Posted on

The Ultimate Guide To Adding Art and Music Appreciation To Your Homeschool

This guide will help you get started with art and music appreciation in your homeschool. My hope is to help you overcome all the normal excuses. I hope it encourages you!

I don’t have time to teach art. I am so far behind in my core subjects. I have no talent in art. We will do some projects over the summer.

Sound familiar? In my years of homeschooling, I have heard many excuses from my friends on why they do not include art and music in their weekly routines. Truth be told, I thought some of the very same things until I realized that these two subjects are easily incorporated into our daily lives.

Why Include Art and Music Appreciation in Your Homeschool?

No matter what style of homeschool you use – textbook, classical, unschooling, or anything in between – art and music can be woven into your year. The study of great works of art, the listening to uplifting pieces of music, and the freedom to be creative in any subject can enrich and expand what we already offer to our children.

If this is your first time to journey into this world of art and music appreciation, you can find joy experiencing these subjects with your children and growing alongside them. I will share how we have done this in our family and how I have encouraged others to do so in their lives – homeschooled or not. Be open to the possibility that you can add some art and music into your homeschool day.

How To Make Time For Art and Music Appreciation: “I Don’t Have Time”

Music Appreciation

Music appreciation can easily by accomplished by picking two or three composers a year and pulling them up on your favorite digital listening platform. Start with the well-known masters such as Bach, Beethoven or Mozart. Choose a playlist and then regularly listen during your homeschool day or as your drive in the car to other activities. Each time you listen, you will quickly become more and more familiar.

Many times the children will easily recognize a composer and they will shout out how they heard this piece in a movie or during a cartoon. Some composers will not immediately be liked but you will find that after you get a ‘taste’ for a certain composer, their music will grow on you. If your children have not been exposed to classical music, it may take some time before they will enjoy the sound of it. Don’t give up. You might also like: The Best Way to Add Music to Your Homeschool.

Art Appreciation or Picture Study

Art appreciation, or picture study, can be a complement to your other subjects. I start by choosing an artist that goes along with the period of history we are studying. After selecting the artist, I find a source for viewing that artist’s work. The internet is a valuable an efficient source for finding a great quantity of artwork.

My two favorite choices are Mark Harden’s The Artchive artchive.com and Olga’s Gallery abcgallery.com. Another source is the library where we find art books, children’s biographies and videos that supplement our picture study. We study four to five different artists a year this way. It will not take long before your children are recognizing famous artwork when you are going about your daily life.

5 Tips to Start Fine Arts Friday

Set Aside Fine Arts Fridays!

Who doesn’t love themed days? Certainly not Taco Tuesday!! I’m sharing 5 Tips to Start Fine Arts Friday without overwhelming your homeschool schedule. Don’t miss Stef’s post full of Fine Arts Friday tips!

The Ultimate Guide to Fun Friday Activities for Kids – Enjoy these fun Friday activities for kids! By making memories having fun, learning can be so very rewarding! We are BIG fans of this type of homeschooling.

Keep it simple and have fun!

How to Include Fine Arts When You Are Behind in Your Homeschool

Still wondering how to include fine arts in your homeschool? I will answer the reasons families put off a study of art and music appreciation. Here are some practical suggestions for weaving art activities into your more academic subjects.

Fine Arts Curriculum is an instant pdf download with helpful notebooking pages, links to resources, and an opportunity to earn High School credit!

Here are more details on a Fine Arts Credit for High School with A Homeschooler’s Quick Guide.

I’m So Far Behind In My Core Homeschool Subjects

Art and music need not be separate subjects or boxes to check off on your homeschool schedule. In our family, the art supplies are easily accessible and that reminds us to use them in many of our core subjects. Try some of these ideas and see how easy it is to be ‘art aware’ when you are working in language, math, science and history.

In the early grades, my children always enjoyed drawing a picture and then writing a story to go along with it. As they grew through the grades, their writing pieces would include an illustrated cover or a picture to illustrate the story.

Ideas for Math and Literature

To supplement our math lessons, we used picture books with colorful illustrations as a gold mine for things to count. As your read children’s literature, make sure to point out the beautiful illustrations and allow them to use that artwork to copy on their own. Copying great artwork is fun for children. Literature is full of inspiring artists like Eric Carle and Tomie dePaola.

