at least 80 hours for music and 80 hours of art? And that's just for .5 credit. Is that normal? Or do people just pick one or the other for a full credit and then do the full 160 hours of just art or 160 hours of just music?

 

Here's what I have floating around in my head that I might like to do, but I don't want to have some college looking over our transcript and shaking their heads thinking, "Lame, lame, lame!"

 

Maybe we could study music (40 hours) and art (40 hours) appreciation for the first half of the year, and then something like photography (80 hours) for the second half of a year. Is that acceptable? Or is that too piecemeal and colleges won't think we've done enough depth for each topic?

Edited February 3, 2016 by Garga_

[klmama]

Any of your ideas would work.  You could also include any drama studies under the fine arts umbrella. 

[regentrude]

Whatever you want.

Colleges that require such a credit want to see the name on the transcript so they can check the box.

Unless they request course descriptions, or you volunteer to send them, they will have no clue what the credit entailed.

And for those that do, I cannot imagine that the precise nature of the credit is important.

 

As for half vs whole credit: we cover art continuously through high school, with 0.25 credit for each year. None of DD's colleges had an issue with that.

Edited February 3, 2016 by regentrude

[Holly]

We will be using Harmony Fine Arts for high school.  I think it will lead to one fine arts credit (or possibly one credit each for art appreciation and music appreciation), but it's split up over 4 years.  I'll also be adding in Artistic Pursuits for an art studio/lab credit.  I plan on DD having 4 art studio credits by the end of the 4 years (probably 2 years of Artistic Pursuit followed by 2 years of more specific art classes or even some outside classes).  DS will probably one have one or two art studio credits since it's not his favorite subject.

 

[8filltheheart]

My kids typically do art history.  We own a lot of TC lectures.  :)

[elegantlion]

We divided the fine art credit into .5 of art appreciation - tied into Renaissance history, and .5 drawing. We used Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain as the main text. 

[SebastianCat]

Everywhere I've seen a class called Fine Arts it's been a half credit course, and included a combo of art, music, public speaking, and/or drama. I think any of your plans sound good, as long as you are prepared to give a course description or list of curricula/materials used IF you are asked for it.

[justasque]

Whatever you want.

Colleges that require such a credit want to see the name on the transcript so they can check the box.

Unless they request course descriptions, or you volunteer to send them, they will have no clue what the credit entailed.

And for those that do, I cannot imagine that the precise nature of the credit is important.

 

As for half vs whole credit: we cover art continuously through high school, with 0.25 credit for each year. None of DD's colleges had an issue with that.

 

I agree with this - with the exception that if the student is actually headed in a direction where fine arts would be directly relevant, or if there's enough interest in something to create a sort of "minor" or focus in it, you might want to be more specific/intentional.

 

As an example, if you have a lit-loving kid, then perhaps some Shakespeare (seen, performed, read, analyzed) could be a useful addition to the overall picture; a "theater appreciation" class would be a good place to gather some of these things.  Or if your student is interested in journalism, or web design, then a graphic design class would be a good use of the fine arts credit.  A history major or a fashion major might enjoy an art history class,  A future botanist might enjoy a drawing class which emphasizes drawing plants; ditto for a physician drawing the human body.  Sometimes it's nice to put together classwork + extracurriculars (summer programs, volunteer work, awards, etc.) to tell the story of a student's interests and achievements, sometimes showing how they have prepared for their college course of study, and sometimes showing more of a "minor" type focus on a particular hobby/pursuit. 

 

If, on the other hand, your student is not particularly into the arts, then something more of a survey class for general knowledge might be a better approach.

[freesia]

We are required to do 1 credit. We did 1/2 credit of Introduction to Fine Arts. In this I included his drum lessons, weekly art at co-op, and a performing arts workshop he attended. For his other 1/2 credit we will do drawing or animations.

[Running the race]

Just be aware that some colleges require fine arts to be a year-long study, not two separate courses. Here is the University of California requirement:

"Students are expected to complete a single yearlong VPA course to satisfy the “f†subject requirement, but they may also fulfill the requirement by completing two semesters of sequentially related and approved “f†courses within a single arts discipline."

[Penguin]

I have it set up as 0.5 credits for Music Appreciation and 1.0 credits of Visual Arts (which encompasses Studio Art, Art History, and Art Appreciation). DS will work on the credits over the course of high school. Maybe he will finish by the end of 11th, idk.