Combining English and art (or, how to deal with credits)

[JennyD]

I would like to do one semester of art appreciation with my rising 9th grader next year.   I'm not sure what we would do, exactly, but we haven't yet really done any sort of meaningful study of the visual arts.  

However, he has a pretty full schedule and I am reluctant to add this on as an elective.  Is it possible for me to somehow turn this into an English credit?  I envision that he would do a lot of writing in this class, but we would obviously be studying paintings, sculpture, etc. instead of written texts.  More broadly, for purposes of college admissions do I even have to turn this into an English credit?  Trying to figure out how much leeway I have here ...

Edited March 24, 2019 by JennyD

[Lori D.]

JMO: While, yes, I think it could be *possible* to do a 0.5 credit of English that focuses on different types of writing about art (5-6 different types of essays, plus a multi-page research paper in format and with citations, for example) -- I think there is a high likelihood of shorting the Art Appreciation because of the need to spend so much of the time on *writing* to make it a legitimate 0.5 credit of English. A few years back I did offer a 1-year course in Intro to Film Analysis + Essay Writing, which could have been counted as 0.5 credit EACH of Fine Arts: Film Appreciation, and English: Essay Writing, so yes, it is possible.

Also JMO from seeing many students in grades 7-12 in my homeschool Lit. & Comp. co-op classes, especially for a young high school student (9th grade), making Literature and Writing the focus of the English credit is very useful/needed for many students to help them "get solid" in reading / discussing / analyzing and in writing different types of assignments. So you'd also want to be very careful to not short the *English* credit by focusing so heavily on the Art Appreciation.

My suggestion for you: Since most colleges want 1.0 credit of Fine Arts as part of the required credits for admission, and Art Appreciation IS a Fine Arts credit, why not just do your 0.5 credit of Art Appreciation, and without any effort and special tweaking, you will have fulfilled 1/2 of your required Fine Arts credit? No need to count your Art Appreciation as "just an Elective" or have to figure out how to heavily focus on Writing to turn it into an English credit. 🙂

_________________

In case it helps, here are typical college admission requirements:

4 credits = English (usually 1/2 Literature + 1/2 Writing)
3-4 credits = Math (Alg. 1, Geometry, Alg. 2, and some colleges want a 4th Math above Alg. 2)
3-4 credits = Science, with labs (a few colleges want at least Biology & Chemistry, but most are very flexible)
3-4 credits = Social Studies (most colleges want 1 credit = Amer. Hist.; some also want 1 credit = World Hist. or Geog., or 0.5 credit each = Econ + Gov't)
2-4 credits = Foreign Language, same language
1 credit = Fine Arts*
4-8+ credits = Electives**
22-28+ credits = total
_________________

* = Fine Arts credit ideas accepted by colleges:
- visual arts (drawing, painting, photography, filmmaking)
- studio arts (printmaking, pottery, sculpture, jewelry making, glassblowing, metal working, wood working)
- performance arts (theater, music, dance)
- appreciation (of film, art, music, theater, etc.)
- digital arts (animation, graphics software, web design)
- other arts (music composing, dance choreography, theater costume/prop design, textiles art)
- course in design or color theory or fundamentals
_________________

** = typical Elective credits:
- Logic
- Computer
- Speech/Debate/Public Speaking (or, can be counted as 0.25-0.5 credit of one of the English credits)
- Heath
- PE
- Consumer Science (the old "Home Ec")
- Personal Finance
- Bible/Religious Studies
- Vocational-Technical courses
- personal interests as courses
- additional Fine Arts credits beyond the requirement
- "Academic Electives" (credits beyond those required for English, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Foreign Language)
- etc.

 

Edited March 25, 2019 by Lori D.

[JennyD]

Thanks Lori!  This is very helpful.  

After more consideration, I think what I am really wondering about is how to transcript interdisciplinary/unit studies for purposes of college admissions.  

[Lori D.]

1 hour ago, JennyD said:

Thanks Lori!  This is very helpful.  

After more consideration, I think what I am really wondering about is how to transcript interdisciplinary/unit studies for purposes of college admissions.  

