Can we talk about art and music?

[MyLife]

Hi everyone. Can we talk about art and music programs that are effective and fun, yet easy to implement.

 

I have one child who loves art. I was wondering if I should buy a simple workbook like Evan Moor How to Teach Art to Children or use a DVD course like Atelier. Thoughts on programs you love?

 

I have another child that loves music. I am not a musical person, so I was wondering if something like Calvert Discoveries in Music or Alfred's drum course might work. Any experience in this?

 

Ok, I am literally nodding of as I typed this...zzz

Edited December 4, 2016 by MyLife

[HomeAgain]

We're working our way through Artistic Pursuits right now.  My kid loves it and we have the ability to skip around, go out of order to fit our needs of the week. I paired it up with a set of art cards to go through informally (yesterday we did a lesson on still life, so we found the cards that portrayed the same, which led to a library trip to get a book on Paul Cezanne)

 

I can say that I have the EM book and never really looked at it.  It feels very....classroomy.  I like the dive in aspect of AP and the simple art study they include.  The upper level books led to an interest in drawing for my oldest and since the emphasis in late elementary/middle school is learning actual technique, he was able to move on with an interest he didn't know he had.

 

I'm no help with music.  We started with a public school textbook before I put mine in instrument lessons.  It worked....okay.  I'm glad I outsourced that to someone else, though!

[CTVKath]

My 7yo daughter is loving the HomeArtStudio videos. I gather the supplies for each lesson and she does it on her own. Loves it.

[MinivanMom]

We have used Artistic Pursuits for art. I am not an artistic person at all, but it's very open & go so it's been easy to implement.

 

We've used piano lessons for music. I love that it's outsourced, and they get tons of music theory along the way.

[MyLife]

At what age did y'all begin music lessons? What instruments do your children play besides piano?

[displace]

DD started piano at 4 but only lasted a month. DS started at 7, and has been in for six months or so. DS also tried guitar at 6/7? but the strings were too rough so we put it aside and will try again in a month or so.

 

Piano is pretty easy to learn for kids, I think. We also have a random collection of small instruments (bongo, recorders, accordion). Some music places have instrument days to look around at different instruments to see what they like.

[HomeAgain]

At what age did y'all begin music lessons? What instruments do your children play besides piano?

 

We started at 6 for the youngest, 11 for the oldest.  Both because of maturity and willingness to practice.  11yo was not very inclined but it was time to learn something - he played flute and piano.  Flute is something he's contemplating going back to now after several years of not touching it.

 

We looked at lessons for the youngest at age 4.  The maturity was.not.there.  We did a sample lesson on the violin, he chose dance instead.  Two years later (after spending the time between learning about classical music)  he decided he wanted to play.  He loves it and is good enough at it to keep on at a steady pace.

[MyLife]

I am definitely going to check out Artist Pursuits and Home Art Studio.

 

Displace, I am going to call some of the local music store to see if we can just try out some instruments. That's a great suggestion. And then I guess will we choose music lessons based on what instrument seems appealing.

[displace]

I am definitely going to check out Artist Pursuits and Home Art Studio.

 

Displace, I am going to call some of the local music store to see if we can just try out some instruments. That's a great suggestion. And then I guess will we choose music lessons based on what instrument seems appealing.

I have also found exposure to instruments through our local library (they sometimes have music story readings), local theatre things, and maybe even playschool groups just for your DC to see in person.

 

The only problem with letting them choose instruments is that they may be too physically small to do some. But a lot of instruments are made kid sized as well.

[GoFigure]

You can check out Hoffman Academy for piano lessons. They have well made, structured lessons, engaging for young children. The videos are free and supplemental materials are inexpensive.

[MinivanMom]

At what age did y'all begin music lessons? What instruments do your children play besides piano?

 

My girls have started piano at 6 yrs old, and my boys have started at 7 yrs. 

[Farrar]

I think Art Tango is one of the easiest and best - and it's free.

