Holly IN Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 Hello Our homeschool group is hiring a teacher to teach art. (Real art teacher who was homeschooled to boot!!) However she is charging alot of money... Too much for us. We are still considering sacrificing something so the kids can take the class. She will not do sibling discounts... My question is would you do take your kids to the class or buy a very good art curriuclam yourself and everybody does it at home? She will be covering drawings and paintings as well as art appreciation. I am not too thrilled about her covering art appreciation as I do that at home anyway. Thus why I am not happy about the price. If at home what do you use? Thanks Holly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen500 Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 For our family, I've only paid for art classes when it's something we can't/won't do at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia in WA Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 When art was less of a priority for me I paid a teacher to do it. Now we are really enjoying art with Atelier so we do it at home. If you are not comfortable with this teacher then it sounds to me that you should try at home. I would go that route. She seems to be inflexible which is a real turn off for me personally. HTHs, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamnkats Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 When we lived in the US the kids took occasional art classes and then we did nothing formal for a long time (though the kids do crafts and draw daily on their own). This year we're doing Artistic Pursuits and personally, I can't wait! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweetpeach Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 Last year, we paid "out the wazoo" for art classes - all three of my children participated. I found it was waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much money for what we got -- it became more crafty than art. My children loved it - the whole thing, but I had a hard time stomaching close to $35 a class for 12 weeks. I bought Atelier Art for this year . . . and I'll continue to research dvd art programs for subsequent years. I've also invited a few hs friends to join us as we work through AA, hoping that the comraderie will make the art classes feel more like last year. Hope this helps, T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly IN Posted July 31, 2008 Author Share Posted July 31, 2008 Oh my....I guess I better tell you what the charge is for the class.... $84 for 12 weeks, 1 hour class with 30 kids :001_huh: After reading both threads, dh and I decided we will buy a program instead of taking them to the art class. Dh said he will do them with the kids in the evenings.:001_smile: Holly Last year, we paid "out the wazoo" for art classes - all three of my children participated. I found it was waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much money for what we got -- it became more crafty than art. My children loved it - the whole thing, but I had a hard time stomaching close to $35 a class for 12 weeks. T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amber Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 If it's too much money then do it at home. I would not sacrifice. I love art and I think classes are great depending on the teacher and the age of the kids. DD is a wonderful painter so I am looking for an art instructor. DS is 7 and loves to draw so I got him some paperback drawing books. He's happy. Amber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSAcademy Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 Well...to help put things in perspective and give you an idea of the costs for our Gallery school...my dd's art classes are $655.00 + tax, for each 10 week session. The weekly classes are three hours long, and there are three studio sessions to attend... for a grand total of $1,965 for the Fall to Spring classes. This does not include the material fee (minimal) or photography fees (for portfolios - if you're so inclined?!) Since I'm seriously artistically challenged, and could not provide the art lessons she needs at home..."Creative Stick People 101", and "Perspective - Or Who Really Wants to Draw A Straight Line Anyway" ...would just not cut it around here. DD loves her art classes - so for us it's worth every penny. There is also the added benefit that her art classes help balance out the rep hockey costs for our ds - which again are astronomical...and provide relatively inexpensive art work for the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagira Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 Artistic Pursuits looks like a quality program. Personally I wouldn't spend that kind of money for outsourcing unless my dc was going to be an artist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMom2One Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 Oh my....I guess I better tell you what the charge is for the class.... $84 for 12 weeks, 1 hour class with 30 kids :001_huh: After reading both threads, dh and I decided we will buy a program instead of taking them to the art class. Dh said he will do them with the kids in the evenings.:001_smile: Holly Holly, I am a trained professional art teacher who teaches part-time at a local private school. I have a degree and several years' experience in fine arts and have shown my work in galleries from time to time. I am completely astounded at the cost this person is charging for art classes! I could be wrong, but it gives me the impression that money is the main thing for the teacher and there might be a bit of arrogance involved. First of all, 30 students in a one hour class is too much for any quality time. How could this teacher possibly give each child time for some one-on-one personal interaction? I teach on average 20-22 students per hour with the help of parent volunteers and that is challenging enough. Secondly, this person must be a very successful, high profile artist because she is reaping in a much higher wage than most of us that teach art in the communities of America!! My paid staff salary is close to the same as hers, but I teach 8 classes a week and have a total of nearly 200 students. If I teach privately to students out of my home I get a higher wage per hour, but there are never more than 4 students in the group and I give plenty of on-on-one. Art lessons from a trained, experienced art teacher are a wonderful thing to offer a child if it is available for a reasonable price. Many families are willing to provide this type of training for children if the subject is music, but have a hard time placing the same value on art. I think that the art curriculum programs that are listed here that are being used by homeschool families on this board sound really, really great. I may even use one of them for my dd at some point, but I also have to say that getting private lessons from an art teacher from time to time would enrichen the lives of your children. Adding an artist's personality, perspective and technique would be well worth it for a child that is interested in art. Ideally, different teachers over the years would add a lot of variety and interest to a child's art education. I think you made a wise choice to not enroll in the art class this time and I hope you really enjoy your home art classes. I'd love it if you pm sometime and tell me how you like the curriculum you have chosen. Blessings, Lucinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tina in WA Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 With the cost you posted, if I am reading it correctly, works out to be $7 a class. Cost wise, that isn't to bad taking a lesson from a professional artist. But like Lucinda said, the number of students is way to high (IMHO mommy opinion). I don't see how it could be "quality" art instruction. My dd took lesson at a art studio. The cost is $80 a month for 4 (sometimes 5) 1.5 hour lessons. There were a max of 16 in the class and the teacher had NO helper. I saw this as a negative. I felt that sometimes I didn't feel she was ready and/or rushed into teaching the next class (she had a class right before DD that ended when dd class began). And that really that .5 hour was used as her transition time from one class to another. On occasion, I have stayed and helped the instructor clean up. I felt so sorry for her. She really appreciated my wiliness to lend a hand. And boy, I thought she could use someone on a permit basis. I couldn't imagine her teaching 30 students (even with a few parent volunteers) with only an hour block of time. Oh... another thought, even though the block of time at dd art school, projects were not completed each week. Some of them took 2 weeks to complete. With that said though, I overall dd enjoyed the class and I enjoyed having her take it. Her love for drawing is amazing and I feel she improved with her time at the art school. We took this summer off and now she will take beginning art and design at our co-op with a professional artist that did work for Disney and Universal. I am SOOOOOOOOO excited. I taught art at a co-op last year using Atelier Art and it worked wonderfully. I am art challenged, but the video based instruction helped a lot. It is well worth its price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueGator Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 This summer I found this HS Mom's Art daily art blog. I bought her Art and Music Appreciation Program that coordinates with my 4th year SoTW and is for upper elementary for my 4th grader. I have don't have the art supplies yet. I did purchase the books she suggested on amazon. I bought used ones and it cost about $20. The suppies don't seem like they will cost more than $20. I like the layout and ease of the program. DS likes it also. I signed up for e-mail updates from her blog. It gives me courage to try different things. :) http://harmonyartmom.blogspot.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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