Ideas for Science

During your science time, have you started a nature journal? We start a new one each year and fill it with sketches of objects we find outside or animals we observe in our yard and from our window. Any topic in science can be made more interesting by drawing what you are learning, making diagrams of experiments, including sketches of concepts and cutting pictures from magazines.

Ideas for History

History gives you the opportunity to draw maps, sketch an event, and draw, paint or color illustrations for reports. My younger students would draw a picture of a historical account. I would write a caption that my little ones dictated to me to go along with the artwork for their journals. You might also like Fun Activities for Your History Class.

I hope this helps you with some practical ideas for including artwork in your homeschool day.

If you think you have no inborn talent for art, we are here to help! This is the easiest objection to overcome. Very few of us are blessed with a background in art and music that would make us ‘experts’.

I Have No Talent in Art

Honestly, you do not need to be an expert. Just like any other homeschool subject we teach, if we don’t know about something, we find a resource and learn right along with our children. My best suggestion is to get out the paints, the colored pencils, the chalk pastels or what you have on hand and to play with the materials alongside your children.

It actually is a great experience for children to see their parents learning along with them. Model how to “mess up” and how to give new things a try. You may surprise yourself. View artwork together and share what you feel when you look at each piece.

I Am Not Familiar with Many Composers

Learn to enjoy classical music with your children. Share with then which compositions you like best and which ones you don’t care for. My children love to see me pretend to play the organ every time Bach’s “Toccota and Fuge in D Minor” starts playing. As time goes by, you will become your own expert and you will know what you like and don’t like. I have learned not to be intimidated by others and their opinions.

This is an area where there are no right and wrong answers. You have lots of freedom to just enjoy the experience.

We Will Do Some Projects Over the Summer

This excuse is really just a form of procrastination. How many summers roll by and you still have not done a single art project or viewed a single piece of artwork? What you waiting for? Sit down and make a short list of artists and a short list of composers for the year. Take it one step at a time and stay flexible.

It takes very little planning or time to give your family the opportunity to be exposed to great art and music. The effort you put into finding ways to use your art supplies in your every day routine are well worth it.

Incorporating art and music into your child’s life reaps immeasurable benefits. Problem solving skills, heightened awareness to the world around them, a sense of well-being, and increased motivation are all gained when you expose your child to great music, artists and creative opportunities regularly.

You need to provide the opportunity, the inspiration, and the enthusiasm. If you do, your children will be greatly rewarded by becoming well rounded in life as well as their homeschool subjects. Don’t let another year go by! There is no excuse.

We have so many resources here on the blog, in our fine arts series and in our membership. You can pick a grade and follow the flexible suggestions for each week.

Check out our art and music appreciation plans for homeschool!

Playlist for each grade can be found on Spotify and YouTube

Homeschool Fine Arts Curriculum for All Levels

You ARE an ARTiST Homeschool Fine Arts lesson plans organize great art and music appreciation resources into the classical four-year cycle of history and seasons each week with a Charlotte Mason flavor. Here you will find homeschool fine arts curriculum for the whole family!

These lesson plans are available for Grades 1-12 and will offer families three different options for art study and a detailed plan for music appreciation.

family style fine arts curriculum for homeschoolers

If you don’t feel that a full year of fine arts appreciation is for you, you can also choose from a collection of unique art and music appreciation unit studies which typically last 6-9 weeks.

Each flexible and easy to use 32-36 week plan includes notebooking pages, coloring pages plus both Spotify and YouTube links for art tutorials and listening to classical music.

What is Picture Study? A Simple Guide for Kids (includes free printable art cards)

Homeschool Fine Arts Q&A: How Real Families Make It Work – We have received many questions, comments, and praise regarding the Homeschool Fine Arts curriculum. But you know what it’s like buying homeschool curriculum! Us homeschool moms value word of mouth endorsements from our closest friends. Well we pulled together some of our Members (aka close online friends) for a little help answering questions. We hope these homeschool friends can shed some more light on the Fine Arts Curriculum and how it fits in their homeschool! So grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the Q&A session.

Fine Arts Fridays: Homeschool Lessons with Nana – Fine Arts Fridays and homeschool lessons with Nana are a creative way to add joy to your homeschool! Integrate homeschool art appreciation, music appreciation and hands on art lessons into your learning in a fun way.

