Artistic Pursuits

Simple crafts and ready-to-go/print ideas have essentially been our "art time" over the last few years. My extent of art knowledge and styles is minimal (at best). I might be able to identify some very famous paintings, but definitely not specific styles or the masters of art history.

ARTistic Pursuits has a complete K-12 art curriculum written for homeschoolers by homeschoolers. They provide art instruction in areas such as visual art, art history, modern art, the elements of art, and color and composition. Their curriculum books show student examples of the projects along with detailed lesson plans for the projects. Each book is also non-consumable, so it can be used over and over in the years to come with each child in your family!

We received ARTistic Pursuits, Grade K-3, Book Two, Stories of Artists and Their Art ($42.95) to review and seeing it person has made such a difference! I had heard of ARTistic Pursuits before but never looked into it further - and I wish I had. I love it! The Ellis' have put an amazing amount of time, research, and effort into developing a comprehensive and quality curriculum for homeschoolers.

Some of the features of ARTistic Pursuits, Grade K-3, Book 2, Stories of Artists and Their Art:

• geared to the student - there is no teacher preparation needed (other than gathering materials)
• organized and easy to understand
• colorful and engaging for kids
  
• contains biographies and works of art from 16 artists within the 13th to 18th centuries
• provides 32 projects in the areas of painting, drawing, printmaking, modeling/carving, and mixed media
  

A quick look inside some of the pages from Book Two:

Because we've been studying castles and knights, the first few lessons in this book were great for us to use. We read about Giovanni Cimabue (1240-1302) and did several projects including a watercolor painting and also "gold leaf". Both used easy to find supplies and the girls were able to follow the project directions without any assistance from me.

I've read through the artist biographies and learned a lot myself! ARTistic Pursuits, Grade K-3, Book 2, Stories of Artists and Their Art features various works of art and draws the students attention to details in the paintings then explains the importance of what the art portrays for that artist or time in history. Art history periods taught include Gothic, Renaissance, Northern Renaissance, Mannerist, Baroque, Rococo, Romantic, and Realist.

The book also contains a materials list for the art supplies needed for the various projects, grouped together for easy reference, so you know what is needed for each "class time". Supplies are available in discounted bundles through another website or can be purchased at your local craft store. Purchasing the art supplies is the only prep you need to do for the lessons - it really is that simple!

ARTistic Pursuits has taken a subject that can be very intimidating for parents (and often overlooked as a result) and made it incredibly easy to teach by providing an excellent curriculum for homeschooling families.

Click on the Homeschool Crew banner to read reviews on different levels
of this product and other products available from Artistic Pursuits.

Core Learning and Crayola Art Studio

If your kids love the computer as much as mine do (begging would be an appropriate word to insert here) and they happen to be a little crazy about art, then you might want to look into purchasing Core Learning's new Crayola Art Studio ($24.95). It was just released in November and is a wonderful program for kids to create their own works of art. The program is based on the beginner levels of the corefx digital art software.

My overall impression of this product that it is AMAZING (and fun to boot)! Once I installed it on our computer, I had very little to do to show the girls how to use it. There is a quick video tour and the girls (ages 6 & 7) and even Zachary (with the girl's help) are having far too much fun using it. You can download a free trial of the software to try out for yourself, but here are few of the features of the program:

• realistic art tools to use - crayons, markers, paint, watercolors, chalk, oils...all available in a variety of colors and strokes.
• color palettes that allow you to mix your own colors or choose from a pre-set range of colors
• undo and mirror image features (rather handy for the kids!)
• hundreds of art images that can be edited and manipulated while kids are learning how to edit pictures
• ability to import your own pictures to edit and have fun with
  

If you have older children, the Corefx program ($59.95) allows you to do even more with graphics and drawing and even animation. Corefx includes many more graphics and art mediums and also has three skill levels.

In addition to art, Core Learning also offers programs for math, health, language, and critical thinking. We've been using the Health for Kids Series ($29.95) and our girls are having a lot of fun exploring the insides of the human body. The program makes it extremely fun for kids to learn about different parts of the human body through animation: the tongue, larynx, airways, mouth, epiglottis and more.

Core Learning also has a special page that lists current promotions available. Be sure to check out the Homeschool Crew blog for more on Core Learning!

Christian Art Curriculum: Spears Art

Despite the fact that I am crafty (of sorts), being consistent with art in our school-time is not one of my strong points. I might incorporate an "art activity" that goes along with the topic we are currently studying, but it is not focused on any specific art techniques or components. It's just doing a project for the sake of doing a project.

I was THRILLED to receive a full K-8th Christian Art Curriculum from Spears Art Studio to review. Over the last month and a half I have been using it with both my second and first grader and love the techniques that it is teaching as well as how simple it is to integrate into our school day. My girls are really enjoying it too and look forward to the lessons each week.

The curriculum, created by Diane Spears, is based on a theme for each week of the school year and includes one or more activities for each grade level based on the theme, and addresses various art elements, art principles, and design elements. It also incorporates the various seasonal elements (fall, Thanskgiving, Christmas, etc...). The curriculum is in PDF format ($39.95) and includes:

• Scripture integration
• full color illustrations
• complete lesson plans for each school year week - plans include objectives, Scripture references, art history ideas, vocabulary, teacher prep and motivation, lesson focus, materials needed, directions for the activity and evaluation tools
• 269 art activities
• 137 patterns and posters
• 498 instructional pages
• evaluation tools for student's art projects

The lessons are divided months/weeks of the year and also by grade level, making it quick and easy to find the grade level that you need. Teaching multiple children at the same time isn't difficult to do and it is possible to use the curriculum year after year without repeating projects since they change based on the grade level your child is in. It is also versatile enough to be used in your own studies or in a group setting such as a homeschool co-op.

The Spears Art Studio website has sample lessons available along with more in-depth information about the curriculum. Overall, this curriculum is an amazing deal when you consider that it covers from K-8 for $40 (this includes shipping!) - that's a little less than $5 a year for an amazing art curriculum. I willcontinue to use this curriculum in the upcoming years with my children and am very thankful that it is one that provides a Christ-centered view toward art education.

About the creator:

Diane Shields, the creator of Spears Art has a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts and a Doctorate in Christian art/education. She has taught in both the public and private systems.

If you would like to read other reviews of the Spears Art Curriuculum you can visit the Homeschool Crew blog.