Second Grade in Our Home :: Fine Arts

I'm doing a recap of some of this year's subjects now that we're finished with our school year.  Today: the fine arts!

Picture Study

As usual, we deviated from the Ambleside Online selections here, simply because I love art history and like choosing our own.  We studied three artists, six pieces per artist, spending two weeks on each, or two 15-minute sessions.

Week 1: For the first session, I show them the piece and tell them its name, size, media, and date.  I then include any relevant details they might want to know, such as its purpose or commission, where it's hanging now, or the historical/literary reference.  They then spend several minutes looking quietly at it, trying to make a mental image of it.  Once they are ready, I cover the print and they narrate all they remember about it.  Once they're finished, I turn it back over and we discuss: this is my chance to add additional details or draw a comparison with a prior work we have studied.

 Week 2: I get out sketch paper and conte crayons and let them do a sketch of the piece.  How and what they choose to draw is up to them, but the goal is not imitation--it's more a further act of narration, encouraging further observation.  Sometimes they choose to block the composition, roughly charting out the positions and shapes of the scene.  Sometimes they choose to focus on one small detail of the print to sketch.  I also use this time to show them comparisons with other pieces and/or studies done by the artist in preparation for this work.

At the beginning of each term, I also add a biography of the artist to their reading shelf and they narrate the pertinent details from it when they have finished.

Term 1 - Manet

The Races at Longchamps, 1864

Le Bar aux Folies-Bergere, 1881-2

The Fifer, 1866

The Railway, 1872

On the Beach, 1873

In the Conservatory, 1879

Term 2 - Jan Vermeer

Christ in the House of Mary and Martha, 1654-5
The Milkmaid, 1657-8
The Little Street, 1657-8
Young Woman with a Water Jug, 1660-62
Girl with a Pearl Earring, 1665

The Art of Painting, 1666

Term 3 - Albrecht Durer

Self-Portrait in a Fur Coat, 1500

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, 1497-8

Young Hare, 1502

The Knight, Death, and the Devil, 1513

Praying Hands, 1508

Feast of the Rosary, 1506

Composer Study

Once again, we study one composer per term, about six selections per composer.  As in picture study, I deviate from the Ambleside schedule here too--I rely heavily on the pieces that they select, but I do them on my own rotation.  That's partly because while my children are young, I want to use composers that have elementary-level books written about them, and partly because I want to take advantage of local performances.  For example, we had the opportunity to hear several of Haydn's pieces performed this winter, so he was on my list for this year.

For the first four weeks of each term, the children read and narrated a chapter from the Opal Wheeler biography of each composer.  These made such a deeper impact on my children than the Venezia biographies that we used last year!  I'm planning to purchase three more for next year's composers once I've selected them.

They also read and narrated a short section each week of the year from The First Book of the Orchestra, which is a vintage text that does a nice job of explaining the families and instruments in the orchestra and how they work together.

Term 1: Haydn

Celenza's The Farewell Symphony

Symphony No. 45, The Farewell Symphony (three weeks)

Symphony No. 94, The Surprise Symphony (three weeks)

Symphony No. 60, Il Distratto (two weeks)

String Quartet Op 76 no. 4 in B flat major, 1st movement, Sunrise Quartet (two weeks)

The Creation: "The Heavens are Telling the Glory" (two weeks)

Term 2: Mozart

Opal Wheeler's Mozart, The Wonder Boy

Piano Concerto 20 (two weeks)

Symphony 40 (four weeks)

Quintet in A Major for Clarinet (two weeks)

Quintet in A Major for Clarinet

Piano Sonata in A Major (two weeks)

Concerto for bassoon and orchestra in B-flat major, K. 191 (two weeks)

Term 3: Beethoven

Opal Wheeler's Ludwig Beethoven and the Chiming Tower Bells

Moonlight Sonata (two weeks)

Symphony 9 (two weeks)

Symphony 5 (two weeks)

Piano Concerto 5 Op 73 (two weeks)

Razumovsky Quartets Op 59 (four weeks)

Art and Drawing

I aim for one drawing lesson and one art project each week, but we fell short of that this year.  In actuality, we had a full first term, working our way through twelve more weeks of lessons based on Mona Brooks' Drawing with Children (we began using this book last year) and our weekly art projects as planned.  In our second and third terms (which started with first-trimester woes!), I let weekly drawing warm-ups from Donna Young's site and fun with various doodling books stand in for more formal lessons, and we did an art project every other week.  Thankfully, my daughters in particular spend tons of time daily with their own art projects, so they were certainly getting lots of practice, just not instruction or direction.  

A few of the art projects we did manage to do this year:

ATC saint card swap

sculpey

collage

watercolor placecards

printmaking

beading

painting

I'm already planning how to fit art into our days for next year.  I'll have an infant again, which always makes things a bit challenging, but I'm hopeful!

Handicrafts

My daughter has been faithfully working her sewing all year.  She would love to spend even more time sewing, but all I can commit to now is a weekly session with her--and she does still need my help.  But she has made some nice little projects this year, and I think she'll be working more independently in no time.

As for my son...does anyone else find boys' handicrafts really difficult to teach?  Woodworking doesn't come naturally to me, though I know he'd enjoy it.  I have a leather stamping kit set aside for his birthday this year that I'm hoping will be something we can do together, and maybe paper sloyd or whittling soap for next year?  I think I need indoor activities. :)

Piano

Both children began piano lessons in February.  They have already made great progress and are learning with enthusiasm.  It has been a wonderful addition to our week!