Since our oldest son started drawing, he’s been embellishing letters with extra lines and swoops, and adding details to his drawings Grandma Moses-style! So it was no surprise the boys have loved our latest homeschool review product, An Introduction to the Visual Arts, K-3 Book One from ARTistic Pursuits Inc.
People often think being a former teacher qualifies me for all-that-homeschool-involves (it doesn’t!), I am a left-brained, ducks-in-a-row, attention-to-detail person. I do love to get creative, but I don’t generally swoon with ideas and self-expression and “creative flow”!
So when it comes to art instruction for this non-artist mom? I’m a bit way out of my league! An Introduction to the Visual Arts, K-3 Book One gives me high level vocabulary to introduce to my children, questions to spur critical thinking, and quality examples of master art pieces.
What’s inside An Introduction to the Visual Arts?
The full color instruction book is divided into sections:
- What Artists Do – the process and materials artists use, and how an artist uses those materials
- What Artists See – dimension, color mixing, and a variety of skills like collage
- Where We Find Art – various types of art found in different places and cultures of the world
The lessons have various components that help you teach your child:
Reading introductory or background materials and discussing opens the door for discussion and gives the lesson context.
An activity/exercise extends the lesson: this might be discussion, a nature walk to collect ideas, acting out postures for drawing people, etc. In the first lesson, we talked about various kinds of art (not just drawing), and we played with toy instruments, dress up clothes, and dancing in addition to drawing pictures. This was a valuable discussion time for my boys as they tend to think “art” is just drawing. In the fourth lesson, we had fun “posing” to show various actions, so the boys could see how when you draw a person, you want to draw them to show action!
I love the master artist studies. In these “Look at…” pages, students are exposed to fabulous pieces of artwork from various historical periods and cultures. There’s a history of each piece and discussion questions to help children “see into” the painting or artwork.
The lessons lay incredible groundwork for students to create their own artwork with greater purpose and skill. The project section includes instructions, materials lists, technique demonstration if needed, and a few samples (at various levels of skill).
There are 36 lessons in this K-3 book, and I think I will be spreading these lessons out over the next two years for my sons, as we’re just finishing up Kindergarten this year for my oldest. We’ll likely repeat some lessons as well. For the Kindergartener, the lessons are very “doable” in practice, but some of the finer points of discussion will be more beneficial at an older age.
What about art supplies?
There is a Art Supply Pack for each book on their website, complete with carry bag for art outdoors. Otherwise, the supplies for each lesson are easy to find at an art store.
A detailed list of materials used is broken down by group (materials that are used together) and by lessons used, so I only had to buy Group 1 and 2 to get started on the first 10 or so lessons. Nothing exotic is required, although I appreciated the introduction of new-to-us materials like watercolor crayons, soft pastels, and oil pastels. I liked how the curriculum takes us beyond the typical crayon/paper artwork for kids.
Art Instruction in our home:
All right that was the technical stuff. So how did it work out for us? I found including art lessons into our days was simple and quick to prepare, and the boys looked forward to art time.
My approach with ARTistic Pursuits Inc.’s program has been to show my kids what lifelong learning is all about. Because I’m not artistic myself, I appreciated that I don’t have to whiz-bang my kids with fancy demos. I get the materials the night before, preview the lesson, and then just “learn alongside” my boys as we work through the lesson. That’s how EASY it is to use this curriculum!
What the boys love most is getting out the art supplies and creating.
- We’ve created aquarium scenes to show details about people at work.
- We’ve painted scenes that express emotions of joy (the beach! of course!).
- We’ve copied In Flanders Field to draw natural objects.
The boys have loved the mixture of tactile objects, physical movement, and talking with the delight of drawing, coloring, and painting.
I’ve been able to discuss with the boys concepts like “filling in spaces” (not just outlining drawings), and “using colors” to highlight parts of a picture or blend colors. I’m able to present the lesson with ease and confidence, because it’s so clearly and simply written.
These lessons are not developed for three-year-olds. ARTistic Pursuits Inc has a separate Preschool curriculum for that age range. What I’ve done is let my three year old work with me, as I demonstrate various techniques for my older son. So I might draw a picture and he will color it in or paint over the watercolor crayon, or add some people into the scene. This has kept everyone very happy! And he’s finally learned not to squish the brush bristles flat! Success!
The ARTistic Pursuit, Inc. lessons blend art appreciation with art application (ie, let’s really draw this!). I feel confident I’m giving my kids the a foundation of art that I never had as a kid, and the greatest thing is I’m learning so many nuances about art myself!
Bellybytes
Friday 20th of May 2016
This is a pretty exhaustive list of what to do witb a little boy and keep him busy with art work. Currently my grandson prefers giving me a crayon and watching me so the art work for him!