Let's Talk about Teaching Art...

[TheAttachedMama]

Let's talk about art instruction:

 

How often do you try to schedule art in your homeschool?

 

What are your favorite resources for teaching art?

 

Let's say you want to raise children who are reasonably proficient in drawing.  How often should they try to sketch?   

[nixpix5]

Oh I like this topic :) I can't wait to hear what other people do with art.

 

We aim for atleast once a week. Last year we used Meet the Masters once a month and Home Art Studio the other weeks with Draw Write Now thrown in for some art and copy work.

 

This year I am upping it a bit by using a DVD based drawing curriculum once per week and Creating a Masterpiece once per month along with a co-op drawing class once per week.

 

I used to not think too much about art to be honest. I saw the benefit and fun of it but didn't really appreciate what else it can do for brain development. Learning to draw and maneuver on a page in space is excellent for math and geometry skills.

Edited August 14, 2017 by nixpix5

[HomeAgain]

I have one art lesson scheduled weekly to learn the skills of drawing, sculpting, and painting.  But I also have at least one craft day scheduled and one art study scheduled each week spread out across the different subjects.

 

My favorite resource is Artistic Pursuits, mostly because it is the one that gets done here.  I have Meet The Masters, a public school textbook called Art Connection,  and Art Tango on the computer, but AP gets done consistently and I can weave the lessons into the time period we're studying.  So it's my favorite - not because it's especially great, but because it gets done.

[knitgrl]

We schedule art once a week-ish. We just started using arttango this year. We used Sandi Henry's book, Kids' Art Works! for 1st grade, and I really, really liked it. The directions were easy to follow, and the materials easy to come by. The final products looked great, but still looked like they were done by kids. It included a lot of different mediums. I first ran across it at the library.

Edited August 14, 2017 by knitgrl

[Farrar]

I think Arttango is one of the best resources out there and it's free. I tout it a lot and I wish I'd discovered it earlier. It has just the right philosophy.

 

I don't schedule art. It just happens. Whenever I'm feeling like we need a shake up, I pack up sketch books and drawing stuff and haul the kids to a museum for the afternoon. Usually the Hirshhorn. I mean, usually I want to go to, like, the National Gallery, but my children really like the weird art.

[EKT]

I rave about this site all the time on here, but I can't recommend Creativebug.com highly enough. It costs $4.95/month and there are classes for everything under the sun, from all types of drawing and painting to sewing, quilting, knitting, jewelry design, cake decorating, etc. It's like Netflix, but for art classes; you pay $4.95/month and get unlimited access to all the classes and you get to keep one video for good each month, even if you cancel your subscription. The video lessons are all gorgeously produced and all the classes are taught by working, professional (talented!) artists. Everyone in our family uses the site constantly.  

 

As for how we use it in our homeschool, we do a formal lesson all together (me included!) each Friday, but the girls are also free to watch and "do" a Creativebug lesson anytime they have creative playtime. (That is, whenever they are done with school, chores, free reading, etc., etc.) (But they also make art spontaneously all the time, for sure. Art is really important to us.) 

Edited August 14, 2017 by EKT

[Peaceseeker]

For elementary I just kept supplies accessible and learned to buy nicer art supplies. They were naturally creative kids and I just tried to go with a rich environment. They did take an occasional co-op art class in upper elementary/middle school and my daughter did try a few online classes (virtual art instructor) and used a few learn to draw manga books, etc.

 

I wish we had a decent drawing class offered around me but I haven't found one. My daughter says she prefers to learn art from a real teacher as opposed to videos and books but it would be an hour drive one way at least and I haven't found a class that meshes with our schedule.

 

I have done appalling little art history or art appreciation over the years although they did get some of that at co-op. We have a ton of art history books lying around they sometimes look at, but I never got around to the Meet The Masters program I bought. I am truly terrible with hands on projects. I did better with composer studies/ music appreciation. We will most likely study some art history in high school.

 

My son did pick as an elective this year A Child's History of Art course on architecture. It does include ideas for projects but I think he is old enough now to do them himself and he is very interested in architecture, which means that it might actually get done.

Edited August 14, 2017 by CaliforniaDreaming

[nixpix5]

I rave about this site all the time on here, but I can't recommend Creativebug.com highly enough. It costs $4.95/month and there are classes for everything under the sun, from all types of drawing and painting to sewing, quilting, knitting, jewelry design, cake decorating, etc. It's like Netflix, but for art classes; you pay $4.95/month and get unlimited access to all the classes and you get to keep one video for good each month, even if you cancel your subscription. The video lessons are all gorgeously produced and all the classes are taught by working, professional (talented!) artists. Everyone in our family uses the site constantly.

