All Things Lovely- Week 4 for VCF

So glad you came back for our last week of The Virtual Curriculum Fair!  It has been a hoping place with some great posts from my blogging friends.  A big THANK YOU shout out to Susan from Homeschooling Hearts and Minds for hosting this for the last few years.

If you missed any of my other posts and would like to take a peek back, here they are-
Week 1- The Power in a Word
Week 2- Math and Science, anyone?
 and week 3- The Whos, Wheres and Whys

This weeks theme- Seeking Beauty: the Arts and Everything that Brings Beauty to Our World

What a fun place to end- All Things Lovely!  Here we go!

Art- I am going to just be honest- this is a weakness for me.  I am NOT an artist and I am not very crafty.  Messy is not my thing.  Nice, huh?  But, we have found a few programs that I really do like and have managed to use on a fairly regular basis.
ARTistic Pursuits- No matter what level you need, they have a book for you!  Easy and affordable.

At a high school level I do have my children do a semester of art appreciation.  They study 13 artists and their works that I have chosen, using notebooking techniques and several books that we have found through the years.  They include-
*The Children's Book of Art, Rosie Dickens
*Drawing with Children, Mona Brookes
*Michelangelo and Leonardo daVinci, Diane Stanley


Music- We incorporate a semester of music appreciation as well when the kids are in high school, but, again,  it is a  program that I have put together myself.  I will share a few books with you that we have loved using-
* Lives of the Musicians, Kathleen Krull
*Stories of the Great Composers, Montgomery and Hinson
*The Story of the Orchestra, Robert Levine

Kinderbach is the program we have grown to love for younger kids. We spent 6 weeks reviewing the iPad app last year and were sold on it.  CJ loved playing on the keyboard and doing the activities. Currently, we are reviewing the computer based program and are excited to share that with you soon.  In the meantime I encourage you to visit their website and check out the free lessons.



Foreign Languages- This is where my heart is.  I have always loved listening to other languages and one of my greatest regrets is not paying more attention to my Spanish teacher in high school.  Now that I have a son born in Guatemala, I am passionate about making sure we honor his heritage and birthmom by encouraging him to be bilingual.

 So what we are using these days?

Homeschool Spanish Academy- Yep, you guessed it, another review program, but this is a winner!  My son actually Skypes with a teacher in Guatemala!  So out of my comfort zone at first and a little pricier than other programs, but worth every minute and every penny.  I cannot speak more highly of it and the teachers.

Classical Academy Press- Song School Spanish and Spanish for Children.  You can not go wrong with this company.  We used  the Spanish For Children Levels 1 and 2 and my daughter breezed through three levels of Rosetta Stone on no time.  She is hoping to CLEP out of Spanish soon.

Spanish for You!  is another great program.  If you are looking for a solid program with great lesson plans that you can use for multiple grades, you will want to check this program out.  Think more of a unit study type program, with not just vocabulary but the mechanics of the language as well.

And yes, I do use many of these programs simultaneously.  I am crazy, that way! ;)

A few additional programs to take a look at- Power Glide, Rosetta Stone and Speekee TV.

See, All Things Lovely!  

I am one of those moms that follows lesson plans for the most part.  I like columns and lists and checking off boxes.  Reading- check.  writing- check.  Arithmetic- check.
But I also know that all things lovely add such fun and excitement to our day, that they are things that we should not get too busy to miss.  I hope you too will enjoy some fun along your homeschooling path!

Blessings,



Enjoy so many other lovely posts this week with my fellow bloggers! (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