Ideas for Teaching Art at Home
by Karine Bauch

Think you can't do it? Here are some ideas to help you teach art at home:
  1. DRAW FROM LIFE OR PHOTOS: Encourage your students to draw from reality as often as possible. This will build drawing abilities more than anything! Get photos from the Internet, magazine and books. Grab items from around the house to draw.
  2. FOLLOW THE STUDENT’S INTEREST: If your child loves cars, trains or horses, supply him with photos of these and encourage him to draw his favorites.
  3. KEEP SUPPLIES HANDY: Most children get inspired to draw by just seeing new art supplies and paper readily available. Here are some suggestions for art supplies to keep around the house:
      • White drawing paper
      • Colored construction paper
      • Pencils
      • Markers
      • Colored Pencils
      • Oil Pastels
      • Soft Pastels
  4. PAINT IS FOR OLDER STUDENTS: This may be just my opinion, but I find that younger students who are learning to control their hands have a difficult time producing anything worthwhile with paint. Encourage mediums that will be used successfully when they are young and they will not be frustrated with art when older.
  5. GO OUTSIDE AND DRAW: A sketchpad and some colored pencils are all you need to have a great time drawing outside. When looking for an outdoor subject, think MACRO and MICRO. Encourage them to draw the BIG picture if they wish, or a small branch of leaves or an insect that they see. Sometimes a close-up of wildflowers makes a lovely subject.
  6. GET FREE LESSONS ONLINE: There are many websites with free art lessons for home schoolers, especially mine, www.teachartathome.com . Each month, new free projects are added.
  7. ART CLASSES: Find a local art teacher through your homeschool group or join a co-op where art is taught
  8. USE ART IN OTHER SUBJECTS:
  • History
    • Copy pictures right out of the history book.
    • Draw famous people, buildings and monuments.
  • Geography
    • Draw the 7 Wonders of the World, architecture and landscapes from the countries that you are studying.
    • Make a travel poster!
    • Use colored clay for creating landforms and relief maps.
  • Science – Drawing nature is the best way to learn about it! Draw each plant, animal, cloud, etc. that you learn about in a special Science sketchbook. Your student will remember details that would otherwise be forgotten!
  • English – a few ideas:
    • Create a comic strip of a scene from your favorite book.
    • Write and illustrate a book.
    • Create a magazine with illustrated articles and stories
9. USE AN ART CURRICULUM: There are many out there, but I would like to recommend my art instruction CD called, The Phonics of Drawing. These lessons have been used in my private classes for years, with great results.

© Karine Bauch 2006. All rights reserved.

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