Art in the Homeschool

Taking time for art in the homeschool each week breathes life and spirit into your child. Allowing this time to explore great artists and different art mediums gives your precious children a more rounded education that promotes creativity, problem solving, and language skills.

Not sure where to start? This collection of blog posts, tutorials, and art related reviews will give you some inspiration and encouragement to get started with art education or to enhance your on -going program of art appreciation. The authors here at The Curriculum Choice always have some great ideas and thoughts!

 

Stephanie:

Create Color Like Georgia O’Keeffe: Color Gradient Scale Lesson-“Before you start let each child choose the flower they want to draw. You can use real flowers or you can use O’Keeffe’s paintings. Once they have decided what they are drawing ask them what the main color of the flowers is. That is the color/color family they will be using to make their color gradient scale. Choose six variations of the same or close to the same color.”

Grandma Moses for Kids: I usually share a story, quote or other interesting info about that artist. For Grandma Moses, I found the perfect quote from her which inspired this tutorial: “I paint from the top down. From the sky, then the mountains, then the hills, then the houses, then the cattle, and then the people.”~Grandma Moses

Invent like da Vinci: An Inkblot Art Lesson-I am sure there is a psychology lesson in this somewhere. But I am more interested in the creative possibilities that these patterns can inspire in the inventive child. What will my students create with them? What inventive ideas will result? This lesson was inspired by Inkblot by Margaret Peot. You can read my full review here on The Curriculum Choice.

Must Have Items for the Artistic Homeschool– It’s not so easy for me to know what science related homeschool materials I should get for my science minded child. The thought occurred to me that there is a homeschool mom out there with a gifted in art child for which providing art materials and resources may not seem so easy. One thing that we all want to give our kids as homeschoolers is the opportunity to excel in their abilities. That’s the beauty of homeschooling! One way you can begin encouraging your artistic child is with wonderful materials. It’s doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive and you can build up your materials over time.

Study Science Through Art– In our home creative learners abide. There is no end to the celebration of creativity. You can probably imagine that the arts are a huge part of our homeschooling. Even if your not particularly artistic you can still apply the arts to your science program. I have found art to be particularly compatible with science.

Cindy West:

As a Charlotte Mason homeschooler, Cindy West practices monthly artist studies in her homeschool.  She has put together resource pages for many of the artists they’ve studied that include links to artist biographies and their artwork, as well as hands-on art lessons to go-along.

She has written a detailed post about how to do Charlotte Mason style artist study, too.

Cindy’s family has had such fun and created beautiful works of art using A Simple Start in Chalk Pastels by our very own Tricia Hodges.  Chalk pastels are so easy!

Don’t forget handicrafts as a form of art!

 

 Barbara McCoy:

Sketch Tuesday: I host a weekly art activity where I give a topic, your family sketches and sends me the images, then I create a slideshow for all to see on my blog. Here is an example of a slideshow.

Art Question Cards – Getting Started With Art Appreciation: “Art appreciation that includes picture study is a simple way to let your children enjoy lots of great paintings in a non-threatening way. There are ways of making the experience low stress and enjoyable. The trick is to ask questions about the painting that have no real right or wrong answers.” Includes a free printable.

 Using Google Art Project for Artist Study: “Google Art Project is a marvelous and rich source for viewing and learning more about great art.”

Homeschool Art Appreciation – Charlotte Mason High School Examples: “I thought it might be helpful to share the exact steps we use in accomplishing both courses in our homeschool.”

Renaissance Art Printable: “I found a mini-unit stuck away in my archives that I would love to share this week. I updated a bit of the information and it is all ready for you to download, print and share with your family.”

How to Plan Art Appreciation for Co-Ops: “There are just a few steps to go through to make a simple and effective plan for your art appreciation: Set goals, plan manageable steps, build on art appreciation, and then celebrate your successes.”Child Size Masterpieces Art Review: “Child-size Masterpieces are sets of over-sized art postcards that come in an over-sized book printed on thick cardstock….On the backs of the cards are the title of the painting, the artist’s name, and a brief description of the art time period.”

 

Amy Maze:

Kindergarten Arts…Take Two: “Part of a 5 day series on how our kindergarten year is adjusting for the new year.  This post covers how we do art, music, and fine arts!”

How I Teach Art Appreciation to Preschoolers: “Children are never too young to learn!  Sometimes subjects just have to be modified to their abilities and level of understanding.  Come see how I am gently introducing the fine arts to my preschooler and kindergartener.”

Five Reasons Artist Study Should be a Part of your Classical Education: “A guest post at Living and Learning at Home from Barb McCoy, so you know it’s got to be good!  She explains why studying fine arts goes hand-in-hand with a classical education.”