The Beauty of Art, Music and Nature in Your Homeschool – My children have become acquainted with winter nature study, Vivaldi, Corelli, and Giotto within a few short months! Our Fine Arts Friday has become a fun and hands-on way of learning about great art and exciting time periods. Afterward, we head outside for our nature study and #outdoorhourchallenge. Fridays have become a rich, full day of beauty and learning like never before! Won’t you join us?

art and music appreciation for your homeschool

Homeschool Fine Arts Sample

Get your FREE sample of homeschool fine arts, below:

Get Your Fine Arts Sample!

Subscribe to get your free week of art and music appreciation.

    We won’t send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

    More Fun With Homeschool Fine Arts for the Family

    Your time learning about famous artists and composers can be some the best of your homeschooling. Here are some more resources to encourage you:

    Composer biography pages by Stef Layton of Layton Adventures

    Composer Biography Pages by Stef Layton of Layton Adventures

    In addition to discounted fine arts titles, our You ARE an ARTiST Clubhouse members receive a fantastic pack of Composer Biography pages by Stef Layton. These printable pages include sections to add interesting facts, most famous works, your favorite piece and how the composer’s piece makes you feel.

    Includes these composers: Vivaldi, Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Wagner, Verdi, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Debussy and a blank page to fill in for any other composer you are studying.

    You ARE an ARTiST Clubhouse members receive 50% off each fine arts title!

    This comprehensive guide has everything you need to get started with art and music appreciation in your homeschool.

    Written by Tricia and by Homeschool Fine Arts founder and curriculum author, Barbara McCoy.

    Growing a love of art at You ARE an ARTiST is a multi-generational passion! Tricia is Nana’s daughter and a mama of five children. Nana shared her first chalk pastel art lessons with her grandchildren around Tricia’s kitchen table. Homeschooling since 2000, Tricia has seen the fruits of home education with three homeschool grads so far! She shares the art and heart of homeschooling at Your Best Homeschool and is author of the book, Help! I’m Homeschooling! She and her husband, Steve, are also owners of sister sites Homeschool Nature Study and The Curriculum Choice.

    Posted on

    What is Picture Study? A Simple Guide For Kids

    Many times people ask me just what is picture study. Here are some simple steps that have worked for our family for many years. Don’t miss the free, printable art cards to help you get picture study started!

    Many times people ask me just what is picture study. Here are some simple steps that have worked for our family for many years. Don't miss the free, printable art cards, below, to help you get picture study started!

    What Is Picture Study?

    Picture study is a wonderful way to introduce children to all types of masterful art. The simple act of taking time observe and discuss provides an opportunity for children of all ages to engage in fine arts.

    Simple Steps for Picture Study

    1. Choose the painting to be viewed.
    2. Have the child sit quietly and just look at the painting.
    3. After a time of looking, hide the painting from view and ask your child to tell you what he remembers about the painting. Have him list the literal objects he sees in the painting like trees, people, animals, mountains, rivers, etc.

    That’s it. It’s as simple as that.

    To extend the activity for older students, you may have them sketch the painting from memory.

    Homeschool fine arts plans include picture study in every year plan. Each week has a clickable link to an online image that you can use in your picture study.

    If you are having trouble with your children narrating back what they see in the painting, you can go over some vocabulary with them so they have the words to give you.

    Here are some ideas to get you started.

    Many times people ask me just what is picture study. Here are some simple steps that have worked for our family for many years. Don't miss the free, printable art cards, below, to help you get picture study started!

    Questions To Ask In Picture Study

    What kinds of lines do you see?

    • sharp
    • thick
    • jagged
    • heavy
    • choppy
    • vertical
    • diagonal
    • fuzzy
    • thin
    • curved
    • graceful

    What kinds of textures do you see?

    • rough
    • smooth
    • hard
    • shiny

    What shapes do you see?

    • circles
    • rectangles
    • triangles
    • squares

    What colors do you see?

    • bright
    • dark
    • strong
    • reds/oranges/yellows
    • blues/greens/purples
    • browns/whites/grays

    Download Your FREE Printable Art Question Cards

    Get Your Free Art Cards!

    Subscribe to get your free printable Art Cards.

