Please welcome a very dear friend and mentor to me, Barbara McCoy of Harmony Fine Arts and Handbook of Nature Study! So you have kindled a love of art in the early years of homeschooling…sharing great art and artists. You have provided lots of art supplies along with opportunities to create art but now you are facing the high school years. Are wondering if you are up to the challenge of nurturing your artist in high school?
What is holding you back?
- Perhaps you are concerned there is not enough time to fit in a formal study of art appreciation and art skills into your already bursting-at-the-seams high school plans.
- Maybe you just don’t feel qualified to even offer such a thing as art or music study in high school.
- Your high school student could think they are not talented in art. They might not be enthusiastic about completing a course in art appreciation or working on art skills.
Whatever your concerns may be, rest assured that you can keep the creative fires burning through high school with a little planning and a little perseverance. More on that in this entry over on my Harmony Art Mom: I Don’t Know A Thing About Great Art.
Make Goals and Gather Resources– Get your student involved in the process and explore your art options together. You can read some ideas for choosing art goals for your high schooler on my blog: Homeschool Art – Art Skills.
Allow Time Every Week – If you can provide one 45 minute period per week, this will be enough to keep the fires burning. We kept Friday afternoons for art for most of our high school years but plan a time that works for your child. Finding Time For Nature Study, Art, Music, Poetry, and PE in High School.
Create a Work Space– We have a dedicated space for our art supplies and work area. Keeping plenty of supplies within view will remind you to encourage experimentation beyond your school hours. Take a peek at our work space: Making Room for Creativity.
Display and Enjoy-I have a whole Pinterest board dedicated to art displays because I feel it is valuable to encourage our young artists by framing or displaying their art in the home. I invite you to pop over to my blog to see our art gallery: Displaying Children’s Art.
Visit Artsy Places – If all else fails, plan some time at art museums wandering around the galleries discussing art. Perhaps a particular artist, style, or art era will spark some interest and you can follow up on that interest at home in the weeks after your visit. Some of us love the creative atmosphere found in the quiet spaces of an art gallery…maybe your child will just be a lover of great art and not a creator of art and that is perfectly fine! Read about our awe-inspiring visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
***Barb McCoy developed Harmony Fine Arts Art and Music Appreciation to help other busy moms get started with affordable Harmony Fine Arts plans written in the Classical/Charlotte Mason style.
The spring hopscotch series is brought to you by these lovely ladies…
Be sure to click over to see all the wonderful series of Spring Hopscotch posts by iHomeschool Network bloggers – 280 posts in all!
- Day 1 – What is an Artist?
- Day 2 – Just Practice
- Day 3 – Paint Landscapes
- Day 4 – Name Every Picture
- Day 5 – Paint Simple Shapes of Fruit and Vegetables
- Day 6 – Art in Motion Waterfall Chalk Pastel Tutorial
- Day 7 – Wear Your Art
- Day 8 – Help for Reluctant Artists
- Day 9 – Nurturing Your Artist in High School
- Don’t miss any of our You Can Be an Artist series – subscribe to Hodgepodge!
- Just add chalk pastels and paper for a whole year of tutorials! Browse the store at chalkpastel.com
Will you join me in thanking Barb-Harmony Art Mom for joining us today and sharing her wisdom and expertise?
Barb – I love your creative space!! It is so very inviting. Thank you for encouraging and providing families with so many wonderful resources for a love of art, for showing us we are all artists in some way.
It is a joy to see how your family enjoys your art time! I love that your whole family participates…such a great example to everyone.
I always love your ideas, Barb. With two middle schoolers next year, these tips will come in handy. It’s hard to believe High School Round 2 is so close at hand.
Thanks Kris…it is so worth the effort to allow time for artist pursuits in high school.
I’m always inspire by Barb’s ideas and her passion! Definitely plan to incorporate some of these ideas next homeschool year (since we’re kinda just surviving the rest of this one!).
Great post! Pinning for “Someday” when my littles are not so little. Always love Barb’s thoughts.