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.
http://www.artprojectsforkids.org/
I’ve used several of these lessons with our small co-op group (2 five year olds and a three year old). There are plenty of activities for older kids, too. In the left margin is an extensive list of artists and activities. I’ve found them to be really quite easy to understand and explain to the kids.
We use Drawing with Children, the Draw Write Now! series, I Can Do All Things, and Deep Space Sparkle.
Thanks for all the great ideas. I have the See the Light curriculum but decided to wait until next year. I loaned them to my sister (kids are 11 and 13). The first few were a little slow for them but now they enjoy art time. We have just used the Usborne art sticker book.
My kids and I love http://www.thatartistwoman.org/ There are tons of art lessons, with step by step instructions and in most cases, a picture to go along with each step. There are lessons by topic or by season and I can make most work for all of my kids – from kindergarten to 8th grade.
I forgot to add that it’s all FREE!!!
We have been using Artistic Pursuits this year and we are really enjoying it (my MIL and myself as much as the kids!)! We have gone through the first book and are into the second one. I’m going to check out all the other wonderful ideas as well. Thanks for hosting!
ps. I got the Artistic Pursuits idea from your blog and look forward to seeing your curriculum plans for this year.
These aren’t “how to draw” books, but the Come Look With Me series is a great way to introduce quality art to kids. My daughter enjoyed looking, discussing, and then trying to replicate something that the artist had done.
We use Artistic Pursuits, and LOVE it!!! I like how it incorporates art history into the daily lessons, and we can also do each lesson more than once if we choose. I love that it covers all ages, we are using the K-3 grade level books even though my son is in 5th grade because he had no solid art studies when he was in school, and he still loves and enjoys it, we are looking forward to starting the middle school level courses next year. Also I just got the preschool book for my 3 year old, it looks spectacular! I do not see us using anything else, though I will say that I have your World’s Famous Artists Curriculum, and while they were too below level for my oldest, I am looking forward to doing them with my youngest in a couple more years!
Home art studio. My kids have really enjoyed this year. We will purchase the next level for next year!
This will be the perfect blog for everyone who wants to discover about this subject. You understand so much its just about challenging to argue with you (not that I really would want?-HaHa). You certainly put a new spin on a topic thats been written about for years. Superb stuff, just wonderful!
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I really like the Artful Parent–especially for my little ones! My girls are 1 & 3 (I’m reading this blog in preparation for homeschooling!), and I love that there’s toddler projects! I never would have even thought to try art with kids so little, but it works!