Art History Kids Helping Add More Art Into Our Homeschool
Art History Kids has helped us add more art into our homeschool. Sometimes it is challenging to keep the momentum for certain subjects, like art. Do you ever forego art to catch up on math work? Can you relate to feeling overwhelmed when it came to planning out art lessons? Are you looking for a fun way to add more art to your homeschool? Would you like to find an easy way to implement art resources in your homeschool? Are you looking for art history homeschool resources that make it easy to keep up with?
Adding More Art into Our Homeschool
One of our favorite subjects in our homeschool is art. You may not have known this about me, but in high school, I focused on art, was in an art program, and had plans to attend an art college. I have a soft spot in my heart for art. I think back of the years learning art history and techniques fondly. In the past couple of years, I wanted to focus on teaching my children more art history. But how? I took out books from the library and tried to put things together myself with a jumble of resources. However, after a few months of implementing, I would fall back because it was so much work to plan and keep up with everything. Many times, we would fall behind, having to take two months on one artist because math or writing lessons were more important.
Then I saw Lotus, creator of Art History Kids, and I fell in love with everything she was doing. Before we jump into all about Art History Kids and how it has helped us add more art history learning to our homeschool, please take a moment and pin this post to your homeschool board.
How We Were Introduced to Art History Kids
I have been a fan of Art History Kids for a few years now. It all started when I won a giveaway of art supplies and an art guide after following Art History Kids on Facebook and Instagram. The kids love learning with the art guides, and I ended up purchasing the modern art bundle and spending the summer exploring with them. We learned so much from those art guides.
Benefits of Art Guides
- Develop observational skills, examine the art closely and not be afraid to openly talk about what they see and how it makes them feel.
- Enhance their communication skills as we discussed, and they learned to express their visual thoughts in our discussion.
- Sharpen their critical thinking skills as they made connections between art and music, literature, science, geography, and other historical events.
- Explore their creativity, taking inspiration from the artist we studied into two open-ended art projects.
About Lotus Creator of Art History Kids
I mentioned Lotus just a few moments ago, and I wanted to introduce you to her. Lotus is a graphic designer and homeschool mom of two creative kids. She has a degree from ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, CA. Lotus is al She currently lives in the Los Angels area and has been using art history as a central theme in her homeschool for over seven years. Lotus created Art History Kids because she could not find a resource that introduced art history to young children in a fun and educational way.
Needing More Art
After using the Art History Kids Modern Art Guides, we knew we needed more. Art is a favorite in our homeschool since I am so creative. I have shared that creativity with my kids. Allowing them to explore and create with various types of paint, chalk and oil pastels, crayons, markers, pencils, charcoal, and so much more. While being creative is a given in our homeschool, it is sometimes hard to fit in the history that I know will enhance their art and overall education. So, this past winter, we finally took the plunge and joined The Studio by Art History Kids.
Art History Kids Studio
The Studio by Art History Kids is a fantastic resource to teach your children art history and connect it back to all those other subjects we worry about doing enough of. It is perfect for kids of all ages and can be altered for younger and older children, which means you don’t have to do tons of extra work to teach your children separate art lessons.
The curriculum is on-going which means there is always something new and exciting to learn. Want to learn something covered in the past? Don’t worry each month. You are enrolled in the studio. You receive a free code to download an older lesson plan. The Studio is easy to use, login, download the printable PDF for each week, and go through it either on your computer, tablet or printed out. Whatever works best for you, there is also an exclusive Facebook group for everyone in the Studio. Lotus also shares some fun videos discussing the artist or reading picture books about the artist of the month.
About The Studio by Art History Kids
- Easy to use. Just sign in and begin.
- You don’t need previous knowledge of Art History or Art.
- Perfect for children of all ages.
- The curriculum is released as a monthly art and artist study. Each month you dive deep into studying a new artist or art. You get a guide each Monday in your inbox or directly from the Studio page covering a new aspect for the week.
- The printable PDF guide will lead you through observation and discussion of art, which gives you information to discover the art and artists and has various project ideas for your children to make their very own masterpieces.
- You get a planning calendar to help you stay organized.
- Get access to the previous six-months-worth of lessons.
- There is a video library showcasing lots of different art techniques.
- Lessons can be printed off or viewed from a computer or mobile device.
- Access to a special community with coaching opportunities and invitations to Q&A, as well as sharing sessions.
- You can pay monthly or quarterly. The studio only opens a few times a year, but if you use a link from this post, you can sign-up at any time.
- 25% off any other Art History Kids products.
What does a month in The Studio by Art History Kids look like?
Each week brings something new and fun…
- In week 1, you’ll get a printable PDF guide complete with art discussion prompts to guide you in your art chat and detailed info about the artist, their art movement, the techniques they used, the elements and principles of art we can see in their work, and so much more.
- During week 2, you can learn by watching a video lesson. (You can do this video lesson in addition to the week 1 guide or as a substitute) This week’s video class shares all of the information from the week 1 guide. You can choose your level of involvement– learn along with your kids, or use class time to do something else.
- Week 3 is an “art in action” week for your kids to create and for you to dive deeper into the guide or the video if you haven’t had a chance to use them yet. This week there will also be a Masterpiece Mindset Coaching Call just for caregivers that will give you a boost of insight and make you an even better art teacher for your kids.
- We’ll wrap up in week 4 with a Q+A, kids can share their Project of the Month, and we’ll play a fun trivia game.
Learning with Art History Kids
We used The Studio by Art History Kids this past winter, and my children loved every moment of it. We dug deep learning about Mary Blair. Since we were in quarantine due to COVID-19, we spent a lot of time watching some old Disney on Disney+. The kids loved seeing glimpses of Mary Blair’s work in “real life,” soon, they were catching animation on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) from the same time frame, saying it looks like her work or was influenced by her. After Mary Blair, they loved studying Frank Lloyd Wright, creating their own buildings with blocks, and exploring organic architecture. Using Art History Kids in our homeschool has made our overall homeschool more vibrant and fun. I urge you to try it out in your homeschool as it truly breathes life back into it.
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