Archives

Summer Drama Camps

English: The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park ...

The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Do you have a budding thespian? Many local theater groups and other facilities  have summer camps and opportunities. What a fun way to incorporate fine arts into your school year.

Children’s Theater of Mason: http://www.childrenstheatreofmason.com/

Covedale Center for the Performing Arts: http://www.cincinnatilandmarkproductions.com/ccpa/Classes.aspx

Fairfield Summer Theater: http://www.fairfieldsummertheatre.com/stars/

Another one in Fairfield link http://www.fairfield-city.org/classes/index.cfm

Aronoff Center: http://www.cincinnatiarts.org/index.jsp?eventDetail=1&event_id=1282

Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park has a camp–click on the “Learn” tab here: http://www.cincyplay.com

Pleasant Valley Ministries, Camden, OH Grade 4-6

Miami Valley Christian Academy in Newtown has a great summer drama camp.  They will be performing Aladin, Jr. this year.   The are extremely friendly to home schoolers and would love to have you join them.  The cost is $150.00 and camp is July 8- 12.

 

Music Education Apps

Jazzy Music

Jazzy Music

One of the areas that we are to teach when homeschooling is fine arts, which includes music. I found some apps from The Melody Book that look like so much fun for young students to learn musical instruments.

A Jazzy Day (4.99) is an award-winning ebook that:

  • can be played to be read aloud (great for non-readers or beginning readers)
  • can be read independently
  • learn about different instruments
  • a child can play different instruments

Jazzy ABC (1.99) is a music app that teaches children the alphabet and musical instruments. Children can play each of the instruments too!

Jazzy 123:  Learn to Count Music (1.99) How about not only learning how to count time, but also counting in 10 different languages!

If you want to learn more about the jazzy adventures of this cat duo, click here

Art Curriculum

There are some subjects that I can’t teach and one of them is art. I don’t see the perspective of an object, I can’t pick out variations of color, and I can barely draw stick figures. (It’s true! My junior high students will confirm this claim.)

I saw this deal today and thought that you might like some help with this topic of study like I do. The great thing about this curriculum is that it is on a DVD and it has demonstrations and final projects for you and your student(s) to see. I think it is awful when I am not feeling confident in my own abilities and then I have to try and read and interpret the directions in order to teach the lesson.  Notice that if you purchase it now you save 60%. I like that!

inspiration-station-250x250Mikes Inspiration Station Art DVD’s 12 Volume Set

$79.90  $31.96
Save: 60% off

Let your child’s inner artist shine with this exciting new series of instructional DVDs created just for kids! Featuring 13 projects spread across six volumes, Mike’s Inspiration Station: Six DVD Boxed Set will draw out the budding artist in every child with fun and nicely-paced lessons in traditional mediums like drawing, painting, and sculpting, plus unique activities like making clothespin puppets and fridge art. Set #1 DVDs 1-6 Description:

Geared toward ages 8-12, the series encourages kids to craft right along with host Michael Cariglio and his biblical buddy, Booker T Bible, a talking, animated Bible who offers creative inspiration with Scripture references. Let Mike’s Inspiration Station inspire your child’s creativity and get some fun art project ideas and fridge art in the process!

Set #1 DVDs 1-6 Includes:

Volume 1 features “Drawing Cartoons,” “Making Watercolor Paintings,” and “Let’s Draw a Dinosaur.” Volume 2 offers “Creating Pastel Art” and “Let’s Draw a Cute Turtle.” In volume 3, kids participate in “Light and Shading” and “Let’s Draw a Funny Moon.” Volume 4 suggests “Let’s Draw a Joyful Heart” and “Let’s Draw Goliath.” Children learn “Making Clothespin Puppets” and “Fun Fridge Art” in volume 5, and the final episode’s lessons include “Flower Pot Pals” and “Sculpt a Cute Dog.”

Set #2 DVDs 7-12 Description:

Spark your child’s God-given gift of creativity with this second set of episodes from Mike’s Inspiration Station. Geared toward ages 8-12, this series features 13 art projects on six instructional DVDs that encourage kids to follow along with host Michael Cariglio and his biblical buddy, Booker T Bible, an animated Bible who provides project inspiration through Scripture.

Set #2 DVDs 7-12 Includes:

Volume 7 features “Fun Fish Projects” and “Creating Fun Clouds.” Volume 8 offers “Drawing Noah’s Ark” and “Drawing a Shepherd and His Sheep.” In volume 9, kids participate in “Making a Clay Easter Bunny” and “Drawing Jonah and the Whale.” Volume 10 teaches “Drawing Laughter” and “Drawing Love.” Children learn “Drawing Animal Cartoons Using Numbers” and “Drawing a Bluebird” in volume 11, and the final episode’s lessons include “Drawing a Bluebird,” “Fun Christmas Projects,” and “All about Colors.”

