“Yay! Art time! Woo hoo! Get the supplies, kids! We are ready to explore our creativity!” Some homeschool parents respond with enthusiasm when given an opportunity to teach art. They pull up artist biographies, look up famous works of art, and find ways to practice the techniques of art masters with their children. These parents may or may not be using an art curriculum. If they are, they may be making lesson modifications based on their students’ ages, availability of art supplies, and time. But this isn’t all homeschool parents, is it?
Teaching art can bring up childhood insecurities about not being good at arts and crafts. It can cause anxiety about passing those feelings on to our children who love being creative. How do you even begin to teach art when you’re not particularly creative yourself? And then there’s the mess. The messiness of art in your home can be a reason to avoid anything beyond coloring books.
In our new workshop video, You Can Teach Art, we explore different aspects of teaching art in your homeschool. We discuss choosing a homeschool art curriculum that fits your family. We look at the parts of an art curriculum to help you determine your priorities among art appreciation, art history, and art production. We also ask what your children are most interested in and look at specific art programs to help guide your decision making. We even look at ways you can work art into core subject areas like math, language arts, science, and history. You can print the video handout to reference while you watch the video.
As the leaves change color and fall here in Illinois, the holiday season is not far away. Here are some fun and easy art lessons that fit well with the season!
- Watch migrating birds. It’s a fascinating topic for kids. Add some John James Audubon bird art to your lesson! Here is an Audubon Memory Game or the Audubon Playing Cards to make it easy for you.
- Collect fallen leaves. If you don’t live where leaves are readily available for craft ideas, here is a pack of Craft Leaves you can use for a collage or leaf crown. The Peterson First Guide to Trees helps connect leaves to the right type of tree, building vocabulary and nature knowledge!
- Press your real leaves in a Flower Press and paste them in a Sketchbook. Label the tree names and include a memory from the day you collected the leaves.
- Learn about the seasons from author Gail Gibbons. Create a 4-panel drawing of the seasonal changes near you. If you live in a location where the seasons don’t change very noticeably, find a map and learn where the seasons look different!
- Study the changes animals go through during the autumn and winter. Use Mini Finger Puppets to act out their behavior. Try making your own finger puppets from our Felt Packs and Wiggle Eyes with a little Fabric Glue.
Kids remember art lessons, crafts, and art projects. Teaching art to your children is also a great opportunity to show them how to clean up after themselves. By taking the time to teach art, you are demonstrating to your children that art has value. You’re also reminding them that their creativity and self-expression have value!
If you have questions about any art curriculum mentioned in the video or others on our website, reach out to me and the other Curriculum Consultants by email consultants@rainbowresource.com, phone (888) 841-3456, or online chat on www.rainbowresource.com.
