Visiting Van Gogh

Since we are studying van Gogh this term, I knew we should try and get down to the Art Institute to see the new exhibit (Van Gogh's Bedrooms).  I discovered that as a homeschooling teacher, I receive free admission any day that I want! And kids 14 and under are always free. I didn't know about this great deal and now plan to look at the other city museums more carefully. (If you live in the Chicago area and are interested, all you need to do is request an educator's pass and be prepared to show a valid homeschooling ID. They will still ask you to wait in the regular line to get a ticket but the confirmation email will be your free pass through. The special exhibits are not free but well worth the price of admission, especially since I was taking along two children.) 

I didn't know quite what to expect - if this exhibit was overdone or too simple- but I must say they did a great job showcasing the 3 bedroom paintings (FYI- they are the same bedroom, just different variations) and the overall exhibit was very informative. It included a timeline of his life, other artwork by artists he was inspired by (Millet was showcased which was special since we just finished learning about him!), and a lot of van Gogh's other pieces were there also. They also had a few original letters on display that van Gogh had written to his brother, Theo. The whole exhibit left me feeling sad. He lived a transient life and never knew the success his paintings would bring. One of the wall exhibits mentioned the fact that he only lived to be 37 years old and yet he lived in 37 different places- constantly moving and looking for meaning. The theme of home and sense of place- or lack thereof- was very sad to me.

Despite the sadness I experienced, the girls really enjoyed it and thoroughly critiqued his 3 bedroom paintings. :) After we spent an hour with Van Gogh, the girls really wanted to see the Throne Rooms, so that's where we spent most of the rest of our time. It was a great trip and one I hope the girls remember for a long time.

So, in honor of our field trip, this week I set the girls to painting their own Van Gogh pictures. Louisa chose to paint "Starry Night" and Kailyn chose a version of the "Vase with Sunflowers." I took a picture of them:

Beethoven Composer Study

We are studying Ludwig van Beethoven for this term and have really enjoyed his music so far. He has such a vast repertoire of music to listen to that it is hard to choose a favorite album! We have been listening to this album off Amazon during breakfast, art times or quiet times:

In addition, we are slowly reading through this book by Opal Wheeler:

 

These next books/movies are what we are planning to finish out the term reading and listening to:

This book from our library.

This interactive book that we might consider buying if we like it enough!

This book that introduces the symphony to children using Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.

This book about the Heroic Symphony that also teaches about history!

This movie from the Classical Kids series.

I also came across a very large PDF download from homeschoolshare.com that we might take a few pages from to round out our study.

So that's about it for Beethoven! We are really enjoying learning more about him and have a greater appreciation for his musicianship knowing more about his hearing loss/deafness. What an amazing gift he was given.

Beethoven's penny

I had to include this picture of the girls listening to Beethoven's "Rage Over a Lost Penny" piano piece.

I asked them to listen and see if Beethoven ever found his lost penny... their conclusion was yes, he did find it. This is now one of Louisa's favorite Beethoven pieces.

If you want to listen, here is a link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFPkfRoe9jA