4littlewomen Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 There seem to be several art curriculum options out there and I have no idea which we might like best. Do you have any experience with them or have any other favorite art resources? Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SevenDaisies Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 We like Atelier. The lessons are on video, and the instructor takes them through the whole project. My kids absolutely love it. She uses a variety of media and teaches technique - it's more than just crafts. What helped me to decide, was looking at the galleries on the respective websites. Atelier's upper level projects looked more impressive to me. It is a bit pricey, but Home school buyers Coop sells it at a significant discount in April and August I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 FREE: The Drawing Textbook 1965 version. http://dreamsteep.com/component/docman/doc_download/306-audio-visual-drawing-program-drawing-textbook.html?Itemid=30 FREE: Augsburg Drawing. I like the crayon paintings best http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/359033-augsburg-drawing-free-and-awesome-and-complete-1-8/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 $5.95 Using Color in Your Art. http://www.amazon.com/Using-Color-Your-Art-Williamson/dp/B008SM1MSQ/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0 This was designed to be used with paint, but most of the lessons are adaptable to crayons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 The "Feelings" pages in Ed Emberley's Funprint Drawing Book are a must. http://www.amazon.com/Emberleys-Complete-Funprint-Drawing-Book/dp/0316174483/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389483202&sr=1-1&keywords=emberley+funprint You should be able to get this book from the library and just copy the "feelings" pages. The whole book is nice, but the "feelings" pages are worth an interlibrary loan, even if it costs a dollar or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 Draw and Write Through History. Hardcopy and pdf. http://www.drawandwrite.com Teaching Art with Books Kids Love. Hardcopy and Kindle http://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Books-Kids-Love-Award-Winning-ebook/dp/B002GU5YEO/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1389483719&sr=1-1&keywords=teaching+art+with+books+kids+love Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 20 Art Lessons. Hardcopy and pdf. http://www.lovetolearn.net/Ebook-20-Art-Lessons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La Condessa Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 I have just started using Drawing to Learn Drawing with my daughter. Let's see, here's the link: http://www.bartelart.com/arted/book/Drawingbookorder.html I have some background in art, and started out knowing that I didn't want a curriculum that had the kids doing lots of craft projects that were supposed to come out looking a certain way, or the ones that teach drawing "shortcuts" like those Draw 50 __ books, without teaching the student how to actually see and draw their own ideas, or one that had them imitating the work of famous artists (showing a number of examples of famous pastel drawings and then teaching about pastels, sure, but not imitation). This book teaches observational drawing, and we just combine these drawing lessons with playing with a variety of art supplies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto3innc Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 We like Atelier. The lessons are on video, and the instructor takes them through the whole project. My kids absolutely love it. She uses a variety of media and teaches technique - it's more than just crafts. What helped me to decide, was looking at the galleries on the respective websites. Atelier's upper level projects looked more impressive to me. It is a bit pricey, but Home school buyers Coop sells it at a significant discount in April and August I believe. Totally agree!!!! 3rd year here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 We are using Artistic Pursuits but my kids are in 1st and 2nd grade. What I like about it is it 1) is not crafts and 2) incorporates a little bit of art history. Pretty much every lesson is based on some historic work of art. We have only done book one so far (for grades 1-3). I am starting book 2 next week. That one has prints of various famous paintings as well. It is well laid out, written at their level, and the projects are easy to follow. The negative would be that I am not skilled in art so sometimes that aspect of how much do I direct versus leave to them can be difficult. I am a very hands off art teacher. If they say they are done, I might encourage them to put some more background color in, etc. but if they say no, we are done. I have not done or heard of the videos the others mentioned--I am curious to know grade level for those. I plan to keep doing Artistic Pursuits through probably 6th grade but after that I am not sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 We like Art Lab for Kids. For art history in an easy way, A Year in Art is good. We value having lots of materials around - colored pencils, wax crayons, pastels, chalks, watercolors, different papers, etc. - and I won't buy the really cheapie stuff, but we've found that we don't need the really expensive stuff. We just have Faber-Castell colored pencils, for example and that's fine for us. Our favorite thing is actually Paper Mate Flair marker pens. Not too expensive, lots of colors, nice fine tips, lasts reasonably long. Better than Sharpie and not permanent so less worry. Our other favorite thing is art museums. We are especially blessed in this regard (we live in DC) but in general I think people should visit art museums with kids more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4littlewomen Posted January 12, 2014 Author Share Posted January 12, 2014 Thank you for your wonderful and varied responses. I can't wait to look into all your suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess4879 Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 We are using Home Art Studio videos for the 2nd year. We have only done activities on the K & 1 DVD's so far. Some find it "arts and crafty" but I honestly feel like there is a lot of meat there. It's very gentle and brings in a lot of techniques with painting, cutting, gluing, color mixing, etc but in a way that leaves the child feeling accomplished. We used Artistic Pursuits before this and it was a lot watercolors and pastels and my kids got bored. It was also a lot of "here's a famous painting, now you try to replicate it" and of course their work never came close and they were always disappointed. My 4 year old, with assistance, is able to create a project that pleases him with HAS. We just all really enjoy it. :) Oh, we do add in art study seperately, CM style, as that is not part of HAS. I haven't had a chance to go through the older grade DVD's yet to see if they become more challenging, but for starting out, HAS is wonderful. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie131 Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 We are using Artistic Pursuits but my kids are in 1st and 2nd grade. What I like about it is it 1) is not crafts and 2) incorporates a little bit of art history. Pretty much every lesson is based on some historic work of art. We have only done book one so far (for grades 1-3). I am starting book 2 next week. That one has prints of various famous paintings as well. It is well laid out, written at their level, and the projects are easy to follow. The negative would be that I am not skilled in art so sometimes that aspect of how much do I direct versus leave to them can be difficult. I am a very hands off art teacher. If they say they are done, I might encourage them to put some more background color in, etc. but if they say no, we are done. I have not done or heard of the videos the others mentioned--I am curious to know grade level for those. I plan to keep doing Artistic Pursuits through probably 6th grade but after that I am not sure. We are using Artistic Pursuits too. This is our first year with it, but it's not our last. I am using it w/ my 1st and 3rd grader and all of us are enjoying it. It is quick, it is easy, it is fun and it gets done. That is more than I can say about a lot of curriculum we've tried! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
