Art Classes

I wanted to take a moment to talk more about our art classes. We are so fortunate to have a wonderful college level art teacher (she is actually head of the art department at a local college) that is willing to work with homeschoolers. I have known her for years. I organize the classes and she teaches. It works really, really well. 

The art class is for K-12th grade. We do this so that as homeschooling moms we can leave the house once --- and not have to leave the house 3 different times just to have art for all 3 of my different aged children. 

Many times the projects she has us do are ones that she has her college level kids do. Then she tailors the project for us - or has us do the same project but many times the difference is that our kids - being younger will be far quicker -- will take less time and be less detailed in their approach than the college kids. But this is also why K-12th grade works -- each child just works at their own level. It is marvelous. 

Many times teachers are so stuck in the traditional school approach that they can't figure out how to teach to a class of kids that range in ages. We are so extremely blessed to have a wonderfully, Christian art teacher that is willing to expand beyond the traditional way of thinking. She is a very out of the box kind of lady and I love her dearly. 

It is interesting to note that I have been doing art classes with this art teacher for approximately 8 years and we have only repeated a project once - and that was at my request. One Christmas we made stain glass stars but my children were too young to do the metal work and made stars with cardboard and tissue paper. She had divided the class into 2 groups - those old enough got to do the soldering. So when my two older ones got to an appropriate age for that project I asked to repeat it. We will have to do it one more time in about 5 years when my youngest is old enough. A mom with 3 kids can't end up with 2 stain glass stars. So that project will need to be repeated. 

I am always amazed at the neat new projects that she comes up with. There is such a variety. We are learning about the elements of art and doing projects that will allow for discussion of those elements. We have talked about texture, line and shapes. For the last class, each student had to research a famous 1800 or 1900 artist. The student had to print off a picture the artist had done and study the artists techniques a bit. Then in class we had a portrait shape board. It had a head and shoulders. The kids were to use crayons, water colors, paint, yarn, pastels, colored pencils ---- she had all available --- but were to use similar techniques to their famous artist - and incorporate those techniques onto their portraits. It was awesome to see the results.