art that Gets Done (s/o what you've finished)

[serendipitous journey]

What do you have that Gets Done? totally :bigear:. We didn't keep up with Artistic Pursuits or Meet the Masters; either I need to plan & prep lessons over the summer, or try something different ...

[m0mmaBuck]

I have this problem too, and I think what I'm going to do is get a bunch of "how to draw XYZ" type books and have the kids work on not only drawing but painting with watercolor (watercolor crayons and/or actual paint). We have a number of the Draw Write Now books as well as some Ed Emberly and Usborne books so we'll see how that goes.

 

Can't be any worse than the art we are not doing now.

[*Michelle*]

We finished the first book of Draw Write Now, one drawing per week. We'll do book 2 next and add Discovering Great Artists.

[angelmama1209]

double post.

Edited April 15, 2012 by angelmama1209

[angelmama1209]

we use confessions of a homeschooler's Greatest Artists unit. it's FREE and DD1 loves it!

 

nak

[serendipitous journey]

We finished the first book of Draw Write Now, one drawing per week. We'll do book 2 next and add Discovering Great Artists.

 

I think I skipped over Draw Write Now b/c it had children start drawing a detailed bit at a time, instead of beginning with an essential form ... is that familiar to you? Would you say that the results are good? -- I'm not so ideological in my art instruction, if it all comes out well; but am an art history major, so I Have Ideas. Not that they are getting me anywhere!

[*Michelle*]

I think I skipped over Draw Write Now b/c it had children start drawing a detailed bit at a time, instead of beginning with an essential form ... is that familiar to you? Would you say that the results are good? -- I'm not so ideological in my art instruction, if it all comes out well; but am an art history major, so I Have Ideas. Not that they are getting me anywhere!

 

They are pretty detailed, but I liked that it broke the pictures down into basic shapes. I think it helped my son notice the shapes of things in real life. Now, when he draws random pictures, I hear him picking out the shapes that make the whole.

 

I scanned his drawings and put them on our blog, if you'd like to see some examples. They're all tagged with "art."

Edited April 15, 2012 by *Michelle*
autocorrect fail

[edeemarie]

We used R&S Art with a Purpose in 1st grade and my son really enjoyed it! Now we have art included in HOD but I find myself skipping those a lot. We may try R&S again next year as it was easy to use and most of the materials needed were included in the pack.

[Mandy in TN]

I replied in the other thread that this year (and last year for that matter) my youngest has taken outside art lessons.

 

In the past what has gotten done were things that I really wanted to do! When I pick projects or artists that excite me, then they get done. With my youngest I absolutely have to go this route, because he has no interest in creating art. So, find an artist that excites you and sit down to do art. Even then little ds only does art if he must! :)

 

HTH-

Mandy

[amsunshine]

What do you have that Gets Done? totally :bigear:. We didn't keep up with Artistic Pursuits or Meet the Masters; either I need to plan & prep lessons over the summer, or try something different ...

 

I'm not sure what you need to plan for Meet the Masters? Did you get it along with the supply kit that Rainbow Resource sells? We got the supply kit and I am so happy with the program -- totally painless and no planning at all. The only "planning" I do is put some library books on hold for dds to read about the artist prior to the time we do our lesson. But that is not necessary to the program, of course.

 

Anyway, you might want to revisit MtM with the supply kit. HTH.

[Hunter]

Over the years a couple resources I always go back to are:

 

The facial expressions in Ed Emberley's FingerPrint Drawing Book. Where ever I go , I leave behind photocopied pages of the "feelings" pages. It's kind of my trademark :-)

 

Drawing Textbook is just a TINY bit vague, but I've found it easier to supplement the book than to replace it. I watch just enough of Mark Kistler to hear and see what was vague in DT, and then click off. Kistler does NOT get done here, and I don't really know why, but...it just does NOT.

 

I used Art with a Purpose 4 and 5 with my younger son back in the 90s. I used to get that done. I just ordered the early grades yesterday on sale at Shekinah for $3.95 each.

 

Augsburg crayon paintings have been getting done around here lately. They make nice greeting cards.

 

I recently purchased Draw Write Now and the maps have been getting done. I scanned, cropped, enlarged and printed some of the pages.

 

Keyhole Ken has always been a big hit with adults and teens I have shared him with. Especially the drunk Ken, which you might want to cover with a black marker. That is the icebreaker that brings the adults to the table to start drawing though. He is the hook :-0

Edited April 15, 2012 by Hunter

[WeeBeaks]

Artistic Pursuits gets done regularly, but only because we got a kit with the supplies. If I had to round up the supplies for it all, it wouldn't have gotten done at all.

