Argh! Art makes me want to scream

[plain jane]

and do this: :banghead::banghead::banghead:

 

I can't seem to find an art program that works for us and teaches the kids well. The closest I've come is Artistic Pursuits, but I find that there's not enough guidance. A lot of the projects are too open ended and there's not enough instruction on how to achieve the finished product.

 

Art is not my strong point. I'd like something like AP that covers different genres, yet has more instruction to it. - Different painting techniques, how to hold a brush, how to establish shadow and perspective, etc. Does this exist? Am I doomed to have art failures or spend hundreds of dollars for art classes IRL? I do not need art appreciation thrown in, but that would be a nice bonus.

 

The few books that have worked for us- Discovering Great Artists and Usborne's Art Ideas- we've already done and I'm ready to move on.

 

Are we doomed to be art failures?

 

ETA: This would be for grade 4 and under.

Edited April 22, 2010 by plain jane

[amyrjoy]

HI! I found this, didn't buy anything (yet) but looked interesting. Maybe if you look for something along these lines, it may be what you want. I'm looking for next year, something different than what we used, and am debating these. I think the concept is great! I like the fact that "you" wouldn't have to talk. HA!

 

http://www.artwithmrssmith.com/store.html

[Rosie_0801]

A lot of the projects are too open ended and there's not enough instruction on how to achieve the finished product.

 

I can't recommend any resources, but thought I would suggest using the time between now and when you find it to have a go at not caring about the above issue. Do a unit study, starting from now, called "Inquiry Based Art" and see what happens. According to artists, there's no such thing as a wrong way of doing art (unless you are in a uni class looking for good marks.)

 

:)

Rosie

[plain jane]

HI! I found this, didn't buy anything (yet) but looked interesting. Maybe if you look for something along these lines, it may be what you want. I'm looking for next year, something different than what we used, and am debating these. I think the concept is great! I like the fact that "you" wouldn't have to talk. HA!

 

http://www.artwithmrssmith.com/store.html

 

Thanks for sharing. This does look pretty decent. I'll have to take a closer look and watch a sample lesson when I have more time. Thanks for sharing!

[plain jane]

I can't recommend any resources, but thought I would suggest using the time between now and when you find it to have a go at not caring about the above issue. Do a unit study, starting from now, called "Inquiry Based Art" and see what happens. According to artists, there's no such thing as a wrong way of doing art (unless you are in a uni class looking for good marks.)

 

:)

Rosie

 

 

Hey Rosie, thanks for that. :) I do appreciate hearing that advice. I usually just focus on the kids having fun, but they are wanting more instruction. Not necessarily a step by step but more than AP was providing. For example, the first lesson in AP tells the student to draw a picture of something they saw today or yesterday. Way too open ended for my kids, besides they do draw stuff like that on a regular basis. :tongue_smilie:

[Rosie_0801]

Have you looked at Drawing With Children? A lot of people around here seem to use that. You're not the only one to want more instruction than AP provides, certainly. Maybe you can provide a bit of variation by only allowing the use of two colours or have the use a different medium to usual, or oblige them to use their crayons horizontally instead of vertically. I don't know, I'm just tossing ideas in case they might be useful things to tide you over until you find something suitable.

 

Instead of continuing to pontificate about stuff I don't really know about, I'm going to go fold some washing...

 

:001_smile:

Rosie

[plain jane]

Have you looked at Drawing With Children? A lot of people around here seem to use that. You're not the only one to want more instruction than AP provides, certainly. Maybe you can provide a bit of variation by only allowing the use of two colours or have the use a different medium to usual, or oblige them to use their crayons horizontally instead of vertically. I don't know, I'm just tossing ideas in case they might be useful things to tide you over until you find something suitable.

 

Instead of continuing to pontificate about stuff I don't really know about, I'm going to go fold some washing...

 

:001_smile:

Rosie

 

 

Noooo! Don't go! Pontificate away! :lol:

 

And for the record, if art makes me wanna :banghead:, Drawing With Children makes me :willy_nilly:. I love the idea of it, but I just. can't. wrap. my. head. around. it. Oh, I've tried. And tried. And tried again. I finally had to give the book away so it would stop sitting on my shelf and taunting me. :001_huh:

[Rosie_0801]

Ok, I folded washing so I'm back to pontificate more :D

 

Have you looked at art books in your library? The kiddie ones probably aren't much chop, or at least they aren't in my library. Perhaps borrow a stack of adult stuff and see what they have. Treat it like science, perhaps? "Hm. I wonder how they got that effect, lets see if we can try it." Or there's Maryann Kohl's book, Meeting the Masters, or something like that. I've heard people mention good things about it. I have two of her books and they are good, so I suppose the others are too.

 

Remember, it is all about the process :D Fine for me to say, huh?

 

For a change of pace, you could learn to mosaic. Do they have a cubby house? Mosaic one wall using tiles from the tip (dump) and fresco the other. I think that sounds fun. It's such a shame that my eldest has only just turned three. I have to wait so long to do all the fun stuff!

