Edgar Degas - Artist Study - Impressionism

Our artist rotation this term will be Degas and Manet.  We are beginning Term 2 on Monday when we return from our Christmas break.  I'm going to break the study up into 6 weeks each- weeks 11-16 will be devoted to Degas and weeks 17-22 to Manet.

To begin our study of Edgar Degas (day-GAH) (French, 1834-1917),
I took two of the Degas paintings I located free online and sent them to walmart to be processed as photographs.  I had them each printed in an 8 x 10 and then I inserted them into these great photo magnet sleeves I found for about $2 and placed them on the fridge.  I love this idea, it's inexpensive but everytime my monkeys go into the fridge they will get another look at the artwork.  :)  Cheap yet effective and you can't beat that!

The two we are starting with (I'm planning to use 3 pieces this way- two weeks each piece) are Ballet Rehearsal On Stage and Racehorses in Front of the Grandstand 1866-68.  I downloaded both pieces from Edgar Degas- The Complete Works.   You'll find more than enough paintings to choose from on this website.  Ambleside Online has their recommendations also if you click here.  You will need to scroll down a bit because Degas and Manet were their selected artists for 2002/2003 Term 2. 

I wanted a painting that included dancers because it was a favorite subject of Degas and delights my daughters but also something a bit more masculine for my son.  I'm not sure he could study ballerinas for the entire six weeks!  I haven't decided on the final piece yet.  I'm considering letting my children choose it as they study his other works in our books and through the stickers I've purchased them. 

 We always begin our new artist study with the first piece of art.  I'll present the painting (this term it will be Ballet Rehearsal On Stage) and have them all look at it.  I'll then tell them a bit about the artist, not the full biography, just some basic facts about him.  I'll tell them where he was born and grew up and what years he lived.  We'll then talk about his style and with Degas I'll mention that although he didn't consider himself an Impressionist, he was always grouped with them. 

Purchase from Dover

The book, "Discovering Great Artists" by MaryAnn F. Kohl & Kim Solga (one of my favorite books that I use again and again) has two very brief introductory paragraphs about Degas on pages 40-41 that I will probably begin with.  I don't purchase all of our homeschool books but this is one I did purchase because we use it again and again- I would have no problem recomending this book as a "purchase book" for anyone using the Charlotte
Mason or even the Classical methods.  You can purchase it through the link from Amazon.  I am an affiliate and I will get credit if you do but that is not why I recommend the book.  I like to add that in when I include these amazon links to be upfront.  :) 

 My next step would be to have the children "narrate" the picture to me.  This was always fun when they were younger but now that they are a little older (2-3rd graders and a 5th grader) and they've been doing this for a couple of years, I enjoy it even more.  They remember so much more and when they begin to compare one artist to another or one painting to another it brings me such true delight.  It's those moments that make me praise God for leading me to homeschooling!   Simply Charlotte Mason has a paragraph explaining how to have children narrate a picture here.

I'll assign them to read a simple biography about Degas during this time.  They will definitely be reading the book, "Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists ~ Degas" by Mike Venezia.  When we first began reading this series a few year's ago, it was difficult to find them in our library but now I've noticed my library has many of them.  You could check your local library prior to purchasing.  It's an easy to read picture book but chock full of good information and great cartoon drawings that my children have really enjoyed.  My 5th grader will still be assigned this book to read (in one sitting of course) for our Degas study.   

My plan is to study each picture at least twice a week and narrate each time.  At this stage I'm looking for them to know more about the picture with each study time.  I'll have them all complete a notebooking page about Degas and my 5th grader will also need to complete a page about each picture.  I'm going to have him choose his favorite of the three on the last week of our Degas study and ask him to write a paragraph explaining WHY he chose that picture.  You can find free notebooking pages here from Homeschooling with Index Cards free notebooking forms section.  A HUGE thank you to this mom who's artist biography form I've used for a couple of years!   You can also find artist notebooking page freebies at NotebookingPages.com here.