 

http://arttango.com/

[mama25angels]

My older kids are self taught with YouTube videos and videos that came with their instruments, they are much older than my others,

 

Dd plays bass guitar (started at 16)

Ds plays guitar (started at 15)

Ds plays drums (started at 9)

 

My younger set:

Ds plays piano, he starts this past October at 9, I still have to remind him to practice but he enjoys it. He does a combination of Hoffmann academy, Music Ace Deluxe and a friend that was willing to work with him along with her dd for free.

 

My 14 yo has not shown an interest but he has some talent on the piano, I'm trying to get him to begin playing.

[MyLife]

Hoffman Academy and Art Tango look awesome.

[poppy]

One of my regrets in homeschooling is the loss of group music class for my daughter. She came home singing a new song every week when she was in public. Silly stuff 'the wise man built his house out of brick, house out of brick.....' and rounds and songs with gesture. I have Rise Up Singing but it's just not the same learning 1:1. I think I will seek out YouTube stuff?

 

 

In 3rd grade in my state every student learns basic recorder. My kid is 8 so why not ? I have ordered a simple $15 recorder and book on how to play for Christmas. We'll see how it goes. I think I wouldn't start until 4th or 5th if I didn't know how to read music myself.

 

For art we do a mix or Artistic Pursuits and Art Tango. First lesson every morning is hands on art. It really sets the day off to a fun start.

[Cara4497]

I think Art Tango is one of the easiest and best - and it's free.

 

http://arttango.com/

 

This looks awesome! Thank you.

[fralala]

One of my regrets in homeschooling is the loss of group music class for my daughter. She came home singing a new song every week when she was in public. Silly stuff 'the wise man built his house out of brick, house out of brick.....' and rounds and songs with gesture. I have Rise Up Singing but it's just not the same learning 1:1. I think I will seek out YouTube stuff?

 

I feel so fortunate that we have a wonderful youth choir program-- this is my daughter's favorite activity by far, and I agree that singing in this kind of group environment is truly a gift.

 

I've found that I'd rather buy art supplies than curriculum up to a certain age and then just pull them out and let the kids experiment. I bought Atelier once and my kids really enjoy it, but it is one of the more expensive programs. And we tried Meet the Masters during the free summer trial from HSBC and I really liked it, but for now my kids are happy with getting Mike Venezia's artist books (which they LOVE) and coming up with their own projects based upon our big box of art supplies.

 

We've also used Art Tango in the past (loosely), and if we're talking free lesson plans, for music we've used those available through Smithsonian Folkways and Classics for Kids.

[Jackie]

We tried a few things for art. Art Tango was definitely my favorite; there simply wasn't "enough" for my arty kid. We mostly go through phases of her simply creating as she wants with a wide range of supplies available, and using the Usborne Complete Book of Art Ideas for her to go through and find ideas and mediums that interest her.

 

She took a bit of violin as a preschooler, and is now taking piano. Violin was something she had been obsessed with since she was a tear old. Piano she chose after taking a few months of lessons with a local music teacher that had a stocked music studio; she would spend the lesson time with 1-2 instruments each week and rotated through them until she decided piano was absolutely her choice.

 

We loved the book Story of the Orchestra, and it also helped her choose an instrument. Each orchestral instrument was introduced, and then there would be an excerpt of music that featured that instrument. It helped for her to hear them all and decide what she liked the sound of.

[Hobbes]

We started our oldest daughter in piano lessons with her aunt at 5 because she was so eager and had been asking for about a year. She is almost 9 and still loves it. Our second daughter started this year at 7 and it's going well. I think I wouldn't start again before 7 unless the child was very motivated. Before a child can read, practicing requires a great deal of parental input and so is very time-consuming.

 

Growing up, our family rule was that you had to hit grade 4 piano before beginning another instrument, to gain basic theory and musical knowledge before branching out. I think we'll go that way here as well. Oldest is eager to start guitar next, but it can be a hard one on little fingers

[mamaraby]

My kids loved the stuff in the Evan-Moor book. I think I either bought it from Currclick or got it free from Homeschool Buyer's Co-op.

