Sneak Peek #5: New World History Guide

[Carrie]

Ladies,

Even though I've just recently shared the sneak peek about Health, I am going to share another sneak peek because I had a few weeks where I didn't get to share a sneak peek at all! This particular sneak peek is another area that I am thrilled to discuss. It is the area of Fine Arts.

Like most of you, I have been very pleased by the various areas of fine arts emphasized throughout our guides. I enjoyed the watercolor painting lessons my boys did in CTC. I loved the CM-style picture study and art appreciation sessions in RTR. My boys and I enjoyed the music appreciation and composer study in Rev2Rev, and we loved the nature journal and related art lessons in MTMM. We've happily read, written, and discussed poetry all throughout every guide from Beyond on up! To top it off, my boys have all become better drawers through the years as we've done Draw and Write Through History!

Now, as we've arrived at the high school years, and the Fine Arts credit loomed, it was hard to decide in what direction to go in pursuit of that credit. While many of you may already have some things you are doing that count toward that credit, I must admit that with my oldest son I floundered a bit in how to pursue this credit in a way that would be interesting to him. We tried two different music related approaches with him, one more successful than the other. Yet, as I looked at my next son coming up, I really wanted to focus more deeply on art appreciation, because he had more recently (and thoroughly) covered music and the composers already through Rev2Rev.

I also really wanted to have the Christian influence wound within our study of art, as well as having a hands-on component to the program too. As part of the study, I wanted some living, narrative textual information about the artists along with some follow-up assessments. I desired for this to be combined with some beautiful picture study/viewing. Last, I wanted students of all levels of artistry to be able to enjoy the program and learn to appreciate art. It was a tall order, and one that I wasn't able to succeed in finding until now.

I've looked a long time (years in fact) before coming to the combination of resources that I will share below. I am excited and happy with the combination, and I pray your students will be too!

The first resource in our Fine Arts: Art History/Appreciation course is the 3 part DVD series "God and the History of Art". This DVD series is divided into 12 parts as Barry Stebbing journeys through the centuries offering Biblical insights into the great art and artists of the ages.

Lessons include:
What is Art?
The Second Commandment
Early Christian Art
Godly Periods of Art/Byzantine
Christian Artists
The Dark Ages/Monasteries
The Gothic Period
The Renaissance
The Reformation
French Neo-Classical Art
American Artist and Other Artists and Styles

This three-DVD set features beautiful colors, paintings, and classical music. "God and the History of Art" provides a unique view into many of the great works of art in Western culture. We will integrate this series throughout our chronological study of art history.

The next resource in our Fine Arts program is Short Lessons in Art History by Phyllis Clausen Barker. This book includes narrative biographical readings about 37 artists and/or sculptors beginning with "Artists of the Italian Renaissance" and ending with "Contemporary Sculptors." These lessons will be the backbone of the program and will be paired with Exercises and Activities for Short Lessons in Art History.

Here is a description from each book:
Short Lessons in Art History brings art to life with lessons that showcase the successes and struggles of legendary artists. The readings build an appreciation for major artists and art movements from the Italian Renaissance to current times. Students will be captivated by the high-interest readings on artists and the cultural and personal forces that shaped their work. A full-color insert highlights timeless works of art.

Link to see inside:
http://walch.com/samplepages/042458.pdf

Exercises and Activities for Short Lessons in Art History is designed as a companion to Short Lessons in Art History. It includes activities that move from basic comprehension (through fill-in-the-blank, word puzzles, crosswords, and matching) to synthesis (through short answer questions) to deeper insight (through independent writing or research topics). Used in combination with the Short Lessons for Art History text, students increase their awareness of various artists and their work and draw their own conclusions about what makes the work of certain artists timeless. Note: Since the art projects within these lessons are not described or laid out very clearly, and often are overwhelming to perform without more instruction, we will be omitting the "Art Projects" part of the activities as we will be covering this area in a different way.

Link to see inside:
http://walch.com/samplepages/042466.pdf

As narrative as the Short Lessons in Art History text is, it does not shine in the area of full color artwork. While it would seem easy to add to a book of art prints to our package to accompany the text, this route had many barriers. First, many of these types of full-color art print books are very expensive. Next, the prints often contain multiple images with nudity. Last, even after overlooking cost and the lack of clothing issues, many books didn't contain prints of all of the artists the students will be studying. To remedy these problems, we are designing an Art Gallery Student Notebook that will contain at least one full-color print for each artist. The Art Gallery Notebook will be used in conjunction with the Short Lessons in Art History readings and will be a beautiful collection of paintings by famous artists throughout history. It will be a very CM-inspired part of the program!

The final component of our Fine Arts program is the Art Projects DVD Set from See the Light. When I found this set, I knew the final piece of our Fine Arts program had (at long last) fallen into place! This is a 9 DVD Set of art projects designed to be completed at home. The projects on each DVD are narrated, modeled, and taught with a Christian emphasis by master artist Pat Knepley. Each DVD focuses on a different artist and a different type of art project. Projects are divided into 4 separate sessions, and Pat takes you through each step of the lesson on the DVD. We will be having students do one art project session each week, completing an art project every 4 weeks. The design of the projects makes this an art class that your students can enjoy and excel at in the comfort of your own home. We'll plan for sessions to last about an hour with the DVD running about 30 min. This allows time for students to pause and work along with Pat and take their time to be creative and do the project well. Some students may take longer to work.