 

My 6yo also does Draw Write Now. He works through one or two drawings a week and loves it. Drawing/art is really his thing, so I have to make a very conscious effort that it does get scheduled and done.

[Pen]

I think there are several things to consider, and that, as with math or anything else really, not every art program (or teacher if lucky enough to have classes available in your area and that you can afford) will fit every parent's teaching style and every child's learning style. It has taken me awhile this year to start learning what works for my son...and he is in a different place with art now, than he was when he started the year, so what works now may well not have worked earlier.

 

My son is currently (as in right this moment) working on Lee Hammond's book "Draw Real People". I knew he wanted to draw people, and that he likes to do realistic drawings. Ironically, I had placed more than one book on this in my Amazon cart, and would have deleted this one, but was having trouble with my slow dial-up situation, and so let it come. And it turned out to be the one that he gravitated to, rather than the one I thought would be better, so I was glad I had not managed to delete it after all. My son mainly handles this on his own, in his own way (which is not from page 1 to the end, but finding whatever he wants to work on and doing that). A little while ago he asked for some help on the eyes, so I gave him a little help, then he took over again.

 

As it turns out, the other book more fits my style of learning, so I am using it to help myself, so that when he then asks me for help, I am better able to give that.

[ChrissySC]

Art for us is simple. To appreciate Great Artists, we smash. I created an easy study that uses a composition notebook. We just "smash" the contents inside without any specific set of rules. I supply pictures, titles, lapbook elements, biographies to read, etc. Books from the library foster comments or provide for quick lines of copywork. It is really, really the only way to go and it gets done because we don't place a time limit on it. That is the CM-side of me that comes out. I let them look, read, and put as little or as much in the notebook as is wanted.

 

As for actually doing art, well, as you know by now, I use Drawing with Children. I like it as a precursor to more complex studies. I created a lesson plan that spans a few years, contains 50 lessons or topics and porjects, and uses multiple resources for applying what is the focus of that lesson.

 

This gets done at our house because, again, no time limit! Everything is very interactive and relies on the student to complete or generate. No mom - or very little mom.

[Mom0012]

Atelier has been a success here. We've done 2 levels over the last 2 years. This year, we did fall behind with our 3rd level, but I really think we'll finish it this spring/summer. I just overscheduled our lives with outside activities this year to the point where there simply wasn't time for art.

 

I like Atelier because all I have to do is pop in a dvd and watch the lesson with my daughter. I usually take a peek at the teacher's manual ahead of time so I can have all of our supplies out on the table. Then we are set to go. I really appreciate the fact that the supplies are pretty basic and easy to keep on hand, but there is enough variety to keep things interesting.

 

Lisa

Edited April 16, 2012 by LisaTheresa

[FairyMom]

Sadly, art would be pushed to the back or forgotten about if it weren't in every week's lesson. When we stopped doing Oak Meadow for a month, we didn't do anything resembling art. I know myself; we would concentrate on math, reading and writing only if I didn't have something staring at me. :)

[boscopup]

I gave up on formal art.

 

:D

 

:iagree:

 

Though we did do well with Draw Write Now, and for a while we did Evan Moor's How to Teach Art to Children, which is good and easy to do.

 

But all in all, I've labeled it not particularly important compared to other subjects. The kids will be doing plenty of music, so they'll be getting "fine arts" galore. And they have free access to paper, construction paper, scissors, color pencils, markers, and crayons.

[mommy5]

I have chosen 4 artists to study per year and bought the "Smart About Art" book for that particular artist. I also bought a bunch of postcards for those artists paintings ... we read the book together and then study the paintings. We discuss what makes that painters style unique and wear they are from, etc. Then we start drawing/painting like that person. The kids love it. We also started using Draw Write Now to go along with what they are learning in history ... so they do a few of those pictures each week after our history lesson.

[Farrar]

Art is one of the things I see people buying programs for that I totally don't get. We go to museums regularly. We do occasional art workshops or short term classes. I keep materials and how to draw type books around for inspiration. I try to draw with the kids occasionally. That's it.

[Amy+2]

Barry Stebbing courses from How Great Thou Art are what we have had complete success with here.

 

We started with The Fundamentals of Beginning Drawing and Intermediate Drawing. These definitely get 'two thumbs up' from my boys!;)

[Ecclecticmum]

We're not much help here. Art and Crafts is what we live for. I have to tie in most of our stuff to use crafts.