Attention Shutterbugs! Photo submissions for Atlas

Do you have a student who likes to take pictures? Here’s a chance to have some of their photos in a student atlas. If you are familiar with Uncle Josh’s outline maps, Trail Guides to Geography Series, or Galloping the Globe series, this is the company that would like to publish  their work. Read on to find out how to submit your student’s photographic masterpieces. I hope their picture is selected!

“GEOMATTERS NEEDS YOU!Attention budding photographers, here’s a chance to have your pictures published. We are very excited to announce that our team is putting together a beautiful, full-color United States desk atlas written by Jamie Aramini. The book will contain amazing custom illustrations, but we want to include photos taken by you, our loyal customers! Each photo selected will be printed in the atlas and will include the photographer’s name alongside the picture. We’ve created a list of photos that we need to complete the project. You can submit photos of any one (or more than one) of the subjects listed. If you have other images that you feel are representative of your state, feel free to submit them as well, but remember that we only have limited space, so we cannot include every image that we receive.

Visit our blog to read the complete guidelines and how to submit your photos. We can’t wait to hear from you!”

Picture Studies in Art

I believe art is a valuable course of study for our children as it brings beauty and appreciation of the world to our children. (It is also a required subject for students if you are homeschooling here in Ohio.) If you think you have to be an artist in order to teach it, or that your children have to create a finished product, let me assure you that needn’t be the case. Studying paintings and artists can be done without creating anything, but I think it would be fun and children make better connections to the subject if this is incorporated into your studies.

A great series to introduce students to the concept of focusing on paintings is a series called Come Look with Me.There are 12 books in the series at present and each book has a painting that your student observes carefully, information about each artist and painting, and questions to discuss concerning each picture. There are no right or wrong answers since the purpose of the questions is to get children to go beyond glancing at a painting. The great thing is that young and old will enjoy these books!

Come Look with Me: World of Play, Gladys Blizzard

Come Look With Me: Enjoying Art with Children, Gladys Blizzard

 

 

 

 

 

I have found some amazing resources to help you if you are interested in pursuing picture and artist studies further. I have included some do-it-yourself studies as well as commercial packages that have everything ready to go for you.

The first one is a blog called Artist Study– Charlotte Mason Style with a tremendous amount of resources that will help you to learn more in detail about artist studies. There are many downloadable forms, book recommendations, and activities. Grades K-12.

Picture Study Portfolios is a portfolio of laminated cards of various artists with information and questions that accompany each work of art. It is designed for students K-12. This includes more than just paintings, which I like.

After you have studied some of these great paintings and learned about the artists, why not go to local art museums? Found below are a few that are within driving distance of the Cincinnati area. Don’t live in the area? Please leave a comment if you have a museum recommendation since some of us may get the opportunity to visit or another reader lives near you who would benefit from your recommendation.

Cincinnati Art Museum  Admission: FREE 🙂 Hours: Monday CLOSED Tues- Sun. 11:00 AM – 5:00PM Map and Directions

Taft Museum of Art FREE  SUNDAY Admission Hours: Monday CLOSED Tues- Sun. 11:00 AM – 5:00PM Map and Directions

Dayton Art Institute  Admission: FREE for students, $8.00 adults, $5.00 for groups and senior citizens Map and Directions

REGULAR MUSEUM HOURS
Monday Closed
Tuesday Closed
Wednesday 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Thursday 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Friday 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m
Sunday Noon – 5:00 p.m.

Columbus Museum of Art Admission: FREE  on SUNDAY, $10.00 adults, $5.00 for students 6-17  $8.00 for senior citizens 60+ and students 18+ with ID Map and Directions Click on Visiting

Indianapolis Museum of Art  Admission: FREE Map and Directions

Tuesday – 11 am to 5 pm
Wednesday – 11 am to 5 pm
Thursday – 11 am to 9 pm
Friday – 11 am to 9 pm
Saturday – 11 am to 5 pm
Sunday – noon to 5 pm
Closed Mondays, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Speed Museum of Art, Louisville, Kentucky  Admission: $10.00 Adult, $8.00Senior (65+),  $5.00 Child 3-17,Free for Child under 3

Wednesday 10a to 5p
Thursday 10a to 5p
Friday 10a to 9p
Saturday 10a to 5p
Sunday 12p to 5p
Monday closed
Tuesday closed

Be sure to take a journal, a pencil and some colored pencils with you to draw a favorite painting. Have a great time!