Heidi:

Sculpting Wire Like Norman the Doorman: Norman the door-mouse’s hobby is trying to create something pleasing or beautiful.  Inspired by this delightful picture book we tried our hand at wire sculpting.

Supplies to Keep on Hand to Encourage Creativity: I like to keep a cupboard stocked with supplies that encourage creativity!  A lot of art education can happen by letting my kids loose with on-hand art supplies.

Art Projects Inspired by Picture Books: This is my review here on The Curriculum Choice for this book filled with ideas for art projects that are inspired by picture books.

Kendra at Aussie Pumpkin Patch:

American Art History — We absolutely love this curriculum & my kids still ask to do it! Step by step drawing instructions, art bing, and fun stories to read all while learning.

Cow Art — We had fun making these crazy cow pictures for an art display our local Home Ed group did for a local library. They were a huge with our kids and caused a lot of giggles.

Art Project For Kids — Not feeling incredibly artistic I enjoy following Art Project For Kids on Pinterest and keeping an eye on the author’s blog. She has very simple projects for a variety of ages which never seem to fail to please around here. Often times there are step by step instructions to go with each project as well!

Aussie Art Book For Kids — This sweet little story book tells the tale of two mice who live in the Melbourne Art Museum and thus you get to see a variety of famous pieces of art as the store of the two mice unfolds.

Jen Dunlap:

Doing and/or teaching art is not a strong point in our homeschool, but I certainly do want my children to have a good appreciation and understanding of art.  I try to add it in when I can, and I have some very simple ways of doing that in our home, here is How I Teach Fine Arts in a Large Family

Betsy at BJ’s Homeschool:

As an eclectic homeschooler, Betsy integrates art and hands on learning into everything that they do.  She has pulled from Charlotte Mason and other sources to provide a variety of arts activities for her daughter through the years.

Starting with knitting in first grade, she has incorporated such hands on art every year, such as knitting, sewing, weaving, water color painting, and clay. Creative expression is such a wonderful way to add to the learning, in every subject!

Oak Meadow First Grade – This curriculum uses beautiful drawings to teach the shapes of the alphabet, and stories and drawings of math gnomes, to teach basic math.  It also includes “how to’s” for art, including how to teach your little ones to knit, and paint.

Draw, Write Now – Learn handwriting skills while learning to draw, simple shapes and animals.  Step-by-step instructions are included, and are very child friendly!

Tricia at Hodgepodge:

100+ Free Art Tutorials for All Ages – We love pastels. Nana has taught us to appreciate how beautiful and easy it is to use them. We even keep them close so we can use them for our nature journal entries. I’ve had a few questions about what pastels our children use and where to purchase them. So, I went to the expert – Nana! Below is a suggested list of resources. And further down is our list of chalk pastel and acrylic lessons.

You ARE an Artist Art Curriculum for All Ages – “This is one of THE best art programs that I’ve seen for making art fun and so simple, and helping each child experience the joy of creating something new.” ~Amanda Bennett

Art for All Ages – 10 Days of Tutorials and Tips – Here at Hodgepodge, we are on a mission to share just how easy and fun chalk pastel art is! We welcome you to this 10 day series of Art for All Ages: Tips and Tutorials. Nana (Lucia Hames) and I will be sharing all sorts of free tutorials, art techniques and encouragement. What we share here you can use for all your children – and your fellow adults alike!

You CAN Be An Artist 10 Day series – All of us are born with talent…an inbred wiring to create. As parents, grandparents and teachers, tapping this talent and helping students reach a rich satisfaction with creation of art is our goal!  If you pick up a brush, pen, pastel chalk…or use your finger for glorious finger painting (which is a child’s most favorite way to paint) you become an artist.

A lovely afternoon of Art and Music – free lessons brought to you by Mary Prather of Homegrown Learners and Tricia Hodges of Hodgepodge.

Art in Our Archives

• Inkblot by Margaret Peot
• Beautiful Cursive and Art Lessons from Classical Conversations
• Art Projects Inspired by Picture Books Using Storybook Art
• Home Art Studio for Your Homeschool
• A Simple Start in Chalk Pastels Art Curriculum Review
• Hearts and Trees Prairie Kit
• Art Lab for Kids: 52 Creative Adventures in Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Paper and Mixed Media
• Meet the Masters Review
• Harmony Fine Arts Plans for Art and Music Appreciation
• Birdcage Press Art Ditto Game
• Art with a Purpose

 

Review Team Features

• Our Curriculum Choice Fine Arts and Art Projects Pinterest Boards
• Have you enjoyed this special post from our review authors? Our Curriculum Choice review team features a topic monthly. You can see all that our authors have shared on electives, math, curriculum choices and more under Review Team Features.

-Hosted by Barbara McCoy of Harmony Art Mom and originally published February 2014