Teaching homeschool art when I’m not very artistic? This has been one of my perennial homeschool challenges. I love art. I love teaching. But put together teaching and homeschool art?
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate good art. Give me a pair of knitting needles and yarn and I might even be able to create something beautiful.
But teaching it? Totally different story!
Here are three resources for teaching homeschool art through high school, including a brand new one that I’m quite excited about (and a limited time offer that gets you a preview of your own!)
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Art Appreciation From Early Childhood To The Elementary Years
Our favorite curriculum resource for the early years is the Child Size Masterpieces series. Usually by two, my children are able to start matching and sorting pictures. Each leveled book has 3 steps to gradually increase the child’s awareness and observation skills. The postcard sized pieces are also great for display. In addition to the leveled sets, we also own the transportation set and the famous artwork collection.
These are pretty self-explanatory to use, but if you feel better with a teacher’s guide, you can purchase that here.
Local Art Instruction
This is of course hit or miss, but we have had great success connecting with local resources. One semester a friend taught a small homeschool art class focused on a combination of history and technique. Two of my kids participated and learned a lot from it. My favorite moment was seeing them stopped in front of a huge mural at an apartment complex discussing what form of art it was.
We have also taken art classes from our local conservatory for the arts. It seems that every year they offer more options for art, including a class now just for homeschoolers and more advanced classes for older students. None of these classes turned out to be overly costly and were conveniently scheduled. A friend was able to enroll her high schooler in classes at the local public school for completly free. Don’t overlook what local options may be available!
Online Art Instruction
Our venture into online art instruction started with YouTube videos. My 14yo can spend hours pausing and restarting the same tutorial on how to draw a specific super hero or favority literary character. We’ve also used YouTube to learn new skills such as stained glass and wood carving techniques.
We’ve recently also started working with Beyond the Stick Figure. They are launching a whole year art appreciation and technique course, that you can preview here. You can see all of the Beyond the Stick Figure courses here.
Kylee is currently using the Art Camp, Drawing Beyond the Stick Figure course. This shorter course, covering the basics of shape in drawing, is included this week (November 18th-22nd) through the Advent Catholic Mom Bundle.
The budle cost is only $25 and includes not only the art class but plenty of other projects and activities to keep your kids busy! (Plus a ton of amazing resources for mom) Purchased separately, the bundle would cost well over $300. You have to buy now though- because after that acess to the art course, all the projects, and more will be back to their regular prices. For those like me, more interested in fiber arts, there are quilting and embroidery patterns in the bundle as well!
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