 

We're trying Harmony Arts for this year, since it gives the plans for you, but the flexibility.

 

I'm fine for teaching my children to draw, making messy science projects, building big artworks etc, but I know Nada about "fine arts" other than the ballet music (like nutcracker, sugar plum fairies) and thats because I grew up with those (my sister was a ballet dancer), and only artist I really know about is Dali, because I love his works.

 

So I needed something to hold my hand and guide me, but still give me flexibility and allow me to choose the options. Harmony Fine Arts fits that gap nicely. I've been through the entire guide, scheduled it in, and printed & copied everything I need, and everything has just confirmed I made the right choice.

 

I think we'll stick it HFA for Art & Music Appreciation.

 

For other art, later on, marks online one looks good. Or theres that "not colouring" book series, haven't really looked into that at all, but people seem to like that.

 

It would be nice to find something for later on that teaches the finer points of cross-hatching and line shading. My father was a painter & artist, and he passed the genes down to both my brother and me, but it appears my brother got the better end of the deal LOL. I can sculpt, do mini cartoons, abstract paint, but have never been good with the finer ways of sketching or painting tips, my brother got that (he was accepted ino part of the Disney company, but my father stopped him from going saying drawing wasn't a real job, even though thats essentially what my father did :001_huh: )

 

Anyhoo, I'm babbling (one thing I absolutely excel at :D ) *ahem* as you were

[Paintedlady]

Atelier has been a success here. We've done 2 levels over the last 2 years. This year, we did fall behind with our 3rd level, but I really think we'll finish it this spring/summer. I just overscheduled our lives with outside activities this year to the point where there simply wasn't time for art.

 

I like Atelier because all I have to do is pop in a dvd and watch the lesson with my daughter. I usually take a peek at the teacher's manual ahead of time so I can have all of our supplies out on the table. Then we are set to go. I really appreciate the fact that the supplies are pretty basic and easy to keep on hand, but there is enough variety to keep things interesting.

 

Lisa

 

:iagree: We love Atlier and just for something different we added in Mark Kistler's lessons from his website. Both can be purchased through Homeschool Buyers Co-op right now.

[SilverMoon]

Artpac tablets and Draw Write Now have both gladly been completed in my house.

 

How about art resources that are used constantly? The Sister Wendy books qualify in our house. Both the American collection and 1000 Masterpieces.

[LMD]

Using CW primers this year - it includes a picture study 1 day a week (1 artist every 6 weeks) which has been really nice, and alleviates the 'art' guilt!

 

We also do Mark Kistler which DD loves... and she draws all day long if I let her so I'm not particularly worried!

[5LittleMonkeys]

We dabble with art all the time outside of school. I took a lot of art classes when I was younger and am always showing my dc different methods and techniques with different mediums. As for a program that gives me a plan to follow in a more structured way, I'm using The Phonics of Drawing right now. I really like that it isn't crafty or cartoonish. It teaches the fundamentals of formal art in a very clear step by step approach.

 

Where I have dropped the ball this year has been a study of great artists. I plan to rectify that this fall with the Artist Profile Portfolios from Simply Charlotte Mason. In addition to Discovering Great Artists, I think we will have a really great year of art next year.

[Momling]

We outsource our art instruction...

My younger daughter has a once-weekly watercolor class and my older has a painting class once/week and a drawing class once/week.

 

I know that's not what you wanted to hear, but that's the only way my kids will get any sort of art instruction.

[serendipitous journey]

I replied in the other thread that this year (and last year for that matter) my youngest has taken outside art lessons.

 

.../QUOTE]

 

I saw that, too! It may be the solution for us. Thanks so much for this sane, practical solution!

 

Over the years a couple resources I always go back to are:

 

The facial expressions in Ed Emberley's FingerPrint Drawing Book. Where ever I go , I leave behind photocopied pages of the "feelings" pages. It's kind of my trademark :-)

Drawing Textbook is just a TINY bit vague, but I've found it easier to supplement the book than to replace it. I watch just enough of Mark Kistler to hear and see what was vague in DT, and then click off. Kistler does NOT get done here, and I don't really know why, but...it just does NOT.

I used Art with a Purpose 4 and 5 with my younger son back in the 90s. I used to get that done. I just ordered the early grades yesterday on sale at Shekinah for $3.95 each.

