If you wonder why I encourage art so much, it's not that I am a great artist or really into art. It's because God blessed me with a late talker. At three years old this child wasn't talking anywhere near where she should be. I knew she wasn't autistic and seemed normal in every other way except for delayed speech. My mother-in-law shared that all her children were late-talkers and even at age seven some couldn't spit out the word "lemonade". I decided to wait, but sometimes in public I could see the dismay on other's faces as they tried to talk to her. Some even wondered why I didn't get help. I wondered, "Help?" "Why?" There was nothing wrong with my child except that her brain hadn't kicked in yet and I didn't want her labeled unless it was serious. I then read the analogy of the rose. Not all roses bloom at the exact same time and often the late-bloomers are the most beautiful. I was then led to a book by Thomas Sowell titled, "Late-Talking Children" and his sequel "The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late" (Some writings say Einstein didn't speak until age four) . His own son didn't talk until age four and it took many years for him to "catch-up" to the same language abilities of other children. I learned about the right-brain, left-brain and how one side of the brain is very logical and many good Engineers were late-talkers. This is probably because they were so logical and possibly excelled at math. The trick for me was how to get the creative part of my child's brain to "turn-on"! This is done with art and music. I decided I would try to become a more hands-on mother and within two weeks my child was speaking more words.

This also brings me to the point of putting a plug in for homeschooling! *S* If this wonderful child that God has so graced our family with had been to pre-school or public school she would have been labeled. Of course, they would say it was for her own good. I went that course with our older daughter who refused to talk in school and was a late-talker herself (but not to the same degree as this child). I find myself wondering why every child is expected to read at such a young age, and so many are labeled "late" when in actuality they are right on time. Does every child stop nursing at the magical age of one? Does every child use the real potty on their second birthday? Why is every child expected to be talking at a certain age? If a child has a problem I believe mothers know it. You hear over and over from mother's who had to tell the doctor they felt something was wrong with their child. A doctor only sees the child occasionally and their diagnosis is necessary if something is wrong. In our world the public school has portrayed themselves as smarter than most parents, and therefore more capable. This isn't true, and as parents we should fight this mindset.

For our music and art notebooks we will be choosing a composer or artist for a historical period and study his life, music and art. I have a an award-winning set about classical composers called, Classical Kids. When we studied Beethoven we listened to his music while a child narrated his past letters to his uncle begging him for relief from his new tenant's music. His new tenant was Beethoven who was deaf and couldn't hear the music, but could feel the beats if he sawed the legs off a piano and played it on the floor. The boy ends up understanding Beethoven and we learned a lot through hearing about his life from a child's view and the adult uncle. You can use the library and study the whole set, or order the teacher's guides. Listening to classical music is therapeutic for the
brain and helps students learn better.

Choose a new composer and piece of art each month. I read about one family that bought a small frame and then purchased postcards of the artwork they desired to study (from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, or again you could print this off using the image finder at google). They placed the artwork in the frame and placed it on the child's night table or bureau. After a month of viewing this picture the child was able to see the details and understand the painting better. You could then place the picture in your notebook and have the child write about what they learned about the artist and their observations.

I have read about classrooms that play a game titled, "Art Detective". I purchased a kit by the same title and we enjoyed trying to figure out which piece of art was the fake. I found a fun site online that plays this game and teaches children about spotting the fake painting:

ART NOTEBOOK

Homeschool Art

Kinderart/Monet's Garden

Lots of coloring and art creativity pages

Art resources for creative individuals from beginner to advanced

Art curriculum

Art Education Page for K-12

1000's of Museums - MuseumStuff.com

Chronological Art Lessons:

MUSIC NOTEBOOK

Music flashcards online

Nice online orchestra with links and sounds

Art Questions to Research

Music Questions to Research