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Homeschooling Through High School ~ Incorporating Visual Arts into Your Homeschool
12:36 AM, Oct. 29, 2008
Out of all the fine arts, I find visual art the most challenging for me to teach, explain or include in our homeschool schedule. My background and degree is in music and I’ve had years and years of work in theater. However, when it comes to drawing, painting or anything regarded as a traditional visual art form, I’m a bit handicapped. Even when trying to work with set designers for the productions that I have directed, I’ve been unable to draw even simple sketches to show my vision for a theater set. Instead, I’ve found myself verbally describing what I visualized in my mind while watching a skilled artist across the desk trying to draw what I’m envisioning. Thus, I find incorporating art in my homeschool choices very challenging.
However, understanding my own handicap in art motivated me to find ways to make visual arts a part of my children’s school curriculum and ultimately their lifestyle. I’ve also watched other “art challenged” parents find ways to do the same thing. I hope by sharing some of these ideas you will be motivated to make the visual arts part of your homeschool. 1. Locate local visual artists whether they are sculptures, sketch artists, painters, leather workers, textile designers, or ceramic artists. Just having the opportunity to meet, visit with and watch one of these artists work in their chosen art medium. Having this type of opportunity can serve to open a student’s eyes to an interest within their own heart that they may not have even known existed. 2. Be sure to have art supplies of various mediums available to your student whether they have expressed an interest in the medium or not. Incorporating art as a form of expression or as a way to assess a student’s understanding of specific subject matter can motivate a student to pick up and use art material they have never used before. 3. Using sketching or drawing in the form of a visual nature journal, travel journal or life journal is a safe and private way for a student to record their findings and experiences in an artistic format without fear of criticism from others. 4. An obvious choice for art exposure is enrolling your student in a class that gives instruction in drawing. Drawing instruction is to beginning artists what piano instruction is to beginning musicians. Basic instruction in drawing is something that is useful for EVERYONE and no one regrets having drawing instruction although MANY regret quitting or NOT having drawing instruction. 5. Much is said about taking your children to art museums to expose them to great art. However, I have found that without a guide to explain to us what we are seeing and experiencing and some of the history behind the art we are viewing, we seem to glide through the exhibits at a high speed not really gaining the full benefit of the experience. Thus, if you have the opportunity to visit an art museum, either go on a tour with a guide or bring a knowledgeable friend so that you understand what you are seeing. 6. There are many written curriculums out there that serve to teach art through book form. My experience with this, from my art handicapped status, is that unless I already have a motivated child, I am unsuccessful understanding the curriculum and helping my child to make progress. This is especially true of high school students. If they are not already interested and self-motivated in learning art, they really need the personal instruction of an art teacher and sometimes they even need the camaraderie of fellow students learning the same thing at the same time so that there is a social element involved in the process. 7. Of course, art history or art appreciation courses are always an option for your student. I LOVE my kids learning about the history AND art of a specific time period. This seems to stimulate their interest in the art of a time period as they learn how art reflected the time period they are studying AND how history was affected by the artistic expression of the time period. I would love to hear some of the ways that YOU have incorporated art into your homeschool curriculum and schedule for your high schoolers. Let me know your thoughts and input and lets share our ideas. Next week, we will be talking about ways for our high school students to experience, develop talent in and understand the history and influence of theater arts. Until then….. Faith and Courage, Lori Lane Lori is married to the love of her life John and together they have four sons ranging in age from 22 down to 10. She is the author of “Beginning With The End In Mind”, a frequent speaker on home education, family and the arts, as well as serving as the Executive Director of The Artios Academies. (www.artiosacademies.com) You can see some of the pictures of their home in the central Colorado Rockies by visiting Lori’s website at www.theendinmind.net where you will receive encouragement for the journey. Comments 
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