Augsburg crayon paintings have been getting done around here lately. They make nice greeting cards.

I recently purchased Draw Write Now and the maps have been getting done. I scanned, cropped, enlarged and printed some of the pages.

 

Keyhole Ken has always been a big hit with adults and teens I have shared him with. Especially the drunk Ken, which you might want to cover with a black marker. That is the icebreaker that brings the adults to the table to start drawing though. He is the hook :-0

 

 

okay, the Augsburg Crayon drawing book (I just looked at grade 1) is jaw-dropping & amazing. :001_wub: <--- I have never had occasion to use that symbol before.

I like the Emberley fingerprint book, too, but think I need to cut us smaller papers 'cause our little creatures look so tiny on the page. And lost. Will check out your other suggestions.

 

But oh, my, that vintage art instruction book ... we may start this tomorrow.

 

Artistic Pursuits gets done regularly, but only because we got a kit with the supplies. If I had to round up the supplies for it all, it wouldn't have gotten done at all.

 

My 6yo also does Draw Write Now. He works through one or two drawings a week and loves it. Drawing/art is really his thing, so I have to make a very conscious effort that it does get scheduled and done.

 

Draw Write Now keeps coming up, this sounds worth a strong second look.

 

Atelier has been a success here. We've done 2 levels over the last 2 years. This year, we did fall behind with our 3rd level, but I really think we'll finish it this spring/summer. I just overscheduled our lives with outside activities this year to the point where there simply wasn't time for art.

 

I like Atelier because all I have to do is pop in a dvd and watch the lesson with my daughter. I usually take a peek at the teacher's manual ahead of time so I can have all of our supplies out on the table. Then we are set to go. I really appreciate the fact that the supplies are pretty basic and easy to keep on hand, but there is enough variety to keep things interesting.

 

Lisa

 

Have been thinking of Atelier b/c of this open and go element. Is it improving the child's skills? and it sounds like she enjoys it? thanks for this rec!

 

Sadly, art would be pushed to the back or forgotten about if it weren't in every week's lesson. When we stopped doing Oak Meadow for a month, we didn't do anything resembling art. I know myself; we would concentrate on math, reading and writing only if I didn't have something staring at me. :)

 

I looked at Oak Meadow but couldn't figure how to fit it well into our curriculum. Button is very accelerated in math, a bit accelerated in reading, and not a very Waldorf person ... but do you think Oak Meadow crafts could work well as a stand-alone, separate from their curriculum? I just couldn't find one curriculum year that would fit us.

 

Thank you, everybody!

 

I should say, the main challenge with Button (just figured this out tonight, after he Melted Down) is his temperament. This year I've spent so much energy managing him that I don't have energy for creativity. And he is a disaster when it comes to doing things _I_ love, art-wise. If I pull out materials for a project, he just immediately and naturally repurposes everything and then (it seems to me) gets frustrated when his visions don't work out. He is a perfectionist, and very feeling-oriented, and needs a lot of structure and also lot of room to be idiosyncratic, and the sweet thing is just a handful sometimes. But he's only 6, and we're growing him up which helps. I consciously decided that his first grade could be dedicated to skills (reading, writing, math) and to managing our home so that everyone is thriving. THAT got accomplished (roughly) and the rest was icing anyhow. I think :tongue_smilie:.

[Hunter]

If you end out using the figure drawing from Draw Write Now or 123 Draw, the Ed Emberly facial features are a nice supplement. If the book is distracting, you might want to just use it as a teacher manual, and present just one emotion a day, that you draw a model of, on paper or a blackboard.

 

Children (and adults) who suffer from meltdowns seem to like the Ed Emberly "feelings" pages the most. It gives them an alphabet to express their emotions. The rest of the book can be skipped. You might just want to get the book from the library and photocopy the 2 pages, I'm referring to.

 

The crayon paintings in Augsburg are amazing aren't they :-) Be prepared to have orange trees on a blue background sprinkled all over your house. I did the lesson with one of my adult tutoring students when she was a bit manic, and...oh dear...there were a LOT of orange and blue "paintings" here :lol: Did I link you to the Faber-Castell Beeswax Crayons for them?

 

The Augsburg two-handed drawings can be done in the sand, or on paper taped to a table, if you don't have a chalkboard. That type of art is supposed to be excellent for any type of LDs as it's supposed to develop brain connections. This is something I would really like to introduce to myself and one particular student this summer, at the beach.

 

But for people struggling to get art done, it's the crayon paintings in Augsburg that I recommend. Big returns for very little work.

