{Virtual Curriculum Fair 2014} Seeking Beauty: The Arts in Our Classical Homeschool
If you missed my previous posts in this series, you can visit them here:
Week 1 - Language Arts - coming soon!
Week 2 - Discovering Patterns: Mathematics, Science, and Logic in Our Classical Homeschool
Week 3 - Exploring Our World: Social Studies and Science in Our Classical Homeschool
Seeking Beauty
The children and I spend a lot of time within our home discussing how we are created in the image of God. I often remind them they have a purpose to fulfill to share God's light, through Christ, in this world. In our homeschool setting, we frequently get opportunities to practice loving one another, being kind, sharing encouragement, and helping one another all because we are created in the image of God with the purpose of reflecting His glory.
Are things always beautiful? Are things always peaceful? Do we always have godly character?
NO. Homeschooling provides the perfect environment for testing character on a daily basis!
True to our human condition, our lives and families do not always reflect the beauty of the Lord. As we walk by the way, we do stumble often. We fail. We need to hit the reset button at times. We are learning and growing in our faith. Our mistakes give us the chance to extend grace to one another and ourselves. Yet, even through the times we fall short, the target we aim for never changes. God, the source of all beauty and goodness, created us in His image, and beckons us to reflect His glory.
Sadly, in our secular culture, beauty and virtue are lost arts. I don't want to labor long in lamenting over the loss of private and public virtue. Our society as a whole has lost its bearings. I have little power to influence the trajectory of our world, but I can focus on my own circle of influence within my home, family, and community.
Our foundational educational philosophies and overall worldview are formed around the truths we are given in the Bible. Our core beliefs arise out of an understanding of the beauty of God as Creator reigning sovereign over His creation.
Judeo-Christian Worldview:
- Man is created in the image of God
- Man has a purpose given by God
- Wisdom, truth, goodness, and other virtues are honored and esteemed
- Education is focused on producing virtuous citizens
Secular Worldview in a post postmodern world:
- Man is a cosmic accident - a "quantum fluctuation" per Stephen Hawking
- Man does not have a God-given purpose
- Virtue and morality are irrelevant
- Education is utilitarian and focused on producing workers for society
Since education is the cultivation of wisdom and virtue, and since wisdom and virtue are cultivated when a soul is nourished on truth, goodness, and beauty, we must teach our children truth, goodness, and beauty. The wise person understands the world he lives in (natural science and history) and has standards by which to distinguish what is from what ought to be (ethics and politics). The wise person knows the causes of things, and therefore is able to order things rightly and to judge things justly. Wisdom appears at different levels and in different kinds. The virtuous person is disciplined, purposeful, and focused in his thinking and behavior. In education we cultivate the moral virtues, the physical virtues, and the intellectual virtues. By refining all of them, we are enabled to bring them into a harmony that we can justly call integrity. Young people become wise and virtuous when their souls feed on truth, goodness, and beauty. The only way a person can perceive truth, goodness, and beauty is if these virtues are embodied or incarnated and he is then disciplined in their imitation. For this reason, the classical school is careful to use books and artifacts that embody the true, the good, and the beautiful.
-Circe Institute
As God's children, we are created for beauty. All of our efforts towards education and creative endeavors have one sole purpose to glorify God. How can we glorify the Lord in all things? By fixing our hearts and minds upon Christ. Through God's grace, and the work of His Spirit, He will bring about beautiful things from our life stories.
I love this beautiful reminder from God's Word:
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
-Philippians 4:8 (ESV)
The Message expands the commentary with some practical guidance.
Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. -Philippians 4:8 (MSG)
One of my favorite books is The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer. If you have not read this book yet, the title can be a bit misleading. This book is not about just keeping a home. Rather, it encourages all people to cultivate a life of beauty through many different creative arts.
Schaeffer presents a variety of creative arts within her book.
- Music
- Painting, Sketching, Sculpturing
- Interior Decoration
- Gardens and Gardening
- Flower Arrangements
- Food
- Writing-Prose and Poetry
- Drama
- Creative Recreation
- Clothing
- Integration
- Environment
-Edith Schaeffer, The Hidden Art of Homemaking
Overall, this book offers inspiration for stirring up the creative spirit to pursue after God's beauty. Reading this book helped me understand the importance of creative pursuits, fine arts, and how beauty in our home environment nourishes the soul. If you have not read this book yet, I encourage you to add this to your reading list for 2014.
I think we all innately have the the desire to create and be creative. Pinterest is such a popular social media site due to the visual arts and creativity which speaks to people's artistic souls. I have many boards saved on Pinterest which inspire me in our home and homeschool. We find so many new ideas on Pinterest for projects and activities we want to do in the future.
Our family incorporates fine arts on a weekly basis within our academic pursuits. Here are some of the ways we enjoy fine arts in our homeschool.