If they are *widely* divergent subjects (such as Art Appreciation and English), I'd suggest either "counting hours/volume of work" and assign partial credit to each area as fits the work done for that area. OR, put the focus of your studies on one subject or the other in the unit study and count all of the credit towards that major subject. For example:

In in my post above of my co-op class of Intro to Film Analysis + Essay Writing, I told parents who had their kids take both semesters that they could either:
1. Count it entirely towards 1 credit of Fine Arts: Film Appreciation (because of ALL the writing, they could have also called it an "Honors" level course)
2. Or count it as 0.5 credit EACH: English: Essay Writing, and, Fine Arts: Film Appreciation
3. Or add a semester's worth of Literature & analysis at home and count it as 0.5 credit Fine Arts: Film Appreciation, AND 1.0 credit English (0.5 credit from essay writing from my class all year, and 0.5 credit of the literature at home)

For those who took just 1 semester of that class, I recommended counting it on the transcript as on of the following:
1. Count it entirely towards 0.5 credit of Fine Arts: Film Appreciation (because of ALL the writing, they could have also called it an "Honors" level course)
2. Or count it as 0.25 credit EACH: English: Essay Writing, and, Fine Arts: Film Appreciation
3. Or add a 1/2 semester's worth of Literature & analysis at home and count it as 0.25 credit Fine Arts: Film Appreciation, AND 0.5 credit English (0.25 credit from essay writing from my class for the semester, and 0.25 credit of the literature at home)

Another option is to just "accrue" hours/work over more than one year of high school, and once enough has been done to count as 1.0 credit, count it then on the transcript -- sometimes a 1.0 credit course may be stretched out over 2 years, or even all 4 years of high school.

OR, if you are talking about Integrated Classical Studies / Great Books (integrated Humanities of Literature, Writing, History, and Theology/Philosophy), then check out these past threads for ideas of how to credit your student's work on the transcript:

integrated Great Books courses - how to award credit
The English credit/Great Books/integrating history & lit (how to credit integrated courses?)
Handling a Great Books or integrated Humanities sequence on the transcript (how to do it so it matches what credits colleges want?)
How to list a Coursera course on the transcript? (or describe in the Course Description document?)

All 3 of these are linked on PAGE 1 of the big pinned thread "High School Motherlode #2" at the top of the High School Board. Loads of other GREAT threads on transcripts and record keeping are also linked on page 1 in that "motherlode" -- page 5 of that "motherlode" has links to past threads on specific school subjects, making your own courses, and dual enrollment/outsourcing.

Since you have a current 8th grader, you may also find threads linked on page 1 of the big pinned thread "High School Motherlode #1" to be helpful -- topics of getting started and planning homeschool high school, and page 2, with threads on all of the high school tests (PSAT, ACT/SAT, SAT Subject, AP, CLEP, etc.).

BEST of luck as you plan for homeschool high school! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited March 25, 2019 by Lori D.

[JennyD]

Thanks again, Lori!  I have been looking through the Motherlodes over the last couple of months -- what an amazing set of resources!

I actually think of Art Appreciation and English as very closely related subjects. 

 

[Lori D.]

5 minutes ago, JennyD said:

Thanks again, Lori!  I have been looking through the Motherlodes over the last couple of months -- what an amazing set of resources!

I actually think of Art Appreciation and English as very closely related subjects. 

Yes, analysis in art, film, literature, etc. is very similar. And the types of writing (essays, research papers) is also similar. I was thinking in terms of traditional "school subjects" and how credits are traditionally accrued and "output" sorted. In other words, how to put credits on a transcript that a college admission officer will understand (and accept). (:D 

Edited March 25, 2019 by Lori D.

[Kareni]

On 3/24/2019 at 5:32 PM, JennyD said:

After more consideration, I think what I am really wondering about is how to transcript interdisciplinary/unit studies for purposes of college admissions.  

Perhaps this will help. These are course descriptions I wrote for my daughter's ninth grade classes ~

World Literature from 1700 to 2000

A study of 18^th through 20^th century short stories and novels with the intent of familiarizing the student with selected literary works of enduring quality.  This interdisciplinary course (see the associated History course below) allows the student to explore this time period by reading its literature while also studying its historical context.  (Class taken at home in 9^th grade.)  Awarded 0.50 credits.

 

World History from 1700 to 2000

This reading-based course covers world-changing events of the 18^th through 20^th centuries which have shaped our culture today; it complements the associated Literature course (listed above) by giving the student a context for the literature studied. The course also includes musical recordings, documentaries, and videos of or about the time. Map work and short writing assignments are required. (Class taken at home in 9^th grade.) Awarded 1.00 credits.

You'll note that I did not include textbook names or novel titles in my course descriptions. I included separate reading and textbook lists with that information.

Regards,

Kareni