 

When I am struggling to get art done, I have found it useful to print or photocopy JUST the best of the best. from several different curricula, and create a mini book. I three-hole punch the papers along with 2 pieces of card stock, and bind them with brass fasteners.

 

Edited April 16, 2012 by Hunter

[Hunter]

Here is a link to the crayons. You will need the 24 pack, as the 12 pack does not contain purple.

 

[Pen]

I replied in the other thread that this year (and last year for that matter) my youngest has taken outside art lessons.

 

.../QUOTE]

 

I saw that, too! It may be the solution for us. Thanks so much for this sane, practical solution!

 

 

 

okay, the Augsburg Crayon drawing book (I just looked at grade 1) is jaw-dropping & amazing. :001_wub: <--- I have never had occasion to use that symbol before.

I like the Emberley fingerprint book, too, but think I need to cut us smaller papers 'cause our little creatures look so tiny on the page. And lost. Will check out your other suggestions.

 

But oh, my, that vintage art instruction book ... we may start this tomorrow.

 

 

 

Draw Write Now keeps coming up, this sounds worth a strong second look.

 

 

 

Have been thinking of Atelier b/c of this open and go element. Is it improving the child's skills? and it sounds like she enjoys it? thanks for this rec!

 

 

 

I looked at Oak Meadow but couldn't figure how to fit it well into our curriculum. Button is very accelerated in math, a bit accelerated in reading, and not a very Waldorf person ... but do you think Oak Meadow crafts could work well as a stand-alone, separate from their curriculum? I just couldn't find one curriculum year that would fit us.

 

Thank you, everybody!

 

I should say, the main challenge with Button (just figured this out tonight, after he Melted Down) is his temperament. This year I've spent so much energy managing him that I don't have energy for creativity. And he is a disaster when it comes to doing things _I_ love, art-wise. If I pull out materials for a project, he just immediately and naturally repurposes everything and then (it seems to me) gets frustrated when his visions don't work out. He is a perfectionist, and very feeling-oriented, and needs a lot of structure and also lot of room to be idiosyncratic, and the sweet thing is just a handful sometimes. But he's only 6, and we're growing him up which helps. I consciously decided that his first grade could be dedicated to skills (reading, writing, math) and to managing our home so that everyone is thriving. THAT got accomplished (roughly) and the rest was icing anyhow. I think :tongue_smilie:.

 

 

I don't know that Button is at all like my son (younger and more math advanced obviously--though mine is starting to fly there now that I discovered MUS which I wish I'd found years ago), but a few things seem similar enough that I thought I might suggest what after much trial and error seems to work for mine.

 

The biggest thing is that when it comes to art I am letting my son take the lead as to what he wants to do or to learn to do. I try to provide what I can: materials, books, help from me or others as I am able and as if fits his creative aims.

 

I also found that he tends to want to make art of things he likes, animals for example, and that helps in choosing materials for him, as well as it helps to listen to what he seems to want to do next and to try to be ready for that. This is basically like trying to choose books that fit subjects he likes.

 

I don't know if MUS similarity is significant, but it seems like my son likes art to be often black and white drawing, and even when it is watercolor, he likes ... I don't know how to put it, but it is a look that fits with MUS materials...not cartoony, not silly, not arts and craftsy...sort of spare and elegant (I mean for a child). And he'd rather work on a person's head and then see how it resembles a sphere than gradually work from a sphere up to a head (though I did at one point get him to do a sphere first, by appealing to his interest in math and shapes and that it would later help with other things).

 

Not sure what you mean by Button "repurposes" things, nor what Button being a perfectionist means...but these comments could well apply to my son when it comes to art. Yet, trying to use "easy" projects was not helpful. It is helpful to keep emphasizing that working at it makes it get better. My son tends to throw out things he does that he does not like, but I have been trying to save and date some so that when he is in a perfectionist state of upset I can show him that even though it is not what he wants now, he can see how much he has improved compared to some time in the past. The other things is, I don't know how this would be for Button, but my son tends to calm down when he gets engaged in an art project, so it might help you there (with temperament and management) to find something Button would like. Maybe you could even let Button look at online samples and "look inside" features and see what sort of thing he might like to try.

[Hunter]

 

Not sure what you mean by Button "repurposes" things, .

 

Unfortunately I do :lol: No advice about that other than the crayon paintings were a hit with a repurposer.