I will give them the Degas sticker book and split it evenly (very important in my house :)) and let each of them choose thier favorite paintings from the book.  They then put those stickers on a notebooking page and label each of them.  The sticker book I linked does include two photos that are too close to nude for my comfort so I will remove those two from the book before giving the book to my kids.  That leaves 14 pictures so they'll get 4 a piece, still a good deal for $1.50 and it's a great way for them to make the paintings accessible for them to view later (we'll put the notebook page they stick them to and label them on in their art study notebooks.) 

We will complete a coloring page of  one of Degas' paintings.  I normallly let them choose their favorite.  I love the color and paint your own ... paintings!  What an amazing way to get the mental picture in your mind by working on it yourself! 

I have a puzzle that portrays The Dancers I found through Scholastic last year and we'll work on that together throughout the first week or two.  My hopes are that the children will form the mental picture Charlotte Mason speaks about concerning art from the time required of them to look at the painting to complete the puzzle.   I've posted the link to order it through Amazon but it is more expensive.  You'll have to decide it's value to your art study and decide whether or not to purchase it. 

We are going to complete two projects from MaryAnn F. Kohl's "Discovering Great Artists."  One involves showing movement in their art and the other involves working with chalk on a damp fabric piece.  I'm very excited to enjoy these with the kids. 

We will create a final project from the "Usborne Art Treasury."   This book has a short, one page explanation of the picture, Dancers in Blue, drawn by Dega in 1897.  After the informational page there's a project using dark, rough paper and pastels to create their own pastel dancers.  I'm going to use this last fun project during our final week of Degas by then I hope they have a solid feel for his work and will create masterpieces in his style. 

A brief quote from Degas that can be used for copywork or dictation, 
"Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do." ~
Edgar Degas

We'll read other books about Degas from the library.  A few I've planned are:

What Makes a Degas a Degas? by Richard Muhlberger
Marie in fourth position: the story of Degas's "The little dancer" by Amy Littlesugar
Degas and the little dancer: a story about Edgar Degas by Laurence Anholt
Degas and the dance : the painter and the petits rats, perfecting their art by Susan Goldman Rubin

I found all of the above titles at my local library so check your library for books on Degas in the juvenile section.  I do not make these books "difficult reads" in general because I want to introduce them to the artists and their art and teach them to love, enjoy, and remember it. 

For my 5th grader, I've requested the following book from our library:
Meet Edgar Degas / National Gallery of Canada ; [compiled by] Anne Newlands


I have not previewed it yet, I was interested because of the following description:
Presents the life and paintings of Edgar Degas in a first person narrative drawn from letters, notebooks, and people's stories about the artist.
I'm hoping it will be a great opportunity to give my son a taste of using primary resources. 

That is our plan so far for our Edgar Degas artist study.  Have you planned your next artist study?  Is there something fun and engaging you're doing with your children?  I'd love to hear about it!  I'm always looking for new ideas to keep my children interested!

For more information on picture study in general, Higher Up and Further In has an incredibly organized system set up in her homeschool.  You can read more about it here.   Love the idea of having all of her children keep their own copies of each piece in a book of art! 

Here is some basic biographical information about Degas from Wikipedia.com and some additional product links you might find interesting!  Please leave comments and send photos of your own Degas artist studies!  I'll be posting our results as well!

Much love,
Tiff

Edgar Degas (19 July 1834 - 27 September 1917), was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist. A superb draughtsman, he is especially identified with the subject of the dance, and over half his works depict dancers.  ~
Wikipedia.org

Remembering what's important

 We ended last week with a trip to a local museum on Friday with our Co-op.  Although we are not currently studying American History, I always try to attend as many field trips as our schedule allows.  It's a wonderful time for fellowship for the kids and myself and they always learn something whether we are in that cycle or not.  
The day was beautiful here, the humidity gone, the wind a gentle breeze, and great light from the sun.  I took advantage of the weather and the crowd-less downtown area to get some photos of my kids.  I haven't had the time (or taken the time maybe?) to do sessions with them for awhile and we really enjoyed it.  They wanted to keep going when it was time to get home and start dinner.  I realized I did too. 

It was an awesome reminder of the important things in my life and why I began to home educate my children.  I want to spend time with them, not just time teaching them, but time enjoying them and getting to know them and their personalities.  



