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Right-Brained Wednesdays

I am really looking forward to Wednesdays this year. Wednesdays are reserved for Literature, Music and Art! The right side of my brain tends to be the driving force in my life. Needless to say, I am most excited about this day of the week! (P.S. I am married to a hard core left-brainer. God knew I needed him and he needed me!)

Last week I finished making our "Composer Notebooking journals". Then I went to the library to check out everything I could find on BACH, including cd's. He is the first composer we study this year. I always play classical music during the day and the kids have grown to LOVE it. Bach has to grow on you a little. Not everything is soothing. One minute you feel as if you have walked into a haunted house! The next minute it feels like you may have stepped into giant cathedral. Bach is all about the POWER of the music. You can feel it in your bones!

I play the notes as they are written, but it is God who makes the music. - J.S. Bach

As far as Art goes, I have planned six weeks of crafts. My kids love crafts! Come on Moms, don't say "I'm just not into crafts and I don't like the mess!" I used to say the same thing. Your kids deserve a good craft...AT LEAST...twice a month. You can handle the mess! They will remember the craft you did with toilet paper rolls before they remember the chapter you taught on China and the Shang Dynasty (this is on our lesson plan for History. ha!)! Live a little! Be creative! Actually, just google the word "crafts" and you will be amazed at what you find. If you need help, let me know. I have a ton of craft websites I use and the supplies are cheap. Most supplies you probably have at home already.

If you are not quite ready to brave the "craft world", you can focus on Art. We are starting with this amazing book I purchased on  Impressionism. You can find it here, along with many others to choose from. Joyce Raimondo is an award-winning author and artist. I plan on getting all of her books to add to our collection. I look at her books and instantly want to be creative! Next week we will paint with pencil erasers! How fun is that?! So there you have it! Our right-brained Wednesdays should be a hit!
Lived and written by Amanda Hayes at 10:36 AM 
crafts. ick. i'm the woman whose children, in a Konos 'crafty' moment, sewed the medieval banner to the floor. it is my goal to get the rest of my kids to graduation without doing one more craft. kidding.

as for music, Bach is beautiful. it's Beethoven who can jangle my nerves. ;) but I agree with you. our method it to play the same composer for a week before we switch so the kids can develop a familiarity with him. this week was Tchaichovsky. next week...stay tuned...maybe Vivaldi...

August 26, 2011 at 9:37 PM 
Sewed to the floor! HA!!!!!!

We are doing each composer for two weeks. I get two weeks of Bach. I look forward to the second week when we listen to the Cello Suites! We do Vivaldi on week five and six! I have Tchaikovsky saved for December for obvious reasons! I break him out the day after Halloween. I LOVE The Nutcracker!!!

August 26, 2011 at 9:46 PM