Homeschool Art Curriculum
At My Homeschool we believe homeschool art instruction and appreciation should be a part of all homeschool homeschool programs.
We encourage you to teach your child art and we encourage you to teach them about great artists.
Teaching Homeschool Art
Teaching homeschool art was always a part of our homeschool curriculum but it was never my goal to create artists. However, three of my four children seem to be very artistic. One has chosen a profession using his art skills.
Art is considered to be key learning areas that needs to be incorporated into your homeschool. Here are few ideas of your own that you would like to explore with your child.
Look at these Simple Ideas When Teaching Homeschool Art.
1. Have lots of art supplies handy.
When teaching homeschool art make art supplies readily accessible. We always had plenty of art supplies and paper out on a table so the kids could draw at leisure. We also had Plasticine and modelling clay for sculptures. I found that many of the gifts they received were craft related.
2. Make up your own homeschool art lessons on subjects you are studying.
Charlotte Mason believed that children should include art as part of their lessons. She had children drawing in the notebooks for science – with their nature journals, in history with their Book of Centuries, and even in their Bible lessons. They would often draw when we were doing read alouds, sometimes they would draw about what we were reading.
Notebooking will give your children plenty of artistic opportunities.
3. Teaching Homeschool Art Lessons with Professionals.
Occasionally I organised art teachers to teach special techniques such as pottery, and watercolour painting. We usually did this with some homeschool friends and it became a fun activity in our week. If you are looking for some professional art lesson you can do from home this site artforkidz.com.au is a great option.
4. Read book biographies and stories about artists.
5. We also used picture study.
This is a Charlotte Mason technique. In short, it involves showing your child an artwork (usually of a famous artist) and then having them study the picture. Then you get them to describe what they saw from memory. We also used our picture study for narrations. Here is one from my blog using Frederick McCubbin’s Lost.
6. We made time for art.
We fitted art into our curriculum. It may have been through the notebooking, on a nature walk or during read alouds. Art was a regular part of their curriculum.
“Children from age 6 should not only be encouraged to create art, but to appreciate it also. Children will develop a comfortable fondness with what they get used to seeing and this is why we encourage children to look at excellent art…We cannot measure the influence that one or another artist has upon the child’s sense of beauty, upon his power of seeing, as in a picture, the common sights of life; he is enriched more than we know in having really looked at even a single picture. It is a mistake to think that colour is quite necessary to children in their art studies. They find colour in many places, and are content, for the time, with form and feeling in their pictures.”
DIY Your Homeschool Art
Setting up art lessons at home doesn’t have to be hard.
Here’s an example of an Aboriginal dot painting we did after reading a two picture books full of Aboriginal art.
- When I Was Little Like You
- The Papunya School Book of Country and History.
We used:
- art paper,
- acrylic paints,
- cotton buds for the big dots,
- toothpicks for the little dots,
- and one child decided to use coloured markers.
Lizard by Miss Seven
Footprint by Master Nine
Uluru by Miss Eleven
Notebooking Art Opportunities
Nature Journal
Beth Aged 10.
Sarah 11
Bible Notebook
Tim Age 8
Sarah 10
Garden of Eden
Tim Age 8
Homeschool High School Art Lessons
Three of my four children are talented artists. One son is a 3D animator who works on feature films in the art department. This is his portfolio. My two daughters are both very talented as well. One has her own art business Humbly Designed.
They taught themselves to a very high level during the high school years.
My son loved animation and won a film award at 15 for an animation he did. My daughter use to draw while I read aloud.
We supplemented their skills buying Adobe Creative subscriptions and giving them the occasional high quality art class but they just had a lot of free time to pursue their interests. They taught themselves Lightroom, Photoshop and they now use Procreate on their iPad.
I am terrible with art but it didn’t matter. Art appreciation was within my grasp and we gave them the tools they needed. We also kept art at the forefront in their education.
- We did art appreciation from an early age.
- We kept encouraging them to learn about it for themselves.
- I usually organised a terms worth of art lessons with our homeschool friends each year..
A Picture of Her Sister Beth
Sarah did this picture while I read aloud to her.
Art Appreciation For Kids
Charlotte Mason believed art appreciation for kids was an important part of a their education. As was learning how to paint, and draw.
Art appreciation for kids is personal and some art is an acquired taste. Consider what art you want to expose your children to and make some intentional steps towards doing that. Remember art does not just include paintings — there’s sculpture, photography, digitally produced art, mixed media art and so much more. You can show your children classic, contemporary, modern and Indigenous art.
Another exercise that is useful is directing children to look at a view, then close their eyes and try to recreate that image in words. They will enjoy hearing you put the surrounding view into picturesque words, or remembering aloud a scene or painting you have seen before, and this helps model the skill of oral ‘picture-painting’ to them.
My Homeschool Art Appreciation Course
Our Art Appreciation for Kids Course included with all our homeschool programs helps you incorporate picture study into your homeschool. Do this during your group study time around once or twice a week. You could also use this as an independent activity for older children if you wish by having them examine a painting a week.