  As I have been reviewing our schedules, I am pleased with the educational work we are accomplishing but not as pleased with the "quality" time we are spending together.  All of us (myself included) have seemed a bit more easily frustrated and tired the past couple of weeks.  I wondered if we just need to adjust to "school" being full time or if I need to adjust our schedule. 

Of course, this means leaning on the Lord and praying about it.  I have found myself so incredibly busy that I forget that it's not my decisions to make- that I must take time out to TRULY pray and TRULY lean on the Lord for His wisdom and understand that it is He that is in control, not I. 
 

My twin girls.

  With that, I leave you with scripture I often find encouraging and some beautiful photos from our peaceful afternoon. 

Remember why we homeschool and enjoy your children today!

More photos of our walk.

Curriculum 2010/2011 Decisions

Our Curriculum Choices for 2010/2011

Ch- 9 years old (JUST turned)

A & B- 7 years old

Language Arts:

Spelling- We are using Modern Curriculum Press' Spelling Workout.  In the past, I have used McGuffey's Spelling Lists and created a schedule of my own.  I have also used Natural Speller.  Both of these are great programs for spelling.  I wanted to simplify our Spelling.  I wanted to spend less time than the children on their Spelling assignments!

I read about MCP's Spelling Workout in "The Well Trained Mind" and it fit the bill.  It is a workbook, however, there isn't TOO much writing involved and it requires less than a page a day.  I do not use the writing suggestions as they do not fit my taste or philosophy so we skip over that.  My 8 year old son (9 years old in 3 days!) is finishing Level D from last year and will move on to Level E in a few weeks.  My 7 year old daughters are using Level B and are beginning on the 4th lesson as we completed a few lessons sporadically over the summer. 

 Grammar-

A & B - 7 years old- First Language Lessons of the Well Trained Mind - Level 2

Ch- 9 years old - First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind - finishing up Level 3 and then beginning Level 4

       This was one of my more difficult decisions this year.  I was back and forth between programs for Grammar and Writing.  My children have not had much formal Grammar up until this point because we were adhering closer to the Charlotte Mason philosophy which does not recommend early formal grammar.  Due to this, I was hesitant and unsure about which program to use. 

My son is not as strong in auditory learning as he is in visual and kinesthetic.  This caused concerns about First Language Lessons for me as it is primarily oral for Level 1 & 2.  After hesitantly trying Level 2 with him last year and seeing his eyes glaze over everytime I tried to repeat things three times, I decided to move him into Level 3.   Level 3 does have worksheets for each lesson which he appreciates.  I appreciate that it is not TOO much writing which seems to make him frustrated. 

I worry still that he is not "getting" enough out of the program.  It is not that the curriculum does not CONTAIN enough grammar information, it does.  My concern is if MY SON is absorbing enough of the material based on his own learning style and personality.  He doesn't seem to mind the curriculum anymore.  He rather enjoys circling and underlining in his copy of the program.  He even tolerates the "say it three times" now that we have laughed about it and talked about it helping him to memorize the information.  He usually chimes in, however, while I'm reading my section 3 times rather than waiting for me to read it three times and then us reading it three times together.  If it is not the first day of memorizing and repeating a rule than we don't always repeat it as often as the book recommends.  He just doesn't seem to respond to saying it 9 times.  I believe all programs - even the best of them - have to be tweaked for the child.  

I purchased Shurley English and have spent quite a bit of time looking through it and considering it, I just think it is A LOT for what they are getting.  My son is very bright but his attention span is not terribly long.  He's not "unusual" according to my pediatrician for an 8 (almost 9 year old) boy - just a typical boy of his age.  I'm afraid the SE will make him bonkers (and possibly me!)   He did ask me one day if I had any songs to help him remember the parts of speech.  My friend taught IEW at our Co-op and taught the kids some jingles for simple parts of speech that he enjoyed.  He does NOT enjoy the long, drawn out songs such as the ones in SE.  As a matter of fact, the Veritas Press songs I was so excited to purchase him just made him laugh at me! :) It needs to be fairly short and to the point.

