Fun family activities I enjoy introducing to my children include beautiful classical music and art. I believe that this exposure will lead them to a lifelong love of finding beauty in the fine arts.

Unfortunately, today’s teens are offered less-than-desirable selections by our popular culture. Therefore, I wish to give my children family home activities that build a solid foundation so that they may make wise choices as they grow into adults. 

Strike up the Band

I began our journey into family ideas related to the arts several years ago when I decided to read biographies of the great composers to my children. Each week, we concentrated on a different composer. We would read the composer’s biography and listen to cassette tapes of his or her music throughout the week.

Most of the tapes and books were borrowed from the library as the cost of purchasing our own selections would have been prohibitive. Since my children were very young at the time, we concentrated on simple books with the intention of introducing deeper biographies as they matured. This intensive study provided a strong base for their current and future studies.

I continue to reinforce our studies into classical music by playing it often in our home and occasionally checking out a new biography from the library.

I have made it a point to purchase "Music Master and Classical Kids" cassettes for the children’s birthdays and for Christmas; they make great stocking stuffers. These tapes introduce the classics and their composers in a fun format that is easy to understand.

Whenever we can, we take advantage of free concerts in the park offered by our city, as well as concerts of spiritual music at local churches. Tapes and CDs are wonderful, but there is nothing like a live concert to inspire one’s heart.

Look at That!

Art appreciation is another subject that I love sharing with the children. I am no art connoisseur and, as a result, the children and I learn together.

Laura Berquist recommends "Mommy, It’s a Renoir" in her book, "Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum." I enjoy using this program. It can be expensive if the whole package is bought at once, so I only purchase the steps that I will use for the year.

The program starts simply so that you can share the great masterpieces with even the youngest student, while the later steps keep the more advanced student challenged. Each step comes with postcard-size art reproductions.

By encouraging out-of-town family members and friends to send art postcards, you can enrich the program at no cost and have the added benefit of keeping in touch with loved ones.

I also do my best to make great art a part of our everyday lives. I cannot afford beautifully framed masterpieces in my home, but I can find thrifty alternatives. I often find pictures of classic paintings in magazines and on the Internet.

Pictures can be cut out and laminated or covered with clear contact paper. The children enjoy carrying them around and displaying them in their rooms. The cutouts can also be attached to magnetic sheets with adhesive backing (available at craft stores) to make refrigerator magnets.

Poster-size reproductions can be purchased from your local art museum or by writing to the National Gallery of Art (see below). The larger reproductions allow you to point out the wonderful detail that an artist puts into his or her creation.

A search on the Internet will provide you with all kinds of art galleries. Paintings are easily downloadable to your hard drive. 

If you enjoy watching PBS, do not forget Sister Wendy Beckett. Her show, "The Story of a Painting," is inspiring, entertaining, and educational. Beckett’s enthusiasm for great works of art is contagious.

Bringing Art Home

I encourage you to make the arts part of your home. If you are homschooling and feel that you do not have room in your schedule for another subject, please consider combining subjects.

Consider combining fine art and religion. You can discuss how a particular artist’s paintings increased in beauty as his or her faith in God increased or how a composer, such as Bach, dedicated all of his musical compositions to the Lord.

In studying history, you can look into the affect that the arts had on a particular era or, inversely, how the events of the time affected the arts. In studying computer technology, you could download MIDI files of classical music. (Visit Classical MIDI Connection.)

Just listening to classical music in the background as your children study and work on projects will make a difference. In fact, it has been said that Baroque music (Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, etc.) enhances memory retention, an additional benefit.

Next time you are at the public library, check out some classical cassette tapes and a few books on art appreciation. I promise, it will be worth your while!

Here are some resources:

National Gallery of Art
Publication Mail Order Dept.
2000B S. Club Dr.
Landover, MD 20785

PBS
(800) 645-4PBS



Maureen Wittmann is a homeschooling mother and freelance writer from Lansing, Michigan.