Homeschool Art Program – Artistic Pursuits

I have never had an official homeschool art program until now. We have always just did art as it happened. We would paint for a birthday gift, model clay for a Christmas ornament, and draw a picture for our nature study. But this year I decided it was time to get serious about giving the older girls more a “formal” art experience. So I was pleased to try ARTistic Pursuits art program. I choose the Elementary 4-5 Book One: The Elements of Art and Composition ($47.95). This book is made of thick pages with full color art examples. This reusable 92 page book will make its way through many children. Unlike many other art programs that I have found, this book is not consumable making it a great fit for families with younger children coming along behind the first student.

Although this book is obviously designed for students in grades 4-5 I am using it for Samantha who is in 3rd grade as well. She loves art and spends lots of her free time drawing and practicing so I was pretty sure she could handle the higher level. While some of the textbook reading has proven challenging to her the actual art projects have been a great fit. I have just had to help her read some of the lesson text at times to help her understand it better. But with a little help she is more than able to understand the text and then to complete the assignment. But I can see why it is given the grade level of grades 4-5.

Children can start this book with no previous formal art teaching and this book is designed so that the students should be able to do most of the lesson on their own without the need of parental involvement. I love that aspect of this book as a homeschooling mother of many young ones anything that encourages independent work is great. This book focus primarily on teaching students how to draw and even how to add texture and form to their drawings. One aspect I love about this book is that for each project the student is allowed to choose their own subject to draw so that there is no boring copying of artwork they have no interest in. Each assignment allows the child to practice their drawing in their own world, with things that they are familiar with. The full color pictures of famous art pieces helps to introduce students to the world of art. And there are short biographies about each artist and how the time they lived in influenced art at that time. It is like an art appreciation class and a drawing class all in one book!

I have been very pleased with how this program challenges them and yet the projects are open ended enough to allow for their individual personalities to shine through their art. I have already seen their perception of space and drawing expand and improve. They are starting to notice that if you change the size of items it can look like some things are farther away than others as well. They are beginning to make better use of the space on their paper and are leaving behind the days of a small row of objects along the bottom of the paper coupled with a tiny sun and clouds at the top of the page. They are seeing that their drawings look better when there is little “white” left on the page. I am looking forward to watching them improve and be challenged through this comprehensive homeschool art program through out the rest of the year.

 

 

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.