Many homeschool parents will have at least one subject in which they feel less confident teaching than others.
For our family, while we appreciate visual arts and encourage learning artists and their works….the fact remains that actual instruction of art techniques is fairly weak. In comes Home Art Studio DVDs – help for families like us!
What is Home Art Studio?
Art educator Lindsay Volin has created a set of instructional videos for grades K-5, all designed for home-based instruction.
Very easy to follow, these DVDs provide step-by-step instruction on a variety of age-based projects, with plenty of room and encouragement for the child’s creativity. Instead of focusing solely on one area, such as drawing or painting, various visual arts are presented, including the arts and crafts type.
Each DVD contains about 14-18 projects depending on grade level. There are PDF lesson plans to download as well. These are quite detailed and include:
- a short introduction
- materials needed for the lesson
- national art standards covered (in lesson)
- any tips or extras for parents
- vocabulary to review
- and more!
Our Experience with Home Art Studio
We received kindergarten and 4th grade DVDs, and my children set to immediately watching most of the projects in one big swoop! Ms. Volin is incredibly engaging, speaks directly to the student in a pleasant voice, and keeps the entire lesson interesting with little tidbits of info along the way.
The info can be about a particular artist, relate to another subject such as science, or an encouragement to see art in the child’s everyday world.
I really appreciated the videos show top-down shots of the projects as well (as in picture below). The camera varies from the teacher talking to the student, to looking over her shoulder, to top-down and back again!
making an owl collage
Home Art Studio: Kindergarten
The instruction is complete from start to finished product for 17 different art projects. While Ms. Volin will demonstrate each step carefully, students’ work will naturally take more time than the videos. Most can be accomplished in one day (an hour or so) for a young child, though others do require waiting patiently (ex: something needs to dry before moving on).
In kindergarten, children work with oil pastels, watercolors, tempera paints, crayons, markers, construction paper and more. You can find more info and a sample video on kindergarten — also check out the variety of projects completed at this level!
What my kiddo had to say: “I like Ms. Volin! She tells us many things about artists and art, and she is funny sometimes too! My favorite project was…well, I don’t know. I like them all!” 🙂
learning one-point perspective
Home Art Studio: Fourth Grade
Definitely more complex, these 4th grade videos still offer step-by-step instruction. I did notice the instruction is a bit quicker paced than the lower level, but students are more capable as well — and that’s what the ‘pause’ button is for!
Fourth grade offers ideas on one-point perspective (shown above), highlighting and how to use shadows, radial design, collage and much more.
What my girl had to say: “In this lesson I learned that one-point perspective is all about distance. How objects close to you are bigger than objects farther away. Ms. Volin said that one-point perspective is part of drawing realistically. In the Crazy Cheeseburger lesson, I had fun finding stuff all around the house just like she did! These are fun lessons!”
And what’s the crazy cheeseburger you ask? Well…
yes, there’s grass & granola in there!
Final Thoughts on Home Art Studio
Because we were not looking for instruction in only one area, this set of DVDs fit perfectly. The projects are age-appropriate and extra information presented on general art or artists informative, but not overwhelming.
Projects can done whenever you choose! DVDs can be purchased individually and supplies will be found at a local craft or art store. Since many supplies are used for a variety of grade levels, families can share from child to child.
We were very pleased with Homes Art Studio — highly recommended!
Enter to Win at Curriculum Choice AND at Hodgepodge
More reviews by fellow Curriculum Choice authors:
- Heather and her girls of Upside Down Homeschooling enjoyed Grade 2. Her review last November.
- Tricia is reviewing Grade 3 she uses with all five of her children – and has a giveaway going at Hodgepodge as well!
- Watch for another Home Art Studio review at Curriculum Choice this spring!
Enter to win a complete set for your family. Ms. Volin has been so very generous and is offering a full set – all grades – to one Curriculum Choice reader. In addition, Tricia is reviewing and giving away a full set at Hodgepodge too! Just follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter widget below. And be sure to head on over to enter at Hodgepodge too!