[2_girls_mommy]

For 1st and 2nd grade I used the What Your 1st (and 2nd) Grader Needs to Know art section along with SOTW projects in our art time. It was really easy. I read a section to them, then did the project mentioned. They loved it. They love any art actually. There are online lesson plans and some print outs for the WTXGNTK at the Baltimore curriculum plan website too. Sometimes I used those too, but more often than not, there was enough to do in the book. Then I would pick up books at the library on the topics too. It was great for art appreciation too. I still remember my dd spotting a painting we had studied. It was on loan to our local art museum. We were walking by the museum, and she saw the poster for it in the window. That was pretty cool, and she was about 6 at the time.

 

Now we use Drawing with Children. It gets done and we enjoy it, though I see many on here don't.

 

I think the main thing for me is to have a dedicated art time that the kids look forward to, the same as I have a dedicated history or science time. If something is going to get skipped, yes it will be a formal art lesson. But at least 2 to 3 times a month during the majority of the year we are doing art. The rest of the time they fill in the time with ongoing projects or art from scouts, fair projects, or from history, etc. So I may have to glance at the book to make sure I have an idea of what is coming up, but I know it is coming up, so I do it.

[Hunter]

For 1st and 2nd grade I used the What Your 1st (and 2nd) Grader Needs to Know art section

 

Thanks for the reminder!

[2_girls_mommy]

You're welcome. Those were fun years. We dabbled in several different things, learned about lines and colors, and studied several different artists and styles and paintings. We made a huge mural (Ok it was on butcher paper, not the wall..)

 

We learn more actual skill and technique now with DWC, but we still read through the What Your X Grader Needs to Know art sections once in awhile.

 

And OT, those years, we used the music sections as a guide through music at home too. We had a good time with that and learned a lot too.

[Hunter]

I saw the guides recently, and all I wanted was the art, music and geography, so I wanted to wait and look for a used copy, but then forgot. I just got the K guide for $0.24. All the rest of the guides are more than I want to spend this month, but I will keep looking.

 

The past couple days, I've just been realizing how bad my organizational problems are. Sigh. These seizures just make a MESS of my brain. I need to put some things into place that are organized and VISUAL. I think what your grader needs to know is the right resource for art and music appreciation. Short, easy, but SOMETHING. I looked at the Baltimore site and it looks so good, but if I start reaching that high, I'll do nothing. I just need to put the current guide in the reading aloud pile, so I SEE it, and replace it when it's done, with a new guide. Right now I need to SEE what I need to do, cause...I'm just not going to remember otherwise.

 

I'm finding that anything that is in the read aloud pile gets done. And any resource books that are in the read aloud pile get consulted. Once I sit down and start reading, I don't get up quickly.

[2_girls_mommy]

Exactly. It is easy to getsomething done with these. I started out using it for first as I just didn't have the $ for the expensive art program I wanted. But we really enjoyed the year, so we did it again the next. If you have a friends of the library sale, look there. I manage to find one or more every year at ours for $1 or less. Also, your library may have them available to check out.

[serendipitous journey]

I have chosen 4 artists to study per year and bought the "Smart About Art" book for that particular artist. ..

Thanks for this resource rec; it's the first I've heard of it! I like the ideas you gave here ...

 

Art is one of the things I see people buying programs for that I totally don't get. We go to museums regularly. We do occasional art workshops or short term classes. I keep materials and how to draw type books around for inspiration. I try to draw with the kids occasionally. That's it.

I want the children to be able to draw, and ideally paint, extremely well and to have art as a natural mode of relating to their world -- esp. nature, and feelings. I think that for the level of goal & appreciation I have in mind, it would be helpful to give explicit and regular instruction. Also Button will not do art spontaneously. It's like pulling teeth; but the results seem worth it. -- he as an AMAZING sense of design. Really startling sometimes. I'm trying to gently develop and maintain that gift ... it seems to me so often children lose track of their gifts as they grow up, and I want to keep a line there for him ... this prob. doesn't make sense...

 

...

We started with The Fundamentals of Beginning Drawing and Intermediate Drawing. These definitely get 'two thumbs up' from my boys!;)

Unfortunately, this (How Great Thou Art) doesn't fit our religious orientation, but I have looked at it and it seems excellent. I'm glad you brought it up on this thread, and hope other readers take a look at it.

 

We're not much help here. Art and Crafts is what we live for. I have to tie in most of our stuff to use crafts.

We're trying Harmony Arts for this year, since it gives the plans for you, but the flexibility.

...