 

Rosie

[AK_Homesteaders]

I'm with Rosie (I think:)). Oh, I just remembered this site. Atelier. It's a DVD art program for homeschoolers. I really considered using this one, but if you read the rest of my post, you'll see why I didn't. In general, I think it's too structured for my family and me, but it might be exactly what you are looking for. I have one son I think would like something like Atelier in a year or so, but for now we're going in a different direction. I wanted to give you that link early because if you start reading the rest of my post, you probably wouldn't finish or get to the link. :001_smile:

 

If you and your children really want more instruction, that's fine (and Atelier really looks like a good choice for that). But, with children that young, I'm more into letting them explore and be creative without the boundaries that "art instruction" places on them. I was an art major in college (before my family finally helped me realize that I was never going to be able to make enough money to pay cheap rent in the field I wanted to pursue so I switched to a totally different college and changed career paths). I thought I had some wonderful art teachers in elementary school, but I don't remember them ever actually providing "lessons". I did take private lessons later, but not until around 10th grade or so. My elementary art teachers gave us fun art supplies and offered a few ideas and suggestions on how to use whatever we were using that day. But then we were left with our own imaginations to "have at it", so to speak. I think that style of "teaching" helps children learn to be creative and think outside the box in other areas of their lives, way beyond their art projects. But, of course, many people really need much more structure, so that style might not work for your children.

 

BTW, I have used Artistic Pursuits with my children, and we really enjoyed it. I can't say that I'm absolutely thrilled with it, but for me, it serves the purpose very well. My reasons for liking it (and for planning to use at least a few more of their guides) are the exact reasons you don't like it. I think it's perfect to be open-ended with young children, especially in art. We are also still using Discovering Great Artists, but I'm sure by 3rd or 4th grade we'll be doing more. Maybe even Atelier. :)

 

Best wishes,

 

Jenny

Edited April 22, 2010 by AK_Homesteaders

[Sue G in PA]

Hey Jane! Have you looked at The Phonics of Drawing? We got that for my ds a year ago and it is a good program. It is on CD for the computer. We have the Masterpiece Collection which includes drawing, watercolor painting, Multimedia and Multimedia Jr. HTH. And, hope you are well!

[Mom0012]

This is my second year using Atelier and I really like the program. So far, we have used level 3 and some of 4 and it hasn't given lots of detailed instruction on drawing techniques, but we've done lots of different types of projects. I am not artsy at all, but I have enjoyed doing many of the lessons with my daughter and I have been pleased with the outcome of most of them.

 

I also own The Phonics of Drawing and have a subscription to Mark Kistler's online drawing lessons (through Homeschool Buyer's Coop). I hope to use these over the summer to work more specifically on drawing instruction.

 

Lisa

Edited April 22, 2010 by LisaTheresa

[sagira]

Hey Jane! Have you looked at The Phonics of Drawing? We got that for my ds a year ago and it is a good program. It is on CD for the computer. We have the Masterpiece Collection which includes drawing, watercolor painting, Multimedia and Multimedia Jr. HTH. And, hope you are well!

 

Here's the website. It has a lot if freebies as well. My dh, who's an artist, thought this looks good too. He's naturally good, but our ds is not (like me :tongue_smilie:) and needs more step by step instruction. We're going with Drawing with Children, but that's because dh can handle the open-endedness. For you, I agree with looking into the Masterpiece Collection on the aforementioned website, or this book:

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d.html/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/180-6642928-5301848?a=1557998116

 

For art-like projects with step by step instruction that doubles as nature study instruction, Nature Smart with Gwen Diehn is great. The Science counterpart is Science Smart.

[Hedgehogs4]

I was going to suggest Drawing with Children, but if you don't get it...

 

I love art...I wish we had time for it every day. However...if you don't love it and you feel you are banging your head, is there any way you can just take a different approach--just go LOOK at good art, try to take it in, internalize it a bit before trying to PRODUCE? Maybe take an art class together, or find someone who can guide you in this area. It may not be in your hard-wiring and may need to be something that you are developing along with your kids. Otherwise it's like trying to stuff a square peg in a round hole and it's uncomfortable for everyone.

Edited April 22, 2010 by Hedgehogs4
nevermind!

[Kidlit]

Granted, I'm not a good example of someone who's actually utilized this consistently, but I like MaryAnn Kohl's Storybook Art. It uses famous children's picture books/illustrations as jumping-off places for teaching techniques, etc.

[plain jane]

Here's the website. It has a lot if freebies as well. My dh, who's an artist, thought this looks good too. He's naturally good, but our ds is not (like me :tongue_smilie:) and needs more step by step instruction. We're going with Drawing with Children, but that's because dh can handle the open-endedness. For you, I agree with looking into the Masterpiece Collection on the aforementioned website, or this book:

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d.html/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/180-6642928-5301848?a=1557998116

 

For art-like projects with step by step instruction that doubles as nature study instruction, Nature Smart with Gwen Diehn is great. The Science counterpart is Science Smart.