konglish Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 We are using the first level of Atelier this year and I have mixed feelings about it. We've only done 5 lessons, so take this with the grain of salt. I've been doing it with my 5 year old daughter, with 3 year old son participating. The pros: it is well-organized, and the instructor gives the lesson while you watch the DVD. I have no background in art, so this was a selling point. It is developmentally appropriate, and the DVD shows lots of kids working on the particular lesson. We all love seeing how the projects turn out so many different ways. I like the introductory lessons on line, texture, color, etc. The lessons seem varied so far. The biggest con (for us) is that my daughter is already annoyed about the amount of instruction. I think the instructor gives a lot of latitude myself, but my daughter feels she is too directive. For example, the instructor might say to draw different patterns on the clown's clothes to give texture, but my daughter has other ideas. I would think we would run into this problem with most art curriculums though. I just put it out there in case your child prefers a lot of artistic license as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 We like Art Lab for Kids. For art history in an easy way, A Year in Art is good. We value having lots of materials around - colored pencils, wax crayons, pastels, chalks, watercolors, different papers, etc. - and I won't buy the really cheapie stuff, but we've found that we don't need the really expensive stuff. We just have Faber-Castell colored pencils, for example and that's fine for us. Our favorite thing is actually Paper Mate Flair marker pens. Not too expensive, lots of colors, nice fine tips, lasts reasonably long. Better than Sharpie and not permanent so less worry. Our other favorite thing is art museums. We are especially blessed in this regard (we live in DC) but in general I think people should visit art museums with kids more. Art Labs for Kids comes as a Kindle book. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladydusk Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 We use Artistic Pursuits. I like the incorporation of Art Study into the projects. The projects work, too, which not being artistic I'm always happy about. This year we are taking Art class at our local Art Museum for homeschoolers. I love the going through the museum with the docent part. I don't love the projects ... I thought it might be more teaching them about how to draw, paint, model, etc. Instead it seems to be much more "here's supplies, have at them!" For Art resources: I love the Simply Charlotte Mason Picture Study Portfolio packs. The Masterpiece Cards are high quality, if a little small. I don't get them out as much as I expected to. Finally, the resource we use the most is ART Page a Day calendar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeindeed Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Following this topic. I might teach art to K-2nd grade next school year at our co-op. Do these suggestions work well in a classroom setting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAR Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 We are using Meet the Masters. It has a very teacher friendly format, and the girls enjoy the online lesson portion, along with the practice worksheets. The final project's instructions are very simple and easy to follow. I am not strong in the arts, but this program covers the basics well and has been given me confidence. I do supplement with a library book on the artist and have brought in....props. For example, I brought in pieces of tree bark and lava rock so the girls could see and feel the different textures before attempting to draw. And then it's even better if you can find a local museum with that particular artist's work. The girls love knowing that a field trip may be part of the lesson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 I was not a fan of Home Art Studio, but it gets fairly good reviews here. I *really* want to try Atelier, but I just can't see spending that much money on it... We really like Evan Moor's How to Teach Art to Children. It covers the 7 elements (line, shape, color, etc) through the first half of the book (many geared toward a class but adaptable) and the 2nd half of the book is projects based on well-known artists styles/methods. I pick and choose which activities we want to do to teach each element (some seem pointless or redundant). Sometimes we add in our own activities. We also like Usborne's Art Treasury -- projects based on famous works/artists. We supplement with drawing books, like 1-2-3 Draw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 I have had my eye on Evan Moor How to Teach Art to Children for a couple years. I don't know why I have bought other things before it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 I have had my eye on Evan Moor How to Teach Art to Children for a couple years. I don't know why I have bought other things before it. It's also available as an ebook... ;) Seriously, though, it's good... not perfect. I use it as a jumping off point. For instance, I don't like the exact activities used for teaching "line." But I use their ideas and come up with something different. Pinterest is good for that, too. :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking-Iris Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 We've been happy using Harmony Fine Arts, Artistic Pursuits, Art Express, Child-Sized Masterpieces, Drawing With Children, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, www.kinderart.com and Pinterest ideas. We also enjoy the Getting to Know series of books (Getting to Know Famous Artists, composers, even presidents), DK's huge art history book ART, Usborne's Art Treasury, and Dover Color Your Own books, Dover art cards, and the Art Memo game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Someone posted this link, or a link to this link, in this tread or another recent thread. I'm so confused. :biggrinjester: http://www.cuchicago.edu/experience/arts/visual-arts/art-lessons/ I think I'm giving up on Harmony Arts. Never mind all the hardcopy resources I would need to acquire, even some of the online things don't work on my iPad, even when I'm at a hotspot, because they are flash. I'm thinking of getting the Evan Moor book to supplement the above 80 lessons. Yes, alisoncooks, it's an eBook. :party: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomatHWTK Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 The Evan Moore book was one of our first tools. I really like it. But, we didn't get far as I'm not very good at project based art. I liked Meet the Masters, Creativity Express, Mike's Imagination Station, and Mark Kistler's materials. From there, I've just purchased various how to draw, paint, sculpt, etc. books and let the kids follow their bliss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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