Teaching art in our homeschool always feels like a daunting task. There’s a mess, I’ve got to find multiple supplies, and it takes time. Yes, yes, and yes. But it’s also a necessary component to a full education, plus it’s usually quite fun once we’re started. So when I had the opportunity to receive a copy of the Evan-Moor Curriculum How to Teach Art to Children, I knew I wanted to give it a try. I was looking for an open-and-go option that wouldn’t take much hard work from me. And I think this is exactly what I’ve been needing in my homeschool: art instruction for multiple ages, complete curriculum, and easy to implement. Here’s my personal review of How to Teach Art to Children by Evan-Moor.
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Disclaimer: I received a copy of this product in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.
What is included in this curriculum?
How to Teach Art to Children, published by Evan-Moor, is a sturdy softcover teacher’s book with everything needed to teach art to kids in grades 1-6. It is 159 pages and includes instructions for guiding your children through nearly 100 projects.
Part One of the book is divided into seven sections, each corresponding to one of the key elements of art.
These sections are:
- Line
- Shape
- Color
- Value
- Texture
- Form
- Space
This curriculum is open-and-go, which is the best format for taking the stress out of homeschooling! You don’t need to agonize over lesson plans and supplies because each lesson clearly tells you which materials are needed and includes easy to follow directions for teaching your kids. You really can’t mess this up! I love how this book also includes full color pictures of project samples so you and your kids can get an idea of where each project is taking them.
This book includes reproducible student pages when needed.
You could purchase this book once and use for all your kids throughout their elementary years. With 100 projects included, you could do art once a week for a whole school year and not repeat any projects until your fourth year! By then the kids are older, and you could cycle through again at a deeper level.
Part Two of this curriculum ties together all the elements of art into comprehensive projects. This is where the higher level learning takes place, as kids are asked to synthesize various elements and create more complex projects. Part two also includes instructions on famous artists from ancient to present time, cultures, and types of art. You could choose projects from Part Two to go along with the time period in history your kids are currently studying. This is a great way to connect their studies.
Here’s how we used it in our homeschool
First, my kindergartener completed some lessons in the section about Lines, as she hasn’t had any formal art instruction in our homeschool yet. This was all new to her and she enjoyed it!
Then my fifth grader (who has done homeschool art lessons in the past) and my kindergartener both worked on two lessons from the Color section of the curriculum. They had a blast!
How to Teach Art to Children is for YOU if:
- You want an inexpensive art curriculum option
- You have multiple children to teach together
- You need a curriculum that can last longer than one year
- You have no art experience
- You don’t consider yourself “artsy”
- You need an open-and-go option
- You don’t want to use curriculum that puts a lot of pressure on mom
- You want projects that don’t take hours to complete
- You want a complete art curriculum for grades 1-6
I’ll be implementing this curriculum into my kindergartener’s schedule for the rest of this year and will plan to use it into the next few years as well. I would definitely recommend considering How to Teach Art to Children for your homeschool.
Happy Homeschooling,