{post written by Daniele of Domestic Serenity :: homeschooling mama of 5 living among cows and corn in central PA}
Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett: Your Passport to Learning Adventures!
I’d love a copy! My kids would totally enjoy this.
So excited to learn about this great product! I would love to add this to our curriculum.
I incorporate colour using different mediums every day (which is easy when you have two under 4)
Would love to win this for my kids. I have zero artistic ability-we almost never do art-this would be a huge help!!
Right now we do not make art important at all. My son had leukemia followed by a bone marrow transplant, so we are trying to keep our heads above water with just the 3 Rs. I would love to win this to add a little more fun to our schooling.
These videos look great! I think my son would absolutely love them!
I would love to add this program. I am so art challenged and all my children LOVE it. We desperately need inspiration!
Wonderful review’s! After reading your review and Tricia’s at Hodgepodge, I would really love to use these dvd’s in my home school!! The Widget gave me this question: How do you make art important in your homeschool? Well, I have always included Art in our homeschool, at times I have included it more than at other times. Besides hands-On projects, we also include Artist and Picture study. Though the main thought about Art that I try to impress upon my kids, is that ART is a very individual thing. I tell them that when they create it, it is their own creation so they should not compare it to anyone else’s. I tell them that what they think is Art may not be to someone else. I tell them they can appreciate the effort, or skill that it took someone to creat, if if they do not like the artisit end results. I also explain that Art is a gift from GOD, and that I would not call something Art when someone’s work would clearly not be pleasing to HIM. Anyway those are just some of my thoughts!! I would love this currciulum because I have reached a point where I can;t teach my boys anymore , I need help from someone that is truly gifted in this area!!
I try to incorporte art into some of the notebooking we do, but always wish we had more singular emphasis on art. My kids would so enjoy these DVD’s!
This is one area where I am weak in homeschooling, and my kids LOVE ART! This would be perfect! Thanks for offering the giveaway!
I would love to have this set. Pick me..pick me….
I’d love a copy! Even if I don’t win, I think I’ll have to buy it for the kids!
Art inevitably gets postponed and eventually forgotten. Anything that would help us to include it in our schooling and enjoy it, would be a blessing!
I would love to start incorporating more art for my daughter. She already loves painting, glueing, and cutting!
Looks fabulous and I hadn’t ever seen this before:) I’d love to try it!
I just try to find new projects and make them fun. I try to tailor to my child’s interests.
This would be awesome for my son! Love they start with Kindergarten!
So excited to come across this product.
I haven’t kept up with the art like I should,
because I didn’t know where to start.
Would love to win this to use with my boys.
I try to add art in to our studies regularly and leave out art supplies where they can be easily accessed
I love art, and I have a child that really loves art too. So, we devote one or two afternoons a week just to looking at and creating with art related to whatever unit study or topic we might be interested in.
I will beginning homeschooling in the Fall and this looks very exciting! thanks for doing the giveaway 🙂
I let my children have access to art supplies whenever they want.
My kids love art – they are always drawing or creating something! I would love this set to let them learn while watching the teacher.
I love teaching art, but it’s nice to have something for my daughter to work on independently.
I am currently using Home Art Studio Grade 1 for my 1st, 3rd, & 8th graders. We love it! I will be using this curriculum until we have gone through all of them! Love it!
We incorporate in our homeschool with a craft now and then and in an art co op class. Which i teach. I would use these in both.
I would love a set of these videos! My children love art and we include it in our curriculum but I am not a strong artist. The addition of a strong curriculum with the appropriate vocabulary and visual examples would be a wonderful addition!
I’m not great at making art important but these DVDs sound like a good idea to helping me do that.
I am not artistic at all! These look awesome!
Once a week we attend a co-op that teaches the kids one hour of art. I have seen my kids really blossom from this time to learn more about art. Not to mention great art projects they bring home to decorate my walls with.
Sounds wonderful! We only do specific artists right now, and try our hand at “copying”, but would love the individual instruction!
