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Carrie,

I haven't actually checked to see how many books are in this series, but I see where you plan to use it in the CTC cycle. Do you plan to use all the books? My 10 yo (who is quite artistic) and is currently in Bigger would like to work with cursive using a combined cursive/drawing program along the lines of the Draw, Write, Now series. I thought that the Draw and Write though History books might be just the thing. Still thinking....

Florence,

Right now there are only 3 books done (last I checked) with more pending eventually. We do really like them and may continue to schedule them throughout our future guides, however I will say that with the guide to come after the ancients we are pretty heavily weighing doing an artist study to go along with the Renaissance time period. So, we may head more in that direction with our resources for the Independent History Study box of the plans in the guide for the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Reformation.

Blessings,
Carrie

Carrie wrote:Florence,

Right now there are only 3 books done (last I checked) with more pending eventually. We do really like them and may continue to schedule them throughout our future guides, however I will say that with the guide to come after the ancients we are pretty heavily weighing doing an artist study to go along with the Renaissance time period. So, we may head more in that direction with our resources for the Independent History Study box of the plans in the guide for the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Reformation.

Blessings,
Carrie

Oooo! Carrie, that sounds great! I'd love an artist study. (I know it's something I'd like to learn. I'm pretty fluent with music, but not visual arts and I'd love to expose my kids to that much more than I was.) OK, I was too perfectionistic to ever want to do "art" as a child. Now that the Lord has loosened me up in this area (maybe too much ), I wish I'd been willing to try more.

Boy, won't it be boring when your guides are all written? No more "cliffhangers" about the future progress... I love your sneak peeks!

Kathleen

Me too! I am always thinking of how I could add this or that to an upcoming guide to get it scheduled into our normal school day. We have always done a very CM-style art/picture study at our house, and I am convinced of its value. However, as my life has gotten busier that has fallen by the wayside this year. I would also really like my kiddos to have an understanding of how various artists and styles of art fit in with the flow of time. So this is a goal for inclusion in our next guide!

Blessings,
Carrie

Since you're considering including an artist study in the time periods, have you considered including music as well? Or maybe you already are and I didn't realize... (I have a music degree so I'm always thinking of how I can incorporate music, but never seem to have time to get around to doing it!)

Mommamo,

Tentative plans at this point are to include a composer/music study in the third guide in the Hearts for Him series. Then, we tentatively hope to include a hymn-writers/hymns study in our 4th guide in the Hearts for Him series.

Blessings,
Carrie

Awesome, Carrie. I'm already teaching my oldest piano, and we listen to classical music regularly, so I'll just be patient and wait for the composer study for when we get there. Although I may add some music for the various time periods as we study them.

Has any consideration been given to God and the History of Art by Barry Stebbing from www.howgreatthouart.com

or the classical music history study put out by beautiful feet?

Yes, we have looked at both of those pretty carefully. While the concept of God and the History of Art really appeals to me, the cost of it along with the quality of it do not. We deeply desire for the study of art to inspire and enrich our studies, so we find color to be a must in the study of art. With a CM-style art study, studying great works of art through picture study begs for color. We also aren't looking for as time-consuming of projects as are found within God and the History of Art. Last, we want to spend a year in art study to get some mental pegs to hang future references to art upon, so God and the History of Art doesn't fit well within that category for us either.

At this point, we are weighing the use of Hillyer's A Child's History of Painting (only using the painting portion or perhaps the architecture portion) sold by Calvert, which my oldest son has truly enjoyed. I know it's more expensive than I'd like but it is very well-done! Linked here: http://www.calvertschool.org/engine/con ... DE=CES2656

Another product we like the looks of is this one: http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com/HTTA/AP/Artists.htm

We do like the idea of Beautiful Feet's study of Classical Music, however Beautiful Feet's guide tend to leave much to the parent to figure out and also vary widely in how much time is required to teach a lesson. It can vary from 15 min. to well over an hour depending on the day's directions. The resources used along with Beautiful Feet's guide also really add up to be quite expensive and not all of them are terribly interesting. Many of the books included are pretty short and there is quite a bit of coloring... so we'll be piecing together a program ourselves (again looking for a strong one-year overview which provides mental pegs to hang future music study upon).

At this point, we like the looks of this new program:
http://www.brightideaspress.com/YSGComposers.htm

We also like the idea of combining it with this Naxos CD listening library:
http://www.amazon.com/Story-Classical-M ... 845&sr=8-1

Anyway, we are FAR AWAY from making any firm decisions, but it's fun to share our brainstorms, so you can glimpse where we're headed!

Blessings,
Carrie

I am glad that you research all the programs and that you carefully weigh what to put in the guides. I will continue to pray for you and I keep adding to the list as I see the great responsibility on your shoulders, because so many depend on the skills the Lord has given you to write these guides and find curriculum that is honoring to Him.

Carrie wrote: Another product we like the looks of is this one: http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com/HTTA/AP/Artists.htm

Ooh, I really like the looks of this one too! :0)

Carrie wrote:. So, we may head more in that direction with our resources for the Independent History Study box of the plans in the guide for the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Reformation.

Carrie,

This is so interesting and exciting. I had been thinking before reading this that the independent history block would be such a good place to incoporate this study. I'm also very intrigued by the resources you are pondering. As always, it looks good. Keep up the good work!

While we own God and the History of Art, we have not had much luck using it well and consistently. I am glad you are considering some different options.