 

We have also used Harmony Fine Arts (http://harmonyfinearts.org) both with and without Artistic Pursuits for the spine. She has hang-ups about nudity that I don't share and find a little silly. Her plans more or less match the WTM history rotation.

 

We're using Artistic Pursuits right now without HFA. I have a 6th grader, 3rd grader, and a 1st grader. My girls are using the same AP book and ds is using his level AP independently.

 

Free and not online resources -

http://harringtonharmonies.com/category/art-lessons

http://www.thatartistwoman.org

http://artfulparent.com

http://artcuratorforkids.com/blog/

 

We focus more on music appreciation than an instrument, so we've covered that a few ways. One year we used the Orchestra unit from Intellego Unit Studies. We've also used the plans in HFA and a unit or two from SQUILT. I like SQUILT as long as I ignore some of the things she says on her business Facebook page. I like the framework in SQUILT, but I'll admit it's probably too young for ds this year.

 

We also use things like "Exploring Music with Bill McGlaughlin" (https://exploringmusic.wfmt.com) on Public Radio. Another free resource is Classics For Kids which I subscribed to in the Podcasts app on my phone/iPad.

 

Ds did briefly take guitar lessons, but didn't really want to do the practicing required long term and I guess for the cost, I just didn't want to push it if he didn't want to. My kids do not play any instruments and I feel conflicted about that. I had the chance to play both a string instrument and then the flute/tenor sax when I was in public school so I am a little sad that I haven't been able to give my kids the same opportunities.

 

To assuage my guilt, I have thought about using Hoffman Academy (https://www.hoffmanacademy.com), but I need to buy a keyboard first and I always wonder if we have the time to fit something else in.

[2_girls_mommy]

Music: we've done a variety of things. We used Rod and Staff singing/music curric in 1st-3rd grade or so. We did the worksheets, sang the melodies, and learned to read basic solfage (I think that is what it is called, lol). Alongside that we followed the Core Knowledge sequence using the What Your X Grader Needs to Know books as a stepping off point.  We read about the composer or type of music from the book, checked out library CDs and videos on the topics and enjoyed appreciation that way. We learned new songs, also from WYXGNTK. I could often find the tunes on the Wee Sings CDs which we purchased many of and checked out more still from the library. 

 

At some point we added instruments. We learned basic recorder from the book that came with it. Both learned, one was excited and kept it up and really loved it. Then we added basic piano. Mine did a music class at co-op that was using Kinderbach curriculum, and we just continued that at home for very basic piano. Again, one was more excited by it. We added an Alfred's piano course book and DVD for her, and she has self taught and practiced ever since. The other never went beyond what I required of her, lol.  We've gone to live concerts when possible to see different types of performances. 

 

Art: besides free art and arts and crafts with projects when they were little we also followed the What Your X Grader Needs to Know art sequences when very young. They are an easy stepping off place. We did any projects they suggested and checked out books on the artists and types of art from the library. I also just constantly picked up art books on any type while at the library. We did projects around science, seasons, and anything I found, plus just whatever interested us. I still do this for high schoolers. I know the art sections well. We learned about artists and styles. We have gone to many many museums. We see all the temporary exhibits when they come in.  Whenever there is any type of hands on or art project in something SOTW or library books we tried to do it and learn from it. I have picked up a large collection of art books with projects to pull from over the years plus art history that we read from in our read aloud time daily.

 

For lessons we started Drawing with Children when they were around 5 and 7 maybe. We did that for a couple of years. We take classes in the community whenever possible like when artists do classes at the library. Sometimes we pay for outside classes in different media.  That is really the only curriculum I have bought for art. We incorporate art so much and have had drawing and painting classes that we just continue on with it. One of mine is very artistic and thrives with it, so we use drawing, coloring, creativity everywhere. It is how she learns.  On their own they have over the years had many crafts that they were into, and we always encourage it. They have been into beading, rainbow looms, scrapbooky crafts like making altered composition books. Whatever they need we make sure they have lots of resources. 