 

As for how we use it in our homeschool, we do a formal lesson all together (me included!) each Friday, but the girls are also free to watch and "do" a Creativebug lesson anytime they have creative playtime. (That is, whenever they are done with school, chores, free reading, etc., etc.) (But they also make art spontaneously all the time, for sure. Art is really important to us.)

This looks so amazing!

[EKT]

This looks so amazing!

 

It IS! (Can you tell I'm obsessed?) lol. I think everyone should at least do the free trial. 

 

We've had it for years now and I just love it. And $4.95/month is an insanely good deal. I could go on and on... ;-) 

[2_girls_mommy]

Different things every year! 

 

In elem. things I liked were Drawing with Children and What Your X Grader Needs to Know books art sections and the Usborne art books, both ones of projects, the one on Famous Artists and the Internet Linked Art History one.  I set aside one afternoon a week for art class, but we did it other times as well. But I liked having a set day so that it was part of our routine.  We did seasonal projects, went to museums, read books and discussed the art in them, did projects as part of our other subjects like SOTW projects, notebooking and drawing, entering contests.

 

In middle school and beginning of high school we did/do a variety of things, but no set curriculum. We used paid outside classes, free community classes, co-op classes, art appreciation and projects at home, etc.  We worked on things they were interested in like photography and different crafts they got into.   I didn't usually have a set time for art by this time since we weren't working through a curriculum and they generally had a set time in outside classes. They just worked on what they needed to work on, and we did occasional units or seasonal projects. But we always continued to learn about art. 

 

My mdd just turned 13. For her bday she got a good set of colored pencils, new watercolors, a package of canvases, several new acrylic colors, a new brush set, a pretty paint by numbers, and new sketch pad and charcoals, lol. So our methods have worked. She is our little artist. She was in heaven on her bday with all of her goodies. 

 

My odd has a bday coming up. She is getting less actual art supplies, as she isn't into it as much as sis, but she is getting a new paint by numbers and new embroidery thread for friendship bracelet making among other things. She went through phases of liking different handicrafts more than actual art. She prefers to make collages when given an open ended art project assignment. She is into photography and is currently picking out some to enter into an upcoming contest. She plays piano and dances.  She will have an art class at co-op this coming year for the first time in awhile, just the way her schedule works out this year. 

 

So I am happy with the way the arts have worked for us. 

 

 

[AdventuresinHomeschooling]

I TRY to do art once a week.  I usually get to instructed art at least once a month, but I will assign them Draw Write Now on their independent days.  We have outsourced for some classes too.  We have used Artistic Pursuits and like that.  I have other resources on my shelf, such as Discovering Great Artists, and I have gotten project ideas from Pinterest.  My favorite free resource is www.hodgepodge.me.  It is all sorts of projects with chalk pastels.  In general, my kids are always drawing and creating...one of my kids likes to make comic books and claymation stop animation videos.  

 

One resource that I like but have never been able to fully implement is the Drawing with Children.  I just can't seem to put those concepts fully into practice.

[ChristinaRossetti]

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is a classic text for adults and has exercises that really help the artist break through the perceptual "wall", but the writing isn't so great (IMO). You would need to explain everything to your children, and in order to do so well, you'd need to do the exercises yourself. Also, the author suggests not starting the book with children until they show signs of readiness, namely, attempting to show depth in their drawings.

 

I like coming up with my own art curriculum by piecing things together, but I have enjoyed using the book Art Lab for Little Kids (not so great for drawing, but good ideas when you want to practice your color theory!). And of course, Google is always your friend. I've gotten loads of ideas simply by googling "elementary art projects" (You've got to weed out all the crafts) and then finding projects appropriate to whatever I want to cover.

 

As for how often, I think that depends on your children's interest and your own interest. If you love it and they love it and you have enough time, then maybe two or three times a week (that's what we do).

[wehave8]

Let's talk about art instruction:

 

How often do you try to schedule art in your homeschool?

 

What are your favorite resources for teaching art?

 

Let's say you want to raise children who are reasonably proficient in drawing.  How often should they try to sketch?   

I have always scheduled it for once a week.  It never (well, very seldom) got done.

 

This year I bought 2 art programs, Artistic Pursuits and See the Light Art.  We started school 2 weeks ago.  I have art scheduled once a week, but after tweaking our first 2 weeks, we will be doing art 2x/wk.  It has been going very well.  We started with StL.  I took the plunge and bought a bunch of true art supplies so we have what the lessons call for.  They like what they've done so far, and so do I.  The video lessons are helpful.  I like the instructions for real technique for real drawing.  We did Atelier in the past, and it was great in the early elementary years, but maybe I didn't give it enough chance in the older levels to appreciate it.