I think we'll stick it HFA for Art & Music Appreciation.

 

For other art, later on, marks online one looks good. Or theres that "not colouring" book series, haven't really looked into that at all, but people seem to like that....

 

I'm looking at HFA but am afraid I wouldn't get 'round to it.

Artpac tablets and Draw Write Now have both gladly been completed in my house.

 

How about art resources that are used constantly? The Sister Wendy books qualify in our house. Both the American collection and 1000 Masterpieces.

I have liked Sister Wendy, and haven't checked out the Artpac stuff -- will look at that.

Using CW primers this year - it includes a picture study 1 day a week (1 artist every 6 weeks) which has been really nice, and alleviates the 'art' guilt!

 

We also do Mark Kistler which DD loves... and she draws all day long if I let her so I'm not particularly worried!

What's the CW primer? -- and Kistler keeps coming up, that seems a no-brainer!

:iagree: We love Atlier and just for something different we added in Mark Kistler's lessons from his website. Both can be purchased through Homeschool Buyers Co-op right now.

:)

If you end out using the figure drawing from Draw Write Now or 123 Draw, the Ed Emberly facial features are a nice supplement. ...

Children (and adults) who suffer from meltdowns seem to like the Ed Emberly "feelings" pages the most. It gives them an alphabet to express their emotions. The rest of the book can be skipped. You might just want to get the book from the library and photocopy the 2 pages, I'm referring to.

...

The crayon paintings in Augsburg are amazing aren't they :-) Be prepared to have orange trees on a blue background sprinkled all over your house. I did the lesson with one of my adult tutoring students when she was a bit manic, and...oh dear...there were a LOT of orange and blue "paintings" here :lol: Did I link you to the Faber-Castell Beeswax Crayons for them?

 

 

Thanks for the advice on feelings! Last night I was wondering how to better use expressive arts to work with his feelings; I'm afraid I just gave him a sheet of his MathUSee and had him do half the problems to calm him down (and it worked ...)

 

 

I don't know that Button is at all like my son (younger and more math advanced obviously--though mine is starting to fly there now that I discovered MUS which I wish I'd found years ago),...

The biggest thing is that when it comes to art I am letting my son take the lead as to what he wants to do or to learn to do. I try to provide what I can: materials, books, help from me or others as I am able and as if fits his creative aims.

...

 

This is helpful to read -- we love MUS here, too! (well I love it, he loves Life of Fred) I will think about your point RE spare, elegant line. Button does have an appreciation of elegance, form, and nice use of space that is encouraging to someone teaching art.

 

For 1st and 2nd grade I used the What Your 1st (and 2nd) Grader Needs to Know art section along with SOTW projects in our art time. It was really easy.

 

This post, and Hunter's support that follows & point that the What ... Needs to Know series could be used to springboard both art and music (and maybe geography) is VERY encouraging. This, with the Augsberg -- thank for the Crayon link, Hunter! I tried to multi-quote you for that but apparently my multi-quotes maxed out -- the Emberley, Kistler and maybe Draw Write Now, plus the references people have mentioned, would be quite a program. I think I'll try to get something together and head into summer with a rough plan, and test it before next year; I love the summer for art.

 

thanks everybody!

[Loudwater School]

I don't plan or lead Artistic Pursuits. I hand the book to the child and say, "do all the activities in this unit, and read it carefully." So that gets done pretty easily.

 

Complete-a-Sketch is another program that I can hand to a kid and say, "do two pages in this." That's all I have to do. So that gets done too!

[Lizzie in Ma]

We have done really well with the Barry Stebbing series. We did I Can Do All Things years ago, now we are doing God and the History of Art for High School and Feed My Sheep for 5th and 6th.

I really love them because they are easy to implement and the dvds are awesome.

[delaney]

I subscribed to this recently:

 

https://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/index.php?option=com_hsbc_epp_order&Itemid=1194&c=1

 

It's pretty neat. I plan to just let my kids use it when they want.

 

My younger son takes an art class. My older son isn't so much into art. I randomly pick out art history type books from the library from time to time and read them aloud.

 

Both of my kids like doing crafty type projects so we do those sometimes.

My kids love Mark Kistler! They take every chance to go on and do his lessons. I also do Meet the Masters and I like that it has direction to the activities. Last week we created plaids in all different varieties!

[Hunter]

Thanks for the advice on feelings! Last night I was wondering how to better use expressive arts to work with his feelings; I'm afraid I just gave him a sheet of his MathUSee and had him do half the problems to calm him down (and it worked ...)