 

We've done photography before. We read about the history. We tried some different projects. We had a photographer give lessons. And dd saved and bought a good camera and entered photos into the state fair using what she had learned. 

 

For high school fine arts this year my 9th grader has done a unit on collages. She researched the history of collage and wrote about it. She has tried 2 different types of collages so far, and has plans for 3 more I think. We are using her senior girl scout art badge steps for this unit. She has taken 5 hours of painting classes, one hour of watercolor and 4 of acrylic, and continued painting on her own to complete these projects and some of our own.  We have read an amazing book on compostion and are going to do the projects in it together. And we read art history in our daily read alouds. 

 

If pulling a book like the Evan Moore gives you a jumping off point, then go for it. I have often had a spine that I start from even if they were textbooky.  I enjoy the arts though, even if I am not well trained in them. So we just learn it all together. That has made some of the best memories in our homeschool. 

[knitgrl]

I really enjoyed Kids' Art Works! by Sandi Henry.The supplies needed were pretty basic. The directions were easy to follow.  There were enough guide lines for the finished product to look good, but still look like a kid did it, kwim?

[rainbowmama]

At what age did y'all begin music lessons? What instruments do your children play besides piano?

 

My oldest started piano at seven years of age and then joined a choir at eight years of age. My second child started violin at four years of age (after a year of begging). My third child will start violin at almost four this fall, after he's been begging and pretending to practice along with our second child for over a year now. 

[MyLife]

I wound up purchasing Artistic Pursuits after getting to see it in person. I liked the combo of art history and technique.

 

I'm still undecided on what to do for music. I am leaning towards Calvert's Discoveries in Music and Wee Sing.

[Pistachio mom]

For beginning music, Classical Magic from Marjorie Kiel Persons is a wonderful series. I have used it for years for my daughters. This series has several books. Themes to Remember 1 and 2, Classical Karaoke, and a Dvorjak book. Each book comes with a CD. These resources introduce main themes from loads of classical pieces. Each selection is played twice. Once with just music, and once with lyrics that include the name of the composer and the title of the work. The words are fun and my children love them.  Some of the books have a separate teacher book with more ideas for teaching music theory. This course would be appropriate up through 8th grade.

 

My two oldest girls are amazing musicians. To hear them play, one would not be able to guess their ages. I think the foundation laid by this series, faithful practicing, as well as going to lots of concerts, and early lessons worked together to build excitement and love for music.

 

I have not seen it in several years. But I did find some copies on Amazon.

 

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Themes+to+Remember%2C+marjorie+Kiel+Persons&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3AThemes+to+Remember%5Cc+marjorie+Kiel+Persons

 

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=classical+magic%2C+marjorie+Kiel+Persons&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aclassical+magic%5Cc+marjorie+Kiel+Persons

 

For me, an art teacher mom who had to become a music mom - reading books from Dr. Suzuki and others helped me learn how to practice with young, musically interested children with serious focusing issues.

[Pistachio mom]

For beginnings in art, the above comments are loaded with good ideas. I usually recommend Artistic Pursuits. It is a wonderful mix of technique, appreciation, art vocabulary, and history. My first thought after I wrote a review for a marketing company was "now I don't need to write a curriculum." Some other great choices would include the art book from Memoria Press.  Memoria also has great masterwork sets that couple with their enrichment guides. Veritas also has a really nice art history book for elementary. I am planning to use this for my family. I am even going to adapt it for a high school student, while adding other age appropriate art history resources. Iam thinking the Annotated Mona Lisa or one of my multitude of my intro to art books from college.

 

For teaching art history:  I also really like Art in Story, by Marianne Saccardi.

For teaching drawing:  Drawing with Children by Mona Brooks, and Teach Your Child to Draw by Mia Johnson

For teaching drawing to older students: Drawing Realistic Faces by Carrie Stuart Parks

Northlight publishers also prints a huge variety of nice "How to" books regarding the use of many different types of art supplies.