Art, Music, Home Economics & Spanish

Below are our electives for this year.  Besides Music, they are only done once a week, with Music twice a week.

Art - we are using "Artistic Pursuits: K-3 Book One, An Introduction to the Visual Arts"  I came across this program before I even saw it was recommended in "The Well Trained Mind".  I had looked at several other art programs and was frustrated at the simplicity of them - having a child cut a picture from a paper and glue it and then color it, to me just isn't true art.  I wanted something that taught Art and gave a great knowledge of just what Art is and I have found it!  Book One even includes Ancient Art (making a Greek pot) and that will go along with our History of the Ancient times.  We plan on only doing Art once a week but if she shows a great interest, then we can do it twice.

Music - my daughter wants to learn to play the violin.  However, the instructors in our area say the child must be 7 before they can begin lessons, so since she is only 5 (6 next month), we will have to wait.  I wanted her to begin learning to play something - so we chose to start the piano this year and see how she likes it.  We are going to use "John Thompson's Modern Course for the Piano; First Grade Book".  She will also learn to play the recorder and we got one with a beginner's book and that will probably be the easiest for her to start with.

I've already began teaching about Composers with Beethoven and we are using "Stories of the Great Composers, Book 1 & CD". I also want something that teaches what rhythm, melody, etc are but haven't found the program I'm looking for yet. 

Home Economics - I have taught my daughter some of Home Economics already with her being with me in the Kitchen, etc.  However, I wanted something that laid it out for me, easy for her to understand and I found it.  I'm using Pearables "Home Economics Level One".  It looks like a good basis and geared towards her age.  It is also done by an older lady sharing her nuggets of wisdom.

Spanish - My daughter already knows a lot of words in Spanish and how to count from 1-10 in Spanish but I wanted to start her in something this year that would be fun and not necessarily a complete curriculum since she already has a full year.  We are going to use "Spanish 1A" cd-rom and see how it goes.  It will be something that is part of her "Computer Time" but also fun for her as well.  We aren't going to start it until the middle of the year so she can concentrate on phonics for the next 6 months and get a good solid base in reading. 

Image credits: Christian book, RR