      We won’t send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

      Homeschool Fine Arts Curriculum for All Levels

      You ARE an ARTiST Homeschool Fine Arts lesson plans organize great art and music appreciation resources into the classical four-year cycle of history and seasons each week with a Charlotte Mason flavor. Here you will find homeschool fine arts curriculum for the whole family!

      These lesson plans are available for Grades 1-12 and will offer families three different options for art study and a detailed plan for music appreciation.

      fine arts curriculum for grades 1-12

      Each flexible and easy to use 32-36 week plan includes notebooking pages, coloring pages and YouTube links for art tutorials and listening to classical music.

      Read a full review of the Fine Arts Curriculum and and learn how to use this resource family-style.

      Here are some homeschool mom tips for making fine arts fun!

      You ARE an ARTiST Clubhouse members receive 50% off each fine arts title!

      Many times people ask me just what is picture study. Here are some simple steps that have worked for our family for many years. Don't miss the free, printable art cards to help you get picture study started!

      By Barb McCoy, founder of Homeschool Fine Arts Plans and the Outdoor Hour Challenges.

      Posted on

      The Ultimate Guide To Fun Friday Activities For Kids

      Enjoy these fun Friday activities for kids! By making memories having fun, learning can be so very rewarding! We are BIG fans of this type of homeschooling.

      The Popularity Of 4 Day Homeschool Weeks

      Do you implement or have you ever considered a four day homeschool week? Just like there is a trend towards four day work weeks, many homeschoolers keep Fridays free of structured learning and instead, have “Fun Fridays”.

      5 Tips to Start Fine Arts Friday

      Fun Friday Activities For Kids

      Who doesn’t love themed days? Certainly not Taco Tuesday!! I’m sharing 5 Tips to Start Fine Arts Friday without overwhelming your homeschool schedule.

      Fine Arts Friday is an easy way to incorporate the You ARE An ARTiST Fine Arts Curriculum. I know, you’ve already booked August and you’re doing ALL. THE. THINGS. I was right there with you signing up for every activity, co-ops, and sports. Trying to be a homeschool superhero. You don’t have to exhaust yourself (and your children) with one more monster size obligation.

      fine arts Friday for homeschool
      Meet #FineArtsFriday Friends!

      Fine Arts Fridays: Art and Music Appreciation

      For fun Friday activities, Stef says, “Knowing every Friday we were going to spend a bit of time on art helped my youngest, with delayed fine motor skills, mentally prepare while also keeping my oldest, who has a library of sketch books, happy.”

      Fine Arts Fridays: Homeschool Lessons with Nana – Fine Arts Fridays and homeschool lessons with Nana are a creative way to add joy to your homeschool! Integrate homeschool art appreciation, music appreciation and hands on art lessons into your learning in a fun way.

      The Beauty of Art, Music and Nature in Your Homeschool – My children have become acquainted with winter nature study, Vivaldi, Corelli, and Giotto within a few short months! Our Fine Arts Friday has become a fun and hands-on way of learning about great art and exciting time periods. Afterward, we head outside for our nature study and #outdoorhourchallenge. Fridays have become a rich, full day of beauty and learning like never before! Won’t you join us?

      Homeschool Hymn Studies

      Homeschool Hymn Study: Weaving Beauty Into Learning – With a homeschool hymn study, you are weaving beauty into learning! Dawn Peluso’s hymn studies are a great way to learn history, music and God’s Word.

      A Beautiful Easter Hymn Study for Your Homeschool – Join us for a beautiful Easter hymn study for your homeschool and video art lessons to match! Music and art help us all to connect learning with a special holiday plus build sweet memories together as a family.

      A Merry Christmas Hymns Study – Whether you homeschool as normal through December, add in Christmas activities, or trade all your homeschool curriculum for ‘Christmas School,’ a Christmas hymns study can be an enjoyable part of your school day. It is a beautiful opportunity for the family to learn and worship together.

      Thanksgiving Hymn Favorites: Learning Activities for Your Homeschool – A season of thankfulness and gratitude would not be complete without sharing thanks to God for all of our blessings. One of our favorite ways to celebrate during this time of Thanksgiving is with hymn studies. Many songs help us to remember our gifts and sing our gratitude to God. Here, I’ve included Thanksgiving hymn favorites for you to enjoy, along with learning activities for your homeschool.