 

Math can be calming. If he calms from math, then you might want to look into drill type arts, as another option to calm him, especially where math and art overlap.

 

I don't remember the name of the book, but I have just the emotions pages like these. They show 6 primary emotions and then all sorts of in-betweens. It's very mathy, as you can see. These are a step up from Ed Emberly and more organized.

 

 

When I was homeless, I had to rip out just the pages I needed from books and throw the rest away. I forget to annote these pages with the title. It's good stuff, but I don't know what it is :-)

 

Drawing Textbook is also a book I have used to calm myself. It has a very phonics feel to it.

 

 

 

Geometric constructions can be calming. Especially mixed with color theory and color therapy.

 

 

I know this is all too much. I'm just giving you a few visuals, so in the future when you have new more advanced questions, I put a picture in your brain of where you might want to head.

[Hunter]

Every single student of mine, including the kids, have not liked Mark Kistler and I don't know why. They will watch Kistler to supplement a vague instruction in Drawing Textbook, but then IMMEDIATELY click off in revulsion.

 

I love the step by step, but he doesn't draw anything that my students want to draw. They actually prefer more boring sketches that are not really anything. And I have the same reaction as my students. I want to like Kistler but I don't. It would be so easy if I did.

[Pen]

...

I want the children to be able to draw, and ideally paint, extremely well and to have art as a natural mode of relating to their world -- esp. nature, and feelings. I think that for the level of goal & appreciation I have in mind, it would be helpful to give explicit and regular instruction. Also Button will not do art spontaneously. It's like pulling teeth; but the results seem worth it. -- he as an AMAZING sense of design. Really startling sometimes. I'm trying to gently develop and maintain that gift ... it seems to me so often children lose track of their gifts as they grow up, and I want to keep a line there for him ... this prob. doesn't make sense...

 

... Last night I was wondering how to better use expressive arts to work with his feelings; I'm afraid I just gave him a sheet of his MathUSee and had him do half the problems to calm him down (and it worked ...)

 

 

This is helpful to read -- we love MUS here, too! (well I love it, he loves Life of Fred) I will think about your point RE spare, elegant line. Button does have an appreciation of elegance, form, and nice use of space that is encouraging to someone teaching art.

 

 

...

thanks everybody!

 

You asked at one point about Oak Meadow crafts. I am not sure about the crafts...maybe. But also you might want to look at "form drawing" which tends to be very geometric and thus perhaps settling to someone who is rather mathy. At 6 my son was enjoying painting weather, particularly storms such as hurricanes and tornadoes...sometimes planets and the universe. Black holes. Then he moved to drawing buildings from the inside and outside. Now he is on living things including people. (well, actually he is drawing people who were once alive, but are now dead). I am glad he is mostly drawing rather than painting now because it is a lot less messy, but the painting allows more feeling to be expressed, perhaps. I still like to have a painting day every so often.

 

We love LOF too, btw.

[birchbark]

Mark Kistler, La Clase Divertida (not art, but has some art projects included)

 

With my soft spot for Waldorf, we used and enjoyed doing these simple wet-on-wet watercolors this year.

[threeturn]

We had been outsourcing art here, but then I made an impulse purchase at the convention last month. I bought a Home Art Studio DVD. We have done the first three projects and love, love, love it. The kids really listen to the DVD teacher and their projects have turned out great. They are learning about line, color, mediums. So far I have had all the supplies we needed except for the big size of watercolor paper.

 

I blogged about our projects with photos here and here.

 

I got the first grade DVD. I think I am going to pick up the K and Second grade ones and stop outsourcing the art. I imagine we will continue the lessons through the summer.

 

Pam

[Hunter]

I love Waldorf stuff, but never get any of it done. Sigh!

[iquilt]

We have completed lessons from every section of the book How to Teach Art to Children, published by Evan-mor, this year. Next year they loved the lessons so much we will continue with Artworks For Kids, also by Evan-mor. We have done other art programs in the past that we have enjoyed but this year was the first year all three were together for art lessons and, while completing the lessons at their own levels, they all learned and enjoyed. How Great Thou Art has some great lessons available that are easy to implement and since my younger two didn't really get to do that program while my oldest was doing it I'll use the materials that I already have for them in the years to come. I highly recommend How to Teach Art to Children as the lessons are very organized, easy to implement, and it's easy to pick the ones that are of interest to your family. We have been doing art every Monday afternoon all year. HTH!