Adding Art to your Homeschool

Late winter is typically a stressful time for homeschool families. We hopefully have found our rhythm for this year yet are now thinking of plans for next year. We are seeing the fruits of labor in the academic subjects yet the “is it enough” or “are we ever going to finish” often creeps in our already full minds.

Co-op registration is opening and curriculum sales are happening, yet thinking about the future is daunting when the day to day is cold, dark, and dreary.

One thing we do in our homeschool to combat this stress is to add art: journaling after Friday’s nature hike, exploring new handicrafts, using art in our narrations, and studying art as history.

Art as Handicrafts

Charlotte Mason in Home Education (Volume 1) said of handicrafts: “The children’s work should be kept well within their compass.” So much of her writing brings me back to my roots as an occupational therapist.

Using occupation, or handicrafts, to challenge yet entertain is my ultimate goal. Remember: two years ago, my son thought words moved on a page, was literally smacked with a Frisbee before he saw it, and cried when overwhelmed at the thought of writing.

Now, because of vision therapy, attention to his sensory needs, and exposure to fun activities that work these skills (visual scanning and convergence), he keeps his hands busy felting with really big needles during read alouds. Felting is his new favorite handicraft.

Other handicrafts my three children have tried are embroidery, weaving, hand lettering, wood burning, leatherwork, crochet, latch hook, and loom bands.

Art as Narration

Narration changed our homeschool. Karen Glass describes it in Know and Tell: The Art of Narration as “read, tell, and consequently know.” It requires connections that fill-in-the-blank or multiple-choice questions don’t. It allows children to tell what they find as important in an excerpt or even entire book. Finally, it inspires relationship between different subjects.

Today, as we were reading about the Lewis and Clark expedition in Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer, my youngest easily connected it to the timeline song we use in our Classical Conversations curriculum. Then, they all started drawing. They connected Lewis and Clark’s keelboat sailing down the Columbia River to the geography we studied this week.

They illustrated these connections in their timeline books to refer to later in their schooling. I love timeline books—blank paper books with timeline event per page— because they combine aspects of two educational theories—classical and Charlotte Mason—and encourage a mix of art, language, and the science of relations.

Art as History

Every year, we spend some time studying artists of the past—both with our Classical Conversations community and with our Charlotte Mason co-op. We choose a period of art, study the artists as well as their work, try to model their art, compare/contrast our work with theirs, and then wrap it all up with a trip to an art museum to appreciate the actual art.

This is another time that I learn alongside of my children because I only remember doing frustrating art projects in elementary art class so therefore never studied art after. (Sorry, Ms. Lane.) It has become one of my favorite subjects to learn because of my very own “aha” moments that I share with my children. I’m not ashamed to say it took me until homeschooling to recognize the beauty in art.

Four reasons to add art as history to your curriculum:

Art gives picture and context to time periods in history.
Art allows for expression even when it isn’t appreciated. Many artists that were not appreciated continued with their work. This is perseverance at its finest.
Many artists were able to find beauty in even the darkest times.
Many artists did not find beauty so either made their own or expressed darkness, which, ironically, is now viewed beautifully

As we are nearing the end of the cold, dark, and dreary season, using art as an occupation to facilitate learning through nature journaling, handicrafts, narration, and history study can help us to keep a positive attitude. In addition, art can also be used as a means to facilitate skills.

Homeschool OT can help provide resources and ideas for using art to build skills. Begin this process here.

Resources:

Glass, K. (2018). Know and Tell. Karen Glass Publisher.
Lloyd C, Papas V. Art as Therapy within Occupational Therapy in Mental Health Settings: A Review of the Literature. British Journal of Occupational Therapy. 1999;62(1):31-35. doi:10.1177/030802269906200109
Mason, C (2017). Home Education. Living Book Press.