      Make Your Homeschool Art Museum Field Trip Extraordinary

      Homeschool Field Trips

      5 Ways to Make Your Homeschool Art Museum Field Trip Extraordinary – A homeschool art museum field trip has been on our list for years. This year, we have already been to one and have another planned for next semester. Here are 5 things I’ve learned about how to maximize the educational experience and family fun on your field trip to the museum.

      The Ultimate Guide to Virtual Art Museum Field Trips – you don’t necessarily need to leave your home to have access to things. There are so many resources you can use to enrich your homeschooling, right online! Virtual Art Museum Field Trips are one of those things!

      Why You Should Take an Art Museum Field Trip – It is one thing to study a piece of art or an artist with a book or an online artist study. It is quite another to see a piece of art in person – and to see, up close, the actual brush strokes by the artist. That is one reason why you should take an art museum homeschool field trip. And here are a few more reasons you should go.

      Van Gogh Experience for Homeschoolers – Our entire family definitely felt immersed in Van Gogh’s beautiful works of art. Especially in the immersion room after walking through the galleries! The Van Gogh Experience would also be a great homeschool field trip or educational opportunity to celebrate your Van Gogh studies. This is a great way to experience the paintings and works of this famous artist. We had a wonderful time!

      Enjoy these fun Friday activities for kids! By making memories having fun, learning can be so very rewarding! We are BIG fans of this type of homeschooling.

      Nature Study in Your Homeschool

      Discover the beauty of art and nature study in your homeschool and help your children explore the simple joys of the outdoors. There is so much to marvel about in God’s great creation! The Beauty of Art and Nature Study in Your Homeschool.

      How to Use the Outdoor Hour Challenges for Homeschool Family Nature Study – When getting started in homeschool nature study, here are some simple ideas to consider for your outdoor time.

      Enjoy these fun Friday activities for kids! By making memories having fun, learning can be so very rewarding! We are BIG fans of this type of homeschooling.

      Bears: An Art and Book Study for Your Homeschool – Delight in a bears art and book study for your homeschool! This is a beautiful combination of art, nature study, and living books to grow a gentle learning adventure about the world around us.

      Nature Study Crafts for Kids: Easy Activities for Learning and Fun! Nature study crafts for kids are a hands on way to learn. What beautiful and easy activities for learning and FUN! Let us show you how.

      Spring Homechool Nature Study with Art – Perfect for commemorating spring, Nana’s spring homeschool nature study with art explores all creatures great and small and all things bright and beautiful! These nature-inspired art lessons are easy and fun for the whole family!

      Enjoy these fun Friday activities for kids! By making memories having fun, learning can be so very rewarding! We are BIG fans of this type of homeschooling.

      Gameschooling for Fun Friday Activities

      Whether stuck inside or adding fun to your Friday learning, here are some great ideas and some encouragement to get you started! The Game Homeschool is a great overview with a giant list of games for learning!

      Enjoy these fun Friday activities for kids! By making memories having fun, learning can be so very rewarding! We are BIG fans of this type of homeschooling.

      Homeschool Art Lessons For Hands On Homeschool Learning

      Julie says, “As with every chalk pastel lesson we use in our homeschool, I adore how the boys never tire of this type of learning. Using art to learn is such an interactive teaching strategy.” – Skeletal System Activities: Everything You Need for Learning and Fun!

      Nana has art lessons to complement every subject you can think of for your Fun Friday:

      Enjoy these fun Friday activities for kids! By making memories having fun, learning can be so very rewarding! We are BIG fans of this type of homeschooling.

      Homeschool Fine Arts: Art and Music Appreciation for Families

      You ARE An ARTiST now offers family style and grade level Fine Arts Curriculum. High school students can earn one full Fine Arts Credit. Which is super exciting! This curricula is much different than the traditional Chalk Art Lessons with Nana we have all come to love. While Nana is filming more art tutorials for Clubhouse Members, this curricula is an instant PDF download, so you can go at your own pace! Pick whichever grade you like, and if you’re anything like me with one child dipping toes in three different grades … friend, you’ve got yourself some options. Pick the topic / time period that matches up well with other core curriculum.
      Clubhouse Members can purchase Fine Arts at 1/2 price – must be logged in for discount.