Artists and corresponding projects are as follows: (Art History style and medium listed in parentheses):
Tiffany Window in the style of Louis Comfort Tiffany (Tiffany Windows: Marker)
Repeated Sweets in the style of Wayne Thiebaud (Pop Art: Watercolor)
Paper Jungle in the style Henri Rousseau (Naive Art, Collage: Paper Collage)
Pointillism Fruit in the style of Georges Seurat (Pointillism, Impressionism: Still Life)
Poppy Collage in the style of Georgia O'Keefe (Realism, Abstraction: Tissue Paper Collage)
Dreams of Joseph in the style of Marc Chagall (Surrealism, Symbolism, Fauvism: Wet-on-Wet Painting)
Horsing Around in the style of Edgar Degas (Impressionism: Chalk Pastel)
Peaceful Seas in the style of Winslow Homer (Realism: Mixed Media)
Sunflowers in the style of Vincent Van Gogh (Post-Impressionism: Oil Pastel)

Each DVD includes art history, art elements, art principles, step-by-step tutoring, and integrated Biblical truths. Students will end up with a portfolio of 9 completed projects as part of their Fine Arts study.

Link to Trailers and Promos for Art Projects DVDs (Scroll down to the "Art Projects" heading and select any promo to watch under that heading. The promos play at the top of your screen, so after selecting the promo, scroll back to the top of the screen to click play.): http://www.seethelightshine.com/previews-trailers/

The last benefit to the Fine Arts program that I've outlined is that there will be two options for credit with this program. The first option (and the recommended option) will be to earn one-full credit in Fine Arts: Art History/Appreciation by using all of the resources outlined above and scheduled in our guide.

The second option will be to earn 1/2 credit in Fine Arts: Art History/Appreciation by omitting the Art Projects DVD Set. This option will utilize all of the remaining art resources outlined above, but will omit the once weekly art project session. This option is only recommended if you have already met part of your Fine Arts requirement some other way, or if your state only requires 1/2 credit in Fine Arts.

Blessings,
Carrie

[Mumkins]

This sounds wonderful!! My DD's favourite part of homeschooling was the water colour paintings. I think I'll try my hand at this too:)

[LynnH]

Wow Carrie, once again I am impressed. I like the option of the 1/2 credit or the full credit since Noah may have a 1/2 credit in vocal performance due to classes at co-op and church choir. If I decide to just list those as activities then I know I can get the full credit covered with this.

[momtofive]

Love these choices for fine arts!!!! We've used some of the Pat Knepley art class dvd's, and they are very well done!
I know the art projects dvd's will be great, too!

Just last year my kids had the opportunity to take some art classes from Barry Stebbing himself, and they absolutely LOVED him and learned so much about art! It really changed my outlook on art as well!

Again Carrie, really, really good choices....I can hardly wait! I'm just so thankful that our children aren't going to have the dry and boring high school years that I had! Very big thanks for all your doing to provide such a great high school program!

[mamanlait]

LOVE these choices!!!

[abrightmom]

Excellent, inspiring, wonderful! What a great trio of resources!

Carrie,

Thanks for putting your heart and soul into serving the Lord in the many ways He has asked of you. HOD continues to amaze and impress me. What a rich treasure trove of learning for our kids.

[deltagal]

This looks fabulous! Wonderfully thought out.

This may have been outlined in the post. I see where the students are completing a project a week, but what about the other components. How often are they used and how long do you anticipate the session lasting?

Also, did you give any consideration to Artistic Pursuits? If so, what led you to go in a different direction?

Thank you!

[Carrie]

deltagal,

The other 3 days of fine arts work each week will include a combination of Short Lessons in Art History, Exercises and Activities for Short Lessons in Art History, God and the History of Art DVDs, and the Art Gallery Notebook. The combination of resources will vary, depending on the day. Approximately one artist will be studied three days each week (with an Art Project DVD session once weekly).

Students should plan to spend approximately 45 min. each day on the artist lessons three times weekly (with an hour or more needed on the Art Project day). Of course, students who read well, are focused upon their task, follow written directions well, and write easily may complete the lessons about the artists in less time. On the other hand, students who struggle in these areas may need longer on the artist lesson days. On art project days, students who are very creative or are perfectionists, may find their lessons last longer than one hour. As you can see, times can fluctuate, depending on the personality and skills of your student.

We will also be recommending a visit an art museum or an art gallery as part of your art appreciation course.

Blessings,
Carrie

[Tiffini]

Carrie, I know this year has been so tough and I just want you to know how much you are appreciated. When I think about the amount of time and thought and energy that goes into finding just the right combination of materials to put something like this together, I am just so thankful. You are really giving us a gift and I hope you really do know that! I am not an artist at all - and so I especially appreciate what my kids have learned about art as we have gone through the HOD years. They would not have learned anything if I was the one putting the curriculum together. I have checked out the samples of these program and they really look wonderful. I especially enjoyed the narrative reading of Mary Cassat. It is so easy to read and makes her story so much more personal than other biographical materials of artists I have seen. Please know that we are praying for you to remain strong. I'm sure you are exhausted. May God's strength continue to uphold you each day.

[aprilmd]

Is there a list of supplies needed? I plan to do the full year option.

[Carrie]

April,

Yes! Once you get your Art Projects' set of DVDs with your HOD Fine Arts Package, you simply look on the back of each DVD. There is a brief materials list noted on the back of each DVD. Pat Knepley also goes over the needed supplies at the beginning of each lesson on the DVD to make sure the kiddos are prepared. We spread the 4 lessons in each DVD over 4 weeks, so you only have supplies to gather every 4 weeks (and some of the supplies do overlap).

Blessings,
Carrie

[alhempel]

If you click the link in the main post for the Art Project DVDs and go to the website, you can click on each of the titles individually and get a list of supplies for each project. I copied and pasted each into a Word Document, so I had a master list.