A huge thank you to Amy from Living and Learning at Home for sharing with us how she has used the Young at Art bag in her home schooling curriculum! Please click on the link and check out her website that is full of amazing tools to help busy homeschooling parents! Thank you Amy! You have some pretty talented artists!
Art in the Morning
My children and I have been using this Young at Art bag for the past few weeks and we are really enjoying it! We are using is as a part of our homeschool morning time. If you are not familiar with the concept of morning time, it is an idea that many homeschoolers use where we gather everyone at the beginning of the day to enjoy some learning time together. We try to pick subjects that can benefit all the ages of our children. It is fairly easy for me because my children are close in age. We typically do things like read aloud, recite memory work, read poetry, listen to classical music, etc.
When I got this Young at Art bag in the mail, I immediately knew that it would be a great candidate for morning time! The first time we used it, I brought it to the table and let my children explore the contents. My little creative girl we immediately excited =)
My favorite part is that everything I need to teach art appreciation is right in the bag! Information about 9 artists, sketch book, crayons, colored pencils, markers...it's all there!
We have been using these materials a few mornings a week, learning about one artist each time. First I ask the kids if they remember any of the previous artists we have learned about. I start with my daughter since she is the youngest and see if she can name one artist and then tell me something she remembers about him (what country he was from, in what time of history he lived, what kinds of art he was most famous for, etc.). Then I ask my son if he can remember something other than what my daughter mentioned about that artist and then if he can name another artist that we have learned about. We keep going until we have reviewed all that we previously learned.
Next I read to my children about a new artist. I really love the amount of content that is in the book. It is a "just right" amount for lower elementary kids. Each artist is presented on one page. Children get to see what the artist looked like and examples of his work, all while learning a few facts about him and his art. I can't stress enough how much I appreciate everything being right there, ready for me to teach with. So many times I have good intentions when it comes to art appreciation, but I typically don't follow through with my ideas because I don't have the time or energy to gather all of the pictures and information that I want to share with my kids. Problem solved with Young at Art!
After we learn about the artist, I turn the page in the book and there is a super simple drawing prompt that relates to what we just learned. At first I thought these were too simple, but my kids love them and spend quite a bit of time on them. I let my daughter draw in the book and I have my son draw in the sketch book. Since my son is in second grade, I have him write a sentence or two at the top of his page about what he learned about the artist.
My children ask each morning if we can learn about another artist and that makes me so happy! We are learning, creating, and making connections to what we already know. Most of all, my kids are excited and proud of their work! Thanks, Young at Art!
