Hi fellow homeschoolers! Since I know a lot of you are out there contemplating your curriculum for next year, I thought it would be fun to do a curriculum series where we can all talk about our favorites.
My “plan” is to discuss one subject per day with you all. I’ll of course share my picks for the subject, and then you will all be free to leave a comment on this post regarding your favorites as well!
So today I wanted to talk about your favorite art program, curriculum, unit study, website, or resource. Feel free to leave a comment below with your top art picks and why so we can all share our wisdom with one another!
One of my favorite art curriculum is the See The Light Art DVDs. Not only do I NOT have to teach the actual lesson, but I can participate! And the kids love the lessons and we have been really impressed with their finished products as well.
Pros:
- The art project DVDs include wonderful art techniques and instruction via video lessons.
- You can stop, pause, or replay the lessons as needed.
- Supplies are fairly normal, they don’t usually require anything that is hard to find.
Cons:
- Some of the lessons can be quite long, and my students will sometimes “fast-foward” through some of the slower parts.
- The DVD price might be a little high depending on your budget.
I love the Home Art Studio DVDs they have really fun art projects. They are sold by grade level, which might not work as well if you have multiple-grades represented in your home. But I’ve found that for the most part, if you pick a DVD between the upper grades in your home, you can have everyone do a project from one DVD and it seems to be okay. There have been a few times where it was more difficult for my youngest, but I don’t expect her work to be the same level as her older sister. So we just go with it and they’ve done fine. The DVDs may cost a bit more, but they also take the pressure off of you to teach a lesson. If you’re not comfortable teaching art, you can simply gather the required materials and let the DVD do the teaching for you.
Pros:
- Great video led art lessons, lessons are challenging, fun, and well laid out. They also have some free lessons on their website as well.
Cons:
- Price. They are purchased by grade level which can get kind of expensive if you have multiple grades using it. They also only have lessons for K-4th as of right now.
And of course we are having a wonderful time doing our Greatest Artists Units as well! I have two volumes out now for you all.
What Artists are included in Vol 1?
- Pablo Picasso
- Vincent Van Gogh
- Jackson Pollock
- Claude Monet
- Henry Matisse
- Georgia O’keefe
- Michelangelo
- Leonardo Da Vinci
What artists are included in Vol. 2?
Some of my favorite art resources are found for free online! Here are my top art websites:
So, now comes the fun part!
What are your favorite art curriculum, resources, websites, etc? Leave a comment below discussing your choices for art this year and why.
Feel free to ask questions or reply to each other too!
It’s my way of doing a forum without actually doing a forum haha!
And hopefully this will help us all as we start the process of researching curriculum, and trying to decide what will be the best fit for our homeschool.
Note: Please keep today’s conversations geared towards ART, I will be posting one for each subject separately so we can keep our comments organized.
Disclosure: This was not a sponsored post, I may however be affiliated with one or more products mentioned. The opinions expressed in this post were not influenced by the company. They are products I have used and felt like sharing, cuz’ it’s my blog and I can if I want to.
Erica,
I love that you are hosting this curricula review! I adore your blog and your eagerness to share with blogland!
My kindergartner has a great interest I just gave her a sketchbook and book that had some basic drawing things and she loved it. I would love to expand the learning for her. But I have not been able to find a lot of art lesson type stuff for kindergartens. Would “see the light work” for children that young or does anyone have suggestions for other things that work
Do you have Young Rembrandts in your area? I know it’s an “outside class,” but we have had great experience with it. http://www.youngrembrandts.com
We have used Artistic Pursuits this year. The kids have really enjoyed it, although I have to say, a curriculum that I don’t have to “teach” and can learn as the kids do sounds really great, Erica! I’m also interested in your “Great Artists” unit studies, but I am curious as to how you incorporate them (or find the time to incorporate them, actually) into your curriculum? Do you do the study once a week? Alternate art days with unit study days? I struggle with putting way too much on our plate and really have to start thinking through the scheduling of all these wonderful studies! 🙂
Great question! I also don’t want to give my up coming 1st grader to much. I would also love to know how you work it in as well.
We tried Artistic Pursuits, and after a couple of weeks into we never picked up the books again. A lot of wordiness, little substance. It felt more like a craft-making book than an ‘art’ instruction book. The only thing nice about it was the occasional famous painting shown in it (about one every chapter). I would pass on this one.
Love deep space sparkle, it has sections clearly marked grade wise. Very easy to navigate blog and overall I love it . she also books that go with the projects.
overall, Love it.
I highly recommend the art lessons from Christan Light Publications. They are very inexpensive, and are provided for all grades. The things my 1st grader has been creating through their instruction are very impressive!
When I taught in elementary school we used Meet the Masters. I was impressed with the quality of art projects that such young kids produced. I have never used it in my home school setting, well not yet anyway I have a 3 and 4 year old. I look forward to using it along with some free lessons from Deep Space Sparkle.
For your 3 and 4 year old have you started any formal books with art?
Thanks for hosting this! I’ve been looking for something for our oldest daughter (9 yo) who LOVES art! I just finished browsing Deep Space Sparkle and I know that is going to be a hit with all our children. But we also use our local library! Our daughter loves the “How to Draw …” series books for kids.
I used Home Art Studio with Sydney for K, I love it! And I purchased it for 1st grade too! 🙂
I’m looking forward to using your Greatest Artists #1 next year! In the past the kids and I have also enjoyed Discovering Great Artists (and other books by the same author) and Teaching Art to Children.
I’m thrilled that you’ve brought this up as I was beginning to wonder if there will be a way to teach one art class to all four of my kids simultaneously and just expect different results based on age level? At the very least I’d like to combine the lessons for the older two and then the younger two so I’d only do art twice, but I’d STILL need to be using the same mediums or I know there will be a riot! lol, Suggestions? (this is theoretical as the ages are 6, 4, 1.5, ~.5 and only the older two are in school.) What do the rest of you with multiple aged children do?
I use Home Art Studio for my kids 8, 5, 3. We are using the K level, 8yo does it by himself while I help the younger two. My 3yo can follow along surprisingly well. It’s DVD based and affordable with short lessons.