 

Oh, thanks for the recommendation for Nature Smart... I like the sounds of it, but it seems like the book is no longer available for purchase new and the prices on amazon.com are a bit startling. Do you know where else I can get it?

Edited April 24, 2010 by plain jane

[Guest]

I'm wondering whether you have a nearby art museum that offers cheap or free classes for children. For a number of years we went to some wonderful freebie family art classes at a museum of modern art, which exposed my daughter to materials and methods I would never, ever thought of using at home. A historical art museum had some cheap classes on things such as print-making that were good, too. My daughter did them as a Girl Scout for very little money. Maybe you could get a school rate, or maybe they would have homeschool group classes?

[yvonne]

If you can swing it financially, or if you can find someone who was Monart trained but is no longer officially affiliated with Monart (franchise fees and restrictions are apparently a big burden and a large reason for the high cost of taking classes at an official Monart school)... Monart classes. Let someone else teach them using the Drawing with Children book! :)

[Ellie]

Art With a Purpose. A number of suppliers carry it, including Rainbow Resources and Shekinah Curriculum Cellar. (FTR, it is *not* a R&S or CLE product.:))

[plain jane]

If you can swing it financially, or if you can find someone who was Monart trained but is no longer officially affiliated with Monart (franchise fees and restrictions are apparently a big burden and a large reason for the high cost of taking classes at an official Monart school)... Monart classes. Let someone else teach them using the Drawing with Children book! :)

 

Oh, :drool5: that has been my dream for art for the last 5 years. But, alas, we are not close enough to a Monart school. I did try to find a Monart trained teacher who would do classes, but have been unsuccessful so far. :(

[KathyBC]

Granted, I'm not a good example of someone who's actually utilized this consistently, but I like MaryAnn Kohl's Storybook Art. It uses famous children's picture books/illustrations as jumping-off places for teaching techniques, etc.

 

Oh wow, does that ever look cool! Hmmm, off to rethink next year, lol.

[Mabelen]

This is my second year using Atelier and I really like the program. So far, we have used level 3 and some of 4 and it hasn't given lots of detailed instruction on drawing techniques, but we've done lots of different types of projects. I am not artsy at all, but I have enjoyed doing many of the lessons with my daughter and I have been pleased with the outcome of most of them.

 

Lisa

 

I am using the school version of Atelier, Arts Attack, with my youngest dd's kindergarten class. The kids always love the projects and I see them using the techniques and ideas in their own art work later. I am not artistic in the least and I had dismal art instruction in school as a kid/teen but I can see how much I am benefitting from the Arts Attack program. I only volunteered for this position because I had researched the program and had been reassured I would be able to do it properly. The kids at my dd's class tell me I am the best art teacher ever and are always looking forward to Arts Attack! It might just be the ticket for someone like you.

[Lightly Salted]

Granted, I'm not a good example of someone who's actually utilized this consistently, but I like MaryAnn Kohl's Storybook Art. It uses famous children's picture books/illustrations as jumping-off places for teaching techniques, etc.

 

We're enjoying Artistic Pursuits so far, but thanks for sharing this - my DD's birthday is coming up and I think she would LOVE this! :D

[EppieJ]

What about something like "How to Teach Art to Children"? http://www.amazon.com/How-Teach-Art-Children-Grades/dp/1557998116 It covers line, color, form, texture.... in simple terms with suggested activities.

[yvonne]

Oh, :drool5: that has been my dream for art for the last 5 years. But, alas, we are not close enough to a Monart school. I did try to find a Monart trained teacher who would do classes, but have been unsuccessful so far. :(

 

Bummer!

 

How about trying to find someone who enjoys drawing and who would be willing to use the Drawing with Children book to teach your children? Maybe even set up a mini-class with two or three other children and yours? By sharing the cost, maybe you could get someone even more qualified?

 

Schools here are hurting for money and cutting back on art & music, and teachers at private schools make even less than ps teachers. Maybe you could find a good art teacher from one of your local schools who'd be willing to do a private class on the side? Talk to other parents and find out who the good art teachers are. Contact them. If they're not interested, they may be hooked into the art teacher world and might be able to recommend someone. Or recommend a local art school or museum or ?? where you might be able to find an instructor.

 

Maybe an ad on Craigslist would turn up a retired artist or art teacher? Or local rec centers for seniors?

 

There must be folks in your area who are just dying to teach art to kids. You just have to find one! :) If you could find the right person, I bet you could fill a class and maybe even grow it to more than one class, esp. if you have a lot of homeschoolers in your area!

[newbie]

Oh, :drool5: that has been my dream for art for the last 5 years. But, alas, we are not close enough to a Monart school. I did try to find a Monart trained teacher who would do classes, but have been unsuccessful so far. :(

 

Do you have museums close to you, they might offer weekend classes, just so they can get basics.

 

We have a ton of art classes at the local museums here.