Apples of Gold Home School News

     As homeschooling has grown, we've seen surges in curriculum which provide for every subject from math to music. Instructional tools for art have found reception from creatively hungry homeschoolers as well. Yet, public school officials in some states question whether or not homeschoolers are able to provide an "equivalent" of the type of curriculum for art that they (think) they provide.

     Homeschoolers I know have used a number of art curriculums, from basic instructional books with titles like "Acrylic Painting" or "Teaching Art to Children", to step by step programs like the "Lamb's Book of Art" or "Atelier" series. Others go a step further, using graded, incremental packages from vendors like Bob Jones University Press, or Rod and Staff. Some just make it up as they go along, or center their art times on real things like 4-H projects. 

     That's sort of what my family has done. My kids were never too excited about art "curriculums" (though we've dabbled at them and used supplemental instructional materials to learn about craft), but, still, they've watercolored, photographed, built crepe paper historical villages, arranged flowers, made home-made oil lamps, painted glass, poured candles, built cement bird baths, whittled, tried scratch art, explored computer art, fashioned miniature birch bark canoes, made ginger bread houses, pencil sketched, leather crafted, wood burned tree fungi, designed quilt squares, and a host of other things. 

    Art encompasses a lot of variety, and for a school system to say, "Well, you're not equal because you've not introduced them to a pottery wheel, or followed an incremental program" just appears arrogant, wrong, and politically motivated. (My rant for the day.)

     It's also important to realize that it's okay for you not to focus too heavily on art if there is simply no passion for it in your child. Yes, introduce them to basic art forms: drawing, painting, modeling, or whatever you feel yourself leaning towards. Show them work done by master artists. Help them to appreciate the creativity of others. But it's really not a big deal if you've immersed yourself and your family into a huge study of art if, for instance, your focus is more directed at science. And if that is the case, why not use art in your science, such as keeping a sketch book of birds that you've sighted, or building toothpick and clay models of molecules? 

     As I stated earlier, art has many forms. My daughter doesn't feel inclined toward traditional definitions of art. She says she can't draw, and rarely wants to try her hand at things she considers "artsy", even though I've urged her not to stifle herself. Yet, she's a terrific photographer, and she has a wonderful ability to "see" things in people and nature with an artistic eye. This is also something she applies well to flower arranging and decorating her room, both artistic skills.

     For your child, their artistic side might show itself in quilting, or scrap-booking, or painting ceramics. They might carve diamond willow walking sticks or make jewelry. They might take welding to a new level, making swords or building sculptures.

     Don't be fooled by what someone else considers to be art, or by what "educators" declare to have value. As the old adage goes, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". Art can be taught in many forms and fashions.