Creating Homeschool Fine Arts Credits for High School

Worried about creating and planning a fine arts credit for your high schooler? Learn what worked for my 3 oldest kids (plus my nieces and nephews) to complete their fine arts credits and get 10 different options for your high schooler.

As my oldest daughter neared the end of her middle school years I started looking into what high school classes she should take. 

Some of the choices were obvious:  Algebra, English, and American history

But I was concerned about her electives and high school fine arts classes and more specifically, my ability to successfully teach them. 

If you are freaking out in general about your ability to homeschool for high school, please read this post first!

She was in a drama club, but I wanted to list that as an activity on her transcript and not a class. 

So, we had to get creative and come up with some options. 

Here is a list of the high school fine arts classes my kids (and my nieces and nephew) have taken so far.  This list might help you brainstorm ideas for your own student.

Side note: Even though our state only requires 1 Fine Arts credit for graduation, my sister and I both felt that it would be best for them to have 2 or 3 full credits, in order to have a well-rounded education. Most of these classes were counted as a half credit, so our high schoolers usually had 1 or 2 half credit classes each of the four years. We found it was best to do more “easy” credits the same years as some of their harder classes to help balance out their class load.

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Options for Fine Arts Classes at the High School Level

Applied Music: Piano or Guitar I-IV

This class consisted of weekly piano (or guitar) lessons and the associated practicing five or more times per week.  We counted it for 1/2 credit each year during high school. Of course, you could substitute any instrument that your child wishes to play.

Oil Painting Class

My oldest was lucky enough to do this class through our 4-H club with a local artist who volunteered her time. They meet three or four times a month at the artist’s house and created two oil paintings over the school year. This gave my daughter the skills to continue painting with oils as a hobby. She even ended up selling some of her painting for cash during college.

Music History Class

This class studied composers and musical forms from the Middle Ages through Contemporary Music.  A music history notebook was completed as well as listening to a variety of musical styles.  We counted it for 1/2 credit.

Introduction to Photography Class

This basic course in photography offered experiences with a point-and-shoot digital camera (mainly because it is a better camera than the one on their phones).  We explored various camera settings to offer greater creative and technical control.  We went through the books The Creative Photography Handbook by Lee Frost and 4-H Guide to Digital Photography by Daniel Johnson.  We counted it for 1/2 credit.

Five of the cousins have done this class and entered their best photos into yearly, local photo contests. Three of them had photos selected for the local electric co-op calendar and received money for their photo.

Watercolors Class

A different student than the one that took Oil Painting wanted to learn to do watercolors. This class explored the medium of watercolor by using step by step instructions to achieve a variety of effects. We used Art School – A Complete Painters Course by Patricia Mohahan, Patricia Seligman, & Wendy Clouse.  We counted it for 1/2 credit.

Impressionist Artists (Art History)

I made up this extensive Art History notebooking style class for my daughter that wanted to learn more about the Impressionist style of painting. To create a full quarter (8-week) study, add in the additional activities listed in the post. For example, your student can read some artist biographies, write an in-depth artist report, watch a movie about Vincent Van Gogh, play an Impressionist game, and other activities to create a more extensive high school elective class. Depending on how much time your student puts into this study, I would count it either as a half credit, or a quarter credit.

Sound and Light Board Operator

My oldest son volunteered at church one time when he was about 12 to run the power point presentation during the sermon. This involved hitting the space bar on the keyboard at the correct times. He enjoyed helping and went on to learn how to do the video for the Facebook Lives with multiple cameras. From there, he was taught how to run the sound and light boards for services. This required going to two weekly rehearsals, plus two or three worship services a week. This could have been counted on his transcript as volunteering, but he had plenty of that already through his other activities, so I counted it as a half credit total for all four years since he worked his way up through the ranks of the different jobs.

If you don’t attend a church with that type of equipment, I’d look into a community or high school theater to see if they would be willing to teach your child how to work that equipment. If your student really wants to do a deep dive into video/audio/lights, I’d recommend watching this weekly Learn Sight and Sound.

Set Design

One of my daughters had a lot of friends who were involved in the local homeschool high school theater club. They put on two or three major productions for the community each year. But she just didn’t feel confident enough to be on the stage, despite her friends’ encouragement.

She was much happier painting. The theater director was a very wise lady and put my daughter to work backstage creating sets. She still got to see her friends during rehearsals, and she learned carpentry skills, how set design works, and much more. I counted it as a half credit total for all four years.

If you don’t have a local community theater that takes high school volunteers, you might try volunteering at local Vacation Bible Schools in the summertime; they often need to create a set for their stage.

Stop Motion Film Making

My nephew really didn’t want to do any fine arts credits for high school. He is much more interested in math, coding, and engineering. So my sister created a Stop Motion Film Making class for him using LEGOs, a camera, and a tripod. You can learn more about it here (it’s our most popular class schedule!).

Other Fine Arts High School Credit Options

There are countless other classes you could offer your student as a fine arts credits during high school like starting their own band, being a twirler for the high school marching band, or leading a song time each week at a local preschool or nursing home.  Simply use your students interests as a starting point and expand on it.

I hope these Fine Arts High School Credit Options serve as some inspiration for you.

Learn more about choosing your high schooler’s homeschool classes here.