      Here are more details on a Fine Arts Credit for High School with A Homeschooler’s Quick Guide

      Enjoy these fun Friday activities for kids! By making memories having fun, learning can be so very rewarding! We are BIG fans of this type of homeschooling.

      Each fine arts curriculum offers additional art appreciation books, music, and podcasts that you can use as you have time available. They also encourage you to incorporate hands-on famous artists’ and composer art lessons with Nana. These plans pull together affordably priced materials along with internet links so you can have a reasonably priced art and music appreciation program. There are 32-36 weeks planned at each level, and this allows your family plenty of flexibility to complete the curriculum in one homeschool year.

      If you don’t feel that a full year of fine arts appreciation is for you, you can also choose from a collection of unique art and music appreciation unit studies which typically last 6-9 weeks.

      Enjoy these fun Friday activities for kids! By making memories having fun, learning can be so very rewarding! We are BIG fans of this type of homeschooling.

      More Kids Activities For Education And Fun

      What other fun Friday activities would you set aside a Fun Friday for? Of course, any holiday is always a fun time to learn something new:

      With You ARE an ARTiST Complete Clubhouse membership, you can enjoy access to all 800+ of Nana’s video art lessons that complement the lovely learning in your homeschool. And, with Clubhouse membership you can choose to receive 50% off the Fine Arts titles and 50% off membership to our sister site, Homeschool Nature Study.

      Homeschool Fine Arts Resources Bundle

      Two winners! We are giving away two bundles! Two winners will receive the bundle of resources that go with the grade of Fine Arts they are using. (Fine Arts Title not included). Resources include the suggested art appreciation books, music appreciation books, art application books for the Homeschool Fine Arts grade.

      Enter to win via the rafflecopter widget, below:

      a Rafflecopter giveaway

      Homeschool Fine Arts Sample

      Get your FREE sample of homeschool fine arts, below:

      Get Your Fine Arts Sample!

      Subscribe to get your free week of art and music appreciation.

        We won’t send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

        Growing a love of art at You ARE an ARTiST is a multi-generational passion! Tricia is Nana’s daughter and a mama of five children. Nana shared her first chalk pastel art lessons with her grandchildren around Tricia’s kitchen table. Homeschooling since 2000, Tricia has seen the fruits of home education with three homeschool grads so far! She shares the art and heart of homeschooling at Your Best Homeschool and is author of the book, Help! I’m Homeschooling! She and her husband, Steve, are also owners of sister sites Homeschool Nature Study and The Curriculum Choice.

        Posted on

        5 Tips to Start Fine Arts Friday

        Who doesn’t love themed days? Certainly not Taco Tuesday!! I’m sharing 5 Tips to Start Fine Arts Friday without overwhelming your homeschool schedule.

        Fine Arts Friday is an easy way to incorporate the You ARE An ARTiST Fine Arts Curriculum. I know, you’ve already booked August and you’re doing ALL. THE. THINGS. I was right there with you signing up for every activity, co-ops, and sports. Trying to be a homeschool superhero. You don’t have to exhaust yourself (and your children) with one more monster size obligation.

        Fine Arts Friday Homeschool Art Lesson

        Nana shares a Fine Arts Friday Art Lesson, below.

        Suggested supplies: White construction paper and all the chalk pastel colors! Baby wipes or a slightly damp paper towel for easy clean up.

        You ARE An ARTiST now offers family style and grade level Fine Arts Curriculum. High school students can earn one full Fine Arts Credit. Which is super exciting! This curricula is much different than the traditional Chalk Art Lessons with Nana we have all come to love. While Nana is filming more art tutorials for Clubhouse Members, this curricula is an instant PDF download, so you can go at your own pace! Pick whichever grade you like, and if you’re anything like me with 1 child dipping toes in 3 different grades … friend, you’ve got yourself some options. Pick the topic / time period that matches up well with other core curriculum.
        Clubhouse Members can purchase Fine Arts at 1/2 price – must be logged in for discount.

