Let them Wonder (Studying the Arts)

It is a desire of mine to spend more time in wonder with my kids...admiring beautiful things, wondering at creation and art, to be inspired by great artists and creative minds.

This idea seems to be a recurring theme in books I've read this summer including Educating the Whole Hearted Child, Consider This, Teaching from Rest, and For the Children's Sake. There are many great ideas in all of these books, but, for me, creating a sense of wonder is what has stood out to me as a need in our own homeschool.

“The great educator Charlotte Mason says that when we put children in direct contact with great ideas and get out of the way, "Teachers shall teach less and scholars shall learn more." Any homeschooling parent who has observed her own children for any length of time will know this to be true. Real learning happens when our children wrestle directly with great ideas- not as a result of our repackaging those great ideas, but when they interact with the ideas themselves.” ― Sarah Mackenzie, Teaching from Rest: A Homeschooler's Guide to Unshakable Peace

Luckily, since we're so close to Tulsa and OKC, we have many opportunities to expose our children to the arts.

In addition to our study of great artists, music theory, great composers, and drawing fundaments we study on community day with Classical Conversations, these are some upcoming events we'll be adding to our art studies for this school year. My children are 13, 11, and 6, and we'll all participate as a family in these activities.

1. Matisse: In His Time

We're reading Matisse, Famous Artists Series. We may practice some of his techniques at home. After we view the exhibit, I'll let the kids select a reproduction of their choice for us to hang in our home.

2. Peanuts, Naturally

Since this exhibit is being held at Price Tower which was designed by Frank LLoyd Wright, we'll first read Who Was Frank Lloyd Wright and follow that up with a book about Charles Schulz titled Sparky.

3. Performing Arts-Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters

Before we visit this performance in Tulsa, we'll read the book of the same title. We've attended a few of these performances at the Tulsa PAC, and they are wonderful!

How are you studying the arts this year?