Fine Arts High School Credit
If your kid plays an instrument, fine arts credits are easy to put on the transcript. Weekly music lessons, daily practice, and the occasional recital add up to many credit-worthy hours. Even if your kid is just enjoying it for a hobby, the college fine arts requirement is usually quite manageable.
But for that kid who is NOT musical those fine arts credits can be more of a challenge to figure out. Some ideas (and can be achieved over the summer months) include:
ART
This can often take the place of music, and many kids have at least SOME ability to create something that looks passably like something else. And hey, call it modern art and then it doesn’t even have to resemble anything!
THEATER
Many teens would love a chance to get on stage—let’s channel that drama somewhere else than around the house, hello—and it’s not all musicals out there (i.e. they don’t necessarily have to be able to sing). Look into your local theater groups for chances to audition for a role or even to work on sets or lighting.
DANCE
If your kid is into tap or ballet or even hip-hop, maybe it’s time to start calling it fine arts credit rather than Physical Education. Most colleges don’t actually care about Physical Education, anyway!
AN ‘EASIER’ INSTRUMENT
Some kids who can’t (or won’t) play a more complex instrument will be more interested and/or able to play something simpler like the ukelele, which is actually an “in” thing to do right now (whoda thunk?). They can probably teach themselves via YouTube videos
FIELD TRIPS
Visits to museums or concert attendance are a form of fine arts instruction that is more passive but still valuable. Your kid doesn’t have to DO fine arts, they can STUDY fine arts, instead. Expose them to whatever you’ve got in your local community, be it an art museum or symphony concerts or off-Broadway plays. Who knows, maybe your teen who loves to write could become a theater critic, all because you exposed them to great (or not-so-great) plays during high school! You can actually take a tour via online now since all the museums went virtual in 2020.
PROJECTS
Along the lines of studying rather than performing, your teen can do research projects relating to fine arts, such as papers or presentations about specific composers or artists or performers. Add these to those museum or concert field trips to build in an evaluation component, so you can give a grade with some objective data behind it.
MUSIC OR ART APPRECIATION CLASSES
All of the above options may just sound like too much work for YOU. If so, then look for a music or art appreciation course that has already been created. These will provide structure to help your teen learn the important things about eras of music and art, specific pieces and composers/artists—you know, all that good stuff that you have no clue about—while you don’t have to lift much of a finger.
MUSIC THEORY
Music theory is an academic exercise that requires no musical skill, just the ability to listen and count. That doesn’t mean it’s not sometimes quite complicated, so don’t assume that it is too easy; it is definitely another option for any kid who prefers pencil and paper to strings or keys for obtaining those high school fine arts credits.