We started using a new art book called the Usborne Complete Book of Art Ideas. I've had it around here, but haven't put it into use.

So, we decided to pull out our art supplies. What a mess! I have a huge box of crayons that used to be several separate boxes. The crayons were discouraging for the kids to use because they could never find the color they needed. So, I pulled out a plastic drawer from one of our organizers, found some cardboard and cut it to make dividers in the box. Then, we sorted by color family.... kind of. Reds, pinks, oranges, browns, yellows, blues, greens, purples, grays, whites, blacks and metallics. They're much more excited about using the crayons now!
On another note, Daniel is enjoying math activities. Talley sticks, matching and order, and abacus. His reading is coming along well, too.
I'm learning that you really have to have fun with your kids if you want them to learn. Some of my greatest learning experiences were with teachers who had a love for teaching and learning and having fun with it all. I will never forget those teachers.

In other classes (which sadly was the majority of my elementary and middle school classes), the teachers did not have a heart for the children or the subjects. I often wonder what happened to them. They must have had some reason for wanting to teach, but they were always in a bad mood. They must have had to become hard shelled due to educational politics or one too many kids disrespecting them. I don't know.

As parents, we are the natural teachers for our children. We love them like no other person can.
A close friend of ours recently asked me if I thought it was right for a child to see their parent also as their teacher. I was totally confused by the question. It made no sense to me. Don't we teach our children about every other aspect of life? When children come home from the educational institution, aren't parents expected to do homework with their children? What's the difference here? It just seems more natural to me for children to learn from their parents than from anyone else as they did for thousands of years before government enforced institutionalized schools were created. I have nothing against other methods of education. If we faced the possibility of having to place our kids in public or private school, I'm sure things would turn out fine. I'd be involved as much as possible and that's what makes a difference in the education of our kids.

I'd love to read your comments on this if you'd like to post. Positive and negative perspectives are welcome.

We're coming along with our art skills. This is a sample of our duplication warm-up.


This is the first abstract warm-up that Taylor did. We started with level 2. The point to this exercise is to use the basic drawing elements described in Drawing for Children and follow directions for drawing the elements. It's very fun and interesting to see how the drawing turns out in the end. So, this gives practice with the elements and it also teaches that using the same ideas and rearranging the elements they can draw a recognizable piece of art.


Since we had so much fun with the first one, we followed directions for a level 3 abstract drawing a few days later. This was a little more complex. In the future, we'll have to make up our own directions for the abstract drawings. I'll share those here.



This is the first formal drawing: A bird on a branch.


Voila! It's complete. Taylor really enjoyed this. We'll be drawing Leo the Lion today from Lesson 2. See below for today's plan to start lesson 2.

- Relaxation Methods (which I've discovered is certainly needed with Daniel running around here!)
- Random Image Warm-Up (from lesson 1)
- Overlapping Exercise (Lesson 2, page 85)
- Leo the Lion


I've already summarized the introduction to Taylor. I plan to use the concepts that I read about in this lesson during her warm-ups and drawing. I don't believe that reading the text straight through to your child is beneficial particularly if they are not attentive to it. It'll tend to take the fun out of the drawing process. Instead, I treat it like I do the Handbook of Nature Study. The reading is for mom to read and think upon then to share with the child when applicable.

I just finished reading the first 100 pages of this book so I could be well-prepared before we get started with art skills. I've enjoyed the reading. It's given me a different perspective on how I see things around me. I can look at an object and see the basic drawing elements... a dot, a line, a curve, an angle... The wall beside me is just a fat line. The light bulb in the fan is a dot. I'm eager to get started, but first we need just a few supplies. I'll post how we're doing so you can follow along with us if you like.

The book we are using is:

I think it is necessary for mom to read through the end of Lesson 1 before getting started. This will help you to understand where this book is headed and will give you the confidence you need to start drawing with your children.

I have divided the preliminaries and lesson 1 into days. We'll be working on it daily only because Taylor is very excited and will want to do it daily. Later, we may work on it only once or twice a week. If activities for that day take a lot of time or if they get into a certain aspect of the activity, we'll choose whether or not to complete the additional ones listed or save them for the following day. This should be relaxed and easy-going.

I've learned to never limit our time or rush through something that is of interest to my kids in order to "get it all done". Our lesson plan is usually completed during the summer but is continually changing according to activities and interests

I'm going to attempt to start this with Daniel, too. I think it'll help with his motor skills and support his request for learning to draw. Maybe we can get into writing the alphabet soon after he learns some drawing elements. :-)

So, here's our plan so far:
Supplies:
- fine-tipped markers - dark shades
- broad-tipped markers - lighter colors, as many shades as possible
- scratch paper - copy paper
- drawing paper - sketch pad format, paper thick as possible, matte finish
- large envelopes
- file folders

Day 1: Let's draw p5-6. Discuss attitudes. Look through book at pictures, collect things to draw and add to files.

Day 2: Discuss area for artwork - quiet and uncluttered. Discuss relaxation methods described in lesson 1 to use when beginning or stressed. Experiment w/ Supplies p58. Level Exercises p44 (copy on separate pages). Determine level

Day 3: Copy page 60, study 62-64, observe elements around you. p64 visual game

Day 4: p65 random warm-up. Practice coloring.

Day 5: break

Over weekend: prepare duplication warm-up sheets by creating a 4x4 box chart like the one on page 66, fig 1.4. Make several copies and store in file. Prep sheets for duplication and matching exercises for this week (p66-67). Prep a sheet for mirror imaging exercise. Copy Wow! I Can Draw! exercise, p 76. Read lesson 2

Day 6: Get familiar with warm-ups: Duplication Warm-up, Matching Warm-up, Mirror Imaging Warm-up, Abstract Design Warm-up according to level p66-75

Day 7: Visual Warm-up (p64). Identify drawing elements for the following exercise before starting. Wow! I Can Draw! exercise p76.

Day 8: Duplication warm-up. Draw bird according to directions on p 77-78

Day 9: Abstract Design Warm-up.

Day 10: break... if completed all tasks early in the week... add activities from lesson 2

Here's a complete lesson plan for the school year: http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/dwclp.htm

I'll probably refer to this lesson plan, but I didn't feel that the preliminaries were covered well enough, so I made my own plan for that.

Please comment on this post if you are using this book and have advice or if you are following along. Also, please send an pictures of work that you've done or prepared exercise sheets. I'll post those ideas and completed artwork

We're off to chop down a Christmas tree!

If you haven't had the chance to visit Artworks in Bracken Village (just a few minutes down Nacodoches outside of 1604), you must give it a shot! Bracken Village is a cozy little hideway for stores of trinkets, treasures and English style delights! So, have some tea and the British Teahouse, enjoy some art with your kids art Artworks and talk a walk in the cottage gardens.
We took a class here with our homeschool group. The older kids learned about Greek pottery and created their own designs on paper. The little ones got to experiment with watercolor paints. The ladies that taught the class were very interesting and very good with the kids.

Artworks will be starting some weekly homeschool classes. Check their schedule for dates and times. Their prices are an excellent deal. http://www.artworksartstudio.com/NacogdochesLocation.html


Don't miss out on the fresh fudge in the red barn on your way out. :-)