My friend taught him "Verb, verb - action word!"  I guess he's looking for quick memory rhymes versus songs.  I'm considering looking at some of the Grammar Songs CDs. 

We are going to move forward for now with the First Language Lessons Level 3 and probably move quickly so as not to bore him. 

Reading:

A & B- Both of my girls are proficient readers.  I am still determined to read through The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Reading with them.  Practice makes perfect, and certainly won't hurt anything.  They find it easy but don't complain, partly because it is private, one on one time with mom where they can show off thier "skills".  I am considering taking 5 minutes a day to briefly review it with my son as well.   I am not using it to replace anything and adding 5 minutes of reading practice to our day will not seriously throw off our schedule. 

The other nice thing is I purchased the .pdf version and placed it in a 3 ring binder. Not only was it a bit cheaper,  I can also just take the page or two out that I want to practice with them for that day and lay it in my planner.  This allows me to take it with us without the bulk of a reading curriculum or heavy textbook.  I did not purchase the .pdf version for this reason.  I actually purchased the .pdf (admittedly!) for the instant gratification of having the program THEN and THERE! :)  This explains my love for Currclick! 

This past week, for our first "week of school" I took it with us to music lessons and quietly went through it with the girls while their brother was in guitar lessons.  It was perfect!  It was casual and fast but I felt good that we had that few minutes for practice. 

My children also are required to read daily.  I assign different books for the girls and Chance sometimes but with thier reading ability I am finding that I can probably assign them the same book more often.  I set a longer time for reading for my son than my daughters but they will often ask if they can read another chapter or "just a few more pages" so they exceed him. 

I believe my daughters caught the "book bug" from me.  I could read for hours on end.  My son did not.  I have taken a lot of advice from other homeschoolers on types of books to provide him.  I take him to the library with me and allow him to choose books.  I check out and purchase books for him more often than my daughters because I am trying to find that ONE that will call to him.  I believe the Lord makes us all unique, however, and for good reason.  My son is just an active boy.  He will grow to be a strong and active man.  He will be an amazing provider for his family and his wife will love it!  He just may never choose a book over football or martial arts or a book over building something.  He would rather RAISE the ferrets and bearded dragons than to read about them!  The trick for me is to find that interest in his sports or nature studies and grab books for that and continue to assign his reading.  School is not always going to be what they WANT to do over all else.  I can't blame him, I would rather be painting or reading than washing dishes :)!  My goal is to continue with his assigned times and stick to it.  He is an obedient child, thank the Lord so it's not a problem.  I may find him one day sitting and reading a book without having it assigned to him but for now I am blessed by him and WHO he is!  He will grab "how-to" books and care guides when he needs them, the literature will come from his education.  That's a part of it, isn't it?

Assigned reading-

A & B- 30 minutes

Ch- 30-45 minutes. 

I am not STRICTLY adhering to this.  If they finish a history biography in 20 minutes, we will discuss and make a notebook page on the book, I will not go hunting down another book to "fill up" the missing 10 minutes!  These guidelines I set to help me choose how much reading to assign the kids.  I am tweaking it as I go, assigning chapters or pages based on how long I think it will take them and we'll move from there.  I will watch for frustration levels AND enjoyment levels. 

My son enjoys biographies and Usborne books with a lot of great history illustrations and building information.  He loves battles and heroes.  He might not want to read as much of "Tara" as he does the others.  He may take longer to get through that book due to lack of interest and I will adjust for that.  The same goes for my daughters.  They might find the chapters on war boring and emerse themselves in the romance and family sections.  Again, it is going to be a constant change. 

I will be posting a list of the books I'm assigning them very soon.  I will also be posting books from thier fun reading time. 

Fun Reading- I am asking them to read on their own, an approved book of thier choice daily:

Our goal is for:

A & B- 30-60 minutes

Ch- 60 minutes. 

All of my notes above from assigned reading on this time limit is the same.

I thought that I would allow them to "blog" about their fun reading books.  I am going to try to start a page for each of them to do this.  A book review/report is a great way to keep them motivated.  They love to share with other children and maybe once we are organized and consistent about it, I'll be able to post it on our blog and other children can chime in with thier own book likes and dislikes!  :) hint! hint! Moms!