        5 Tips to Start Fine Arts Friday

        My boys thrived with schedules and a little routine. Wait, they’re shaking their heads no. Okay, maybe I just did better managing ALL. THE. THINGS. with somewhat of a plan to fall back on when superhero costumes, guinea pigs, and junk food overwhelmed the table. I don’t know what the boys were doing but I was having a blast! Knowing every Friday we were going to spend a bit of time on art helped my youngest, with delayed fine motor skills, mentally prepare while also keeping my oldest, who has a library of sketch books, happy.

        Plan Art Field Trips

        What better way to study art than at a museum? Each fine arts curriculum lists the artist/composer and works covered so you can plan ahead – especially with traveling exhibits, ballet, opera, or family vacations. Be sure to check tickets for homeschool discounts! Read, listen, and art at home one Friday then get out to visit art the following Friday. Or take one big trip to Florence Italy while earning high school credit! Many museums now offer virtual tours. In fact, you can enjoy The Ultimate Guide to Virtual Art Museum Field Trips right here.

        Follow Chalk Pastel on Spotify

        Turn off your 90’s dance music and play that funky Classical music! Chalk Pastel is currently adding the Fine Arts music to their Spotify playlists. Using an app makes everything “cool”, right?! If you have a family account everyone can listen to the playlists on their own devices. Listen while finishing math or driving to the next co-op. Follow up with discussions, Which of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons do you like best? The answer is Winter. No Summer. All of them? We can’t decide.

        Fine Arts Scavenger Hunts

        Download info from the Fine Arts curriculum course content to your phone and head out on a Fine Arts Scavenger Hunt. Can I just say again how much I love that this curriculum is a PDF download?! Compare famous works of art in your surrounding area. Sunflowers, hack stacks, lighthouses, cypress trees, sailboats … see the influences of famous masterpieces in your own neighborhood! Listen to the restaurant music and whoever notices a familiar piece first gets to pick dessert. You’ll start noticing more and more classical music in movies now too. Or, play those songs and let family members guess the composer. I can only play the first 15 seconds of Bach’s Cello Suite No 1 in G Major – so guess quick kids!

        fine arts friday

        Choose Different Supplies

        Many of the Fine Arts Curricula offers black and white copies of the famous works of art. Use your favorite medium to color in the pages. My youngest son, who never really enjoyed chalk pastels (gasp) or paints, was thrilled to use colored pencils and markers. Go BIG or go home, my oldest son loved using sidewalk chalk and chalking ginormous pieces of art on our driveway. This turned into a side job, that’s What Raising An Artist Looks Like.

        Helpful Hints: When a coloring page was not provided we found them online and downloaded them, changed to black & white (change scale to lightest color), and printed from my phone. Also, black pastel chalk doesn’t like to come off the driveway, so if you don’t want to scrub concrete with a vegetable brush – use cheap sidewalk chalk!

        Incorporate Fine Arts into other Subjects

        Art doesn’t have to be a wall flower. It actually mixes amazingly well with other subjects like history, literature, and nature studies! Learning about astronomy? Add a Starry Night coloring page. Learning about the Elizabethan Era? William Byrd is your guy. With just a little planning your core curriculum will come alive with sprinkles of art.

        Extra Tip!

        Join your students. I noticed when I joined my boys we all enjoyed the lessons just a little bit more. Maybe because my boys are talented artistically and my masterpieces always looked like chicken scratch? Maybe because I offered a comedic narrative? Why couldn’t Johann Sebastian Bach buy a house? Because he was Baroque.
        Art provides a wonderful opportunity for moms to express their own creativity and lower stress. A few things we should be proactive about adding to our schedules this homeschool year.

        Extra Tip #2!

        Meet #FineArtsFriday Friends!

        Hi my name is Stef and I love fine arts. It’s funny how an Instagram challenge can help us stick to something. Now that you’re ready to start Fine Arts, join the community of #FineArtsFriday friends on IG. Tag @ChalkPastelArt and #YouAreAnArtist so we can all de-stress and become more cultured together.

        Stef Layton

        Stef started homeschooling her boys in 2008. She quickly adopted a hands-on learning homeschool style and graduated her oldest tactile learner in 2021. Stef started the Hands-On Learning column in Homeschooling Today magazine. The Laytons currently reside in the foothills of Colorado where Stef also teaches yoga. The family loves to hike trails, stand-up paddle board, and chase sunsets. Stef shares travel and homeschool tips on IG at @LaytonAdventures.