Musical Arts
Classical Conversations Foundations: Fine Arts
This is our third year of using the Classical Conversations Foundations Guide within our core elementary studies. We are studying Cycle 2 and this year we will cover specific areas of music and composers:
- Classical Period
- Romantic Period
- Beethoven
- Brahms
- Dvorak
We branch out and study other areas of musical arts. Resources we use for a guide are:
Romans, Reformers, Revolutionaries
We integrate the study of musical arts and composers within our explorations through history.
Simply Charlotte Mason
SCM offers a helpful guide to composers and music study.
Ambleside Online
AO shares resources for composers and music study. We do not follow the AO schedule of study, but they do offer practical ideas for incorporating a schedule of composer studies.
We like to document our learning through hands-on creative projects:
Fine Arts notebooks on Composers
Fine Arts lapbooks
Dramatic Arts
This December, our daughter participated in her third year of the A Christmas Carol production.
Participating in the dramatic arts is a lengthy time commitment with weeks of rehearsals and a rigorous performance schedule. However, it is such a great blessing to work with such talented performers. Our daughter gleaned so many indirect lessons in drama and theatrical arts, she now writes her own plays, skits, and reader's theater.
During the fall, our daughter participated in the Ye-Ha! production with the White River Co-op Junior Players Drama Troupe.
She played the role of Miss Bracegirdle, the Schoolmarm.
Her second role was Leapin' Leopard, a Two-Stroke Indian.
From October to December, we were busy with rehearsals and the productions. In order to keep up with our demanding schedules, we put certain subjects on hold such as science and Latin. We opted for a January start in these two subjects of study to accommodate for the focused period of fine arts.
Visual Arts
The children love to study visual arts through curriculum and independent projects.We are always creating projects with our studies and incorporate painting, sketching, and sculpting in our science, nature, history, and geography studies. Every subject can be enhanced by creative arts!
Sometimes we sketch and color our nature observations.
We love using watercolor pencils!
Painting with veggies is really fun!
Feathers are a nice medium for painting.
The children love to do anything creative!
One of our favorite art companies is See the Light. You can read our review here.
Classical Conversations Foundations: Visual Arts
The Classical Conversations Foundations Guide provides us with a listing of great artists to study. In Cycle 2 we are studying:
- Renaissance / Post Renaissance / Impressionists
- Rembrandt
- Linnaeus
- Gainsborough
- Monet
- Degas
- Morisot
Romans, Reformers, Revolutionaries
We integrate the study of great artists within our explorations through history. This is our core curriculum guide and we integrate all of our subjects around our studies in history. For 2013-14, our focus is on the era of AD 30 to 1799.
Simply Charlotte Mason
SCM provides a guide for the study of great artists. SCM covers 3 artists per year.
Ambleside Online
AO provides a schedule of artists to study.
We meander around in our studies and pick and choose different artists according to the historical time periods we study. If you are searching for a way to incorporate studies of Artists and Composers in your yearly curriculum plan, both Simply Charlotte Mason and Ambleside Online offer practical assistance in establishing a schedule.
Field Trips
One of our favorite ways to experience the fine arts is by taking field trips.
We love to visit:
- Art museums
- Symphony performances
- Theatre performances
Some of the places we love to visit:
The Paramount Theatre
Concerts at Anderson University
Bill and Gloria Gaither's Studio
Anderson Center for the Arts
Festivals in downtown Anderson
Do you incorporate the study and practice of fine arts in your homeschooling schedules?
Check out what my homeschool blog buddies are sharing about the arts and beauty: (note all links will be live by noon 1/27)
44 Awesome Free Resources to Study Art and Music! by Susan @ Homeschooling Hearts & Minds
Finding Beauty with Classical Composers Monthly by Kristi K. @ The Potter’s Hand Academy
Art and Music Appreciation Resource Lists by Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses
Easy Guided Drawing: Benefits and Resources by Tauna @ Proverbial Homemaker
A Peek into our Homeschool: Seeking Beauty by Brittney @ Mom's Heart
All Things Lovely by Michele P @Family, Faith and Fridays
Virtual Curriculum Fair: the Arts by Jennifer @ a glimpse of our life
You Gotta Have Art! by Lisa@GoldenGrasses
Classical Crochet... Or Something Like That by Laura @ Four Little Penguins
The Art of the Matter by Chelli @ The Planted Trees
Art Curriculum For Homeschoolers by LynnP @ Ladybug Chronicles
The Arts: Creating and Appreciating Beauty by Leah@As We Walk Along the Road
Our Curriculum Choices 2014 ~ The Arts & PDHPE by Renata @ Sunnyside Farm Fun
{Virtual Curriculum Fair 2014} Seeking Beauty: The Arts in Our Classical Homeschool by Sharra @ The Homeschool Marm
Learning Crafts For Kids & Adults by Kim @ Homestead Acres
Finding Time for Beauty in Homeschooling Including Fine Arts by Laura @ Day by Day in Our World
Arts & the Extras ~ These Are Some of Our Favorite Things by HillaryM @ Our Homeschool Studio
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