Artisitc Pursuit

It's

Review Day

&

Today our homeschool journey has taken us

to the world of Art

Serving Preschool through 12th grade aged children, Artistic Pursuits curriculum's bring life to the study and practice of art with pleasant ease.   My daughter and I were given one of their curriculum books to review...

Artistic Pursuit An Introduction to the Visual Arts Grades K-3 Book One   

32 Lessons

$42.95

Our review can be summed up in one word, :::JOY:::  Brenda Ellis [author] and AP Art curriculum have brought even more joy to my budding artist.  Case in point, every morning "Mom, can we do another one of these today."[holding up Artistic Pursuits book up for me to see]  She has had so much fun being creative and learning about new ways to 'see' art.

•Written to the student - NO teacher preparation is needed

:::Note:  you will need to purchase the supplies from the 'Materials' list provided:::

•Complete art history - Examining works of the Great Masters

•32 projects in each book include drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, and more!

•Easy organized system for handling materials

•Sharp color images printed on bright heavy-weight paper, soft bound

What I love the most is the way the curriculum encourages my student(s), through different methods, allowing them to express themselves through their art in their own way.  The curriculum does not tell the student to do things in a very certain way.  They are free to be as the artists they are studying.

Students are simply guided into drawing, painting, sketching, sculpting as landscape, still life or portrait or more.  They use what they see, shapes, texture, colors, imagination, etc.

The study shows an example of original art work allowing my student to understand the concept and really look deeper into each piece of art.  Then they give an example of another students art. 

My daughter is able to visualize these different examples and grasp the realness of the art in what she sees in her minds eye and then puts pen, pencil, pastel, water color to paper to simply create.

Artistic Pursuits Information

[excerpts gathered from http://www.artisticpursuits.com/]

Philosophy

At Artistic Pursuits Inc., we believe every child can understand the concepts of art and enjoy the process of putting ideas and visual images on paper. We're committed to the goal of helping children become visually aware of the wonderful world we live in, and be able to work in creative ways within this world. We offer parents and teachers a simple way to give children a quality art education that will prepare them to meet creative challenges in their future endeavors.

How We Teach Art


... Using ARTistic Pursuits, a child carries art tools to locations which both inspire and are chosen by the child. Creating truly personal work gives a child a sense of accomplishment that cannot be attained by copying from a book or watching an adult do it for him....Children examine and explore these key ideas by seeing them in their own world, in art works by the masters, through pages demonstrating techniques, and through art of their own and of others. Childhood development studies were foundational to the layout of the program. ARTistic Pursuits lessons offer children the right kinds of information at the right time. We expect a child to be a child and we value what they produce from their own hands. Projects do not try to force young children to draw like adults. Our projects do not require patience and discipline on the part of the child, which leads to frustration. Children don't need patience when their own interests and motivations are guiding them.

What you WILL NOT find in ARTistic Pursuits:


•NO formal exercises that make no connections to real world experiences. We will not ask your child to draw a page of straight lines, circles, cones, and cubes. The development of eye/hand coordination, which may improve with such exercises, happens more easily when children draw objects that they enjoy and are willing to draw.


•NO single technique to learning. This is not a book of step-by-step copy exercises typical of How-to-Draw books. The technique of teaching kids to draw shapes copied from a book page does nothing to help them draw real objects. ARTistic Pursuits employs a variety of drawing techniques practiced by all artists when drawing from direct observation.


•NO tiny boxes in which students are asked to sketch into. Artists don't work in 2" x 2" squares and we won't ask your students to do something that is physically uncomfortable. With a 9"x12" sketch book, they practice the type of whole hand and whole arm motion needed to make art. Art requires the use of the larger muscles of the hand (moving at the wrist), and arm (moving at the shoulder). Small muscle groups are used less often, therefore large sheets of paper are needed, 9"x12" or 11" x 14".


•NO kids sitting in front of the TV or computer screen. Assignments guide children to work from life. The stillness of a natural setting revives our spirits. To be in nature helps us to become keen observers of our surroundings and active in our participation. Children benefit from time spent observing, and learn to "focus in" and "ponder" rather than "tuning out" to harsh sounds and fast paced visuals that TV and computer programs present to them. One mom wrote, "My son took his ARTistic Pursuits book and art tools out to the pasture. He's been sitting there with his dog for quite a long time, drawing something in the distance. I couldn't be happier!"

Wonderful!  It is as they say.  We highly recommend this curriculum knowing that it would be an added treasure to your homeschool experience. 

You can find more age appropriate Artistic Pursuits curriculum's  and art supplies at www.artisticpursuits.com

 Also, find out what other TOS Homeschool Crew bloggers are saying at

http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/

The following are some examples of My Princess Girl's [and 1 from My Tender Heart] creations:::

From My Heart to Yours,
Mindy B