 

With our older children, we did Drawing Textbook by Bruce McIntyre.  (Wow!  I see it's back in print.)  And I never knew there was more than 1 book!!  It was excellent for a drawing text.  Very simple, but good.  I liked doing it together, but it is very do-able for independent, too.

 

I think they should be sketching daily, or at least a few times a week if you want them to be proficient in it.  I have some grandchildren who sketch every day like someone who would take a music lesson.  JMO  :)

 

Pam

[Runningmom80]

I would love to do art multiple times a week. We are signed up for the Waldorfish weekly art (online) this year. I'm sure we will do other art throughout the week, but this way I know it gets done at least once! We are also using Art History kids modern artist study, which has art activities in it as well.

[Hobbes]

We usually schedule for 1x/week,typically Fridays. This year we will be using Art For Kids: Drawing, which we tested a little in the summer and liked.

 

Otherwise, art happens organically. My oldest loved Mark Kistler's video lessons for a while - taught her a lot about shading and perspective. Both girls tend to do a lot of art independently in quiet time. We have Draw Write Now, which we use in spontaneous drawing/audiobook afternoons and which they use on their own.

 

For art appreciation, we loved this a few years ago (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0794514529/ref=pd_aw_sbs_14_of_47?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=ZVC4QNJZZYMYB9FPKXAF), we have enjoy this very much in morning time (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1579129560/ref=pd_aw_sbs_14_of_7?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=XQCHMH2N89CRQT8M7KYP), and we discuss our Met Art Calendar every day. Once a week they choose a painting from a previous year to glue into their journals and narrate.

 

So far, they are fond of art and love galleries. I think my oldest is most likely to keep up with making art long-term.

[Bluegoat]

I'd like to do practical art once a week, unfortunately I often don't get there.  I do encourage the kids to keep a sketchbook and work on their own projects, but it's often self-directed.  Really, the more they sketch, the  better they get at it.

 

My older daughter tend to prefer craft type activities - sewing, making things, while my middle daughter really works on her drawing.  We do regularly have an impromptu drawing lesson - I notice she is trying to achieve something and I give her some tips and ideas.  

 

I am lucky as far as thinking about projects go - I took art as an extra-curricular from elementary through high school, so I have lots of project ideas that I remember doing.  A format one of my art teachers used is one that I tend to go with - we look at some examples of an artistic work, and then we do a project that in some way relates - it can be quite direct, or thematic similarities, or a certain technique

[mommyoffive]

This summer we have been doing Art everyday.  My kids are always drawing, crafting, sewing.....

 

But we have been using Arthubforkids.com and art history on Khan Academy.  

[SilverMoon]

Great questions! I haven't done so well on art in the past. This is going to be our family wide art year. I'm trying to attack it from various angles to see what catches which kid and expose us all to new ideas. So I have some random books just to promote out of the box creativity (Imaginary World of ____, Wreck This Journal, etc), some art history with or without related projects (Discovering Great Artists, Sister Wendy, etc). I bulked up on random art supplies (crayons, pencils, paints, etc), and as a group we decided drawing lessons are a specific area we want direct instruction on. So I have some Mark Kistler books for that. Then some documentaries, trips to the art center, and random playing with different mediums thrown in for good measure.  DS/9th wants to get into technical drawing as well, and maybe graphic design. I'm going to try jumping into these projects with them. If my art skill could get better anyone's could...lol.

 

Obviously I have no answers to your questions but maybe some of those ideas are helpful.

[LMD]

We do some every day. We have done a short drawing (we used mark Kistler) and we are currently doing watercolour (pieced together because I couldn't find anything I was happy with)

It's part of morning time for us and takes about 10-15min. I do it too and I love it, I was a non-drawer/artist, but I get it now.

 

I find that a little bit everyday has made a huge difference in their skills and confidence. Huge. Way more than a big project every now and then. We also do a combined art history/project with another family most Fridays, and *try* to do a mature walk/sketch once a week - but I'm bad at making that happen right now.

Edited August 16, 2017 by LMD

[YodaGirl]

I have 2 k-3 and 1 4-5 Artistic Pursuits books with all the supplies, but I thoroughly suck at completing the lessons.

 

My youngest is 6 and a perfectionist. If doesn't look like he thinks it should, he'd just as soon tear it up and throw it away as opposed to finish it. It's just easier to let him do free art.

 

My oldest is in 5th grade and does much better with in-person instruction to provide feedback which I'm not really skilled to give.

 

I prefer to outsource to an amazing teacher in town.