Phonics Practice-

A & B-  Finish Explode the Code Book 4 and move into MCP Level C

Ch- Finish MCP Word Study D & possibly move into E - only 1x per week now on day he does not have a spelling page to complete.

Writing-

A & B -

Letter Writing- 2 x month

We are going to start the year strong with writing letters.  It was a "side note" in our writing last year.  We wrote get well cards for sick friends which were more illustrations and crafts than writing.  I am striving for 2 letters per month from the girls.

Writing with Ease & The Complete Writer - Level 2

We discovered and began using WWE and TCW last year towards the end of the year.  We were only able to get about 4 weeks done before our year completed.  I did enjoy it for them because I was already doing a lot of oral narration and copywork from our Charlotte Mason roots.  I contribute my daughters' ability to pen well to this as well as their ability to narrate well for thier age.  They still have certain material that is more difficult than others simply because they have a harder time paying attention if it doesn't intrigue them.  I've read this is normal. 

It's so interesting to compare their level with my son's.  He is just as bright as his sisters but with very different strengths.  Much of it is the Lord's design of him for his path in life compared to my daughters.  However, I find that it is also due to his almost two years in public school - 2 of the most crucial early years- Kindergarten and much of 1st grade when we began homeschooling.  I continually remind myself of this when I become nervous or concerned about my ability to home educate them.  When I'm floudering between this curriculum and that I remember that the girls are doing great and I didn't use any SET curriculum per say but an old fashion philosophy.  It always brings me back to reality!W

We are going to skip the rest of WWE Level 1 because they already are so proficient at copywork.  There will be days when they do more copywork than narration but I'd like to follow the WWE 2 - I think it corresponds well with FLL Level 2 that way and I think my daughters are capable of handling it. 

One thing I've found that I want to attempt to change this year, however, is how much of the WWE workbook we use.  I purchased it (again in .pdf so I can print it out for BOTH girls -I have twins) for those weeks that are busy (most weeks lol but busiser than others) and days that I get caught working with them on something longer than expected or the regular life things come up.  It's great to have when I need it.  It's an excellent source for the material in TCW.  I, personally, am going to try very hard to find material from our history, science, and literature to use instead of the material from the workbook.  This is just a personal choice.  I believe in falls in line more with Susan Wise Bauer's writing philosophy.  I listened to my MP3 of her writing workshop/seminar again yesterday and I think her plan was to incorporate writing into other subjects and not make it, its own "beast".  I do understand and appreciate the reason for the workbook as well.  I suspect I will use it more than I would like to but I know that when we do they are still getting the same material and writing skills they would otherwise.  It's my back up plan!

I also will try to post how that works for me as we go throughout our year and any great narration and dictation ideas I find from our literature as they could help others! 

Writing-

Ch- The Complete Writer- Level 4 section as spine-text  for narrations and dictations - 2-3 x per week

(using History, Science, & Literature as mentioned above for my daughters but using Level 4 activities)

Writing Strands 3 - 2x per week- we have not used this before so we are giving it a try.  He enjoys being creative so we will see how it goes and tweak the program and time spent on it as we go.

Penmanship- A & B-  5 minutes per day -

until they master cursive and then it will be included in daily writing versus being a seperate "subject" to cover.

I want to begin cursive writing with the girls right away.  They both mastered penmanship well which I attribute to their home school only educations.  They were never in public school as thier brother was.  I have also learned that I made a mistake by not teaching my son cursive sooner.  His Spelling book transitioned into cursive before he was ready which gave him some trouble.  I ended up writing the words in manuscript beside those in cursive until he was comfortable with it.   I have also learned since that it would be easier on a child whose fine motor skills are not completely developed for writing to write in cursive rather than in manuscript.  Live and learn I suppose, my poor first born!

That sums up our Language Arts Plan beginning this school year for 2010-2011.  I hope it has helped someone to decide for or against an idea or program.  I will be posting our book lists and plans for the remaining subjects very soon!  Thanks for spending some time reading!

Many Blessings to you All!

Tiffany