With 6 kids and a ton of animals to take care of I don’t always make time to fit art into our curriculum – this would be a dream come true! I have 3 that are budding artists and REALLY want to learn more but I’m not very talented in this area! We’ll be looking into this even I don’t win!
Thanks for sharing!!
Terri
I plan to teach art in my homeschool during the summer months. I need help with reaching art. I think the DVD’s is a brilliant answer to art challenged mind. lol
this looks fabulous! it’s tough to know what techniques they need to know when etc.
My daughter loves crafts and art, so I try to use art as a tool to help her learn in other areas. She is still very young, so we don’t get too complicated.
We’re currently using See the Light videos, which my 3rd & 4th graders love. We’ve also used the Draw Write Now & Draw and Write Through History series of books, which are both excellent.
Even though I have many years of art instruction, I still struggle with how to teach art to my kids. These projects look so well thought out and age-appropriate. Thanks!
Right now since they are young and we aren’t technically homeschooling yet teaching art isn’t that important. But I am trying to introduce lots of mediums!
I commented before reading the raffle-copter thing. Sorry!
I have tried to instill in my girls the beauty of art. We do a bit of art appreciation by using the Art Memo games and also reading a number of books on art from the library. There are some great ones about How Artists see… weather, people, animals, etc.
We do a bit of crafting, but I want to get more into the classical nature of art with drawing, painting, etc.
We do a lot of drawing! We would loves to win these so that we can expand our artistic abilities!
I’m actually terrible at including art in our homeschool. My 1st grader is very creative though and is constantly drawing things during her free time. This program would be a great way to be intentional about art in our school.
We are currently in the coloring and cutting stage of art in our homeschool, we would love to use this set!
We are planning to begin homeschooling our 2 kids (will be in 2nd & 5th) in the fall. I am very intimidated by art but my daughter loves it. This looks like the perfect solution!
I would love to have this program! We’ve been making due with books from the library and I’d love to have something more formal for my 4 and 5 year old daughters. They LOVE art!
What a perfect solution for our family! My kids are always asking for arts crafts projects and I struggle to come up with a good variety for them! It would be such a blessing to win a copy! Thanks for the contest!!
Oooo! My kids are always bugging me for more art at home. This could be just what we need.
I’ve been hoping to purchase this curriculum for 1st and 3rd grades!
Wow! This looks wonderful!
I need to be better with making art a priority.
We enjoy art, but it always seems to somehow slip out of our schedule! I love how we feel relaxed and rejuve’d after we do art–I’m trying to make it a higher priority… I think it would help to have a dvd w/ a teacher instructing us (instead of myself!)
Great curriculum! I would love to use this to teach our 3 home schoolers!!
I love this! Definitely want for my little artist!
I guess the children see it as important simply because I love to do it with them, and because I make sure to spend the time making it happen. Our projects usually consist of ideas online, and just doing our own spin off it. But these DVDs sure would be wonderful to learn new and “official” techniques, and also for the kids to be “on their own” and do art without my suggestion. I guess there’s a fine line between instructing a certain technique and allowing the mini-artists to do their own thing! These DVDs would be fun!
This looks great. Art is my weak point and this looks like the very thing I have looked for.
We are preparing to unregister at least one of our two daughters and homeschool in the fall. Her favorite ‘special’ is art, she loves to show her creativity. I would LOVE to win this and be able to offer her more knowledge & fun behind art and her creativity.
My dd loves art but I am not very “artsy” so it is difficult for me to teach or incorporate into our studies. This would be perfect for our family.
Thanks for the awesome giveaway!
I LoVe any and all art! I’m lucky that my three year old does as well and we have fun finding new things to create each week!
This would be wonderful! We love adding art in various ways, but having someone besides me teaching it would expand the kids’ horizons. Thanks for the giveaway! Lisa~
What an awesome resource. I would love to incorporate these art lessons into our homeschool day! 🙂
Looks like this is a must for homeschooling!