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Art Appreciation Made Easy

I feel very comfortable teaching music appreciation.

Art appreciation is another story. 

This year, thanks to our simple morning basket, art appreciation has become EASY and quite enjoyable.  

Learning about art and how to APPRECIATE art brings my children one step closer to their creator. It helps them develop a sense of beauty, and it brings further context to our history studies. 

Art Appreciation Made Easy

One Simple Art Appreciation Resource

As we continue to strive for a more simple, beautiful homeschool, I have chosen just ONE art appreciation resource for this school year.

(You will see that I may offer up other resources, but if we only use this ONE THING, I will know I have provided my children with some art appreciation.)

We study one painting each week - during our morning time. 

After breakfast we review the week's memory work, watch CNN Student News, and then have a music appreciation or art appreciation lesson. 

Each art time takes us about 15 minutes - just enough time for my children to analyze and talk about the painting of the week. I have been so pleased that names like BOTTICELLI, DURER, and VAN EYCK have been integrated into our conversations!  

Our book includes a timeline of artists and when they completed their works, as well as important dates in history, such as the first excavation of ancient Rome, Columbus discovering the New World, the invention of the first spectacles, the first appearance of Halley's Comet, and many other events. 

Why have I been neglecting art appreciation for so long when it is this easy and enjoyable? 

There are MANY other books in this series, as well.  I am anticipating we will be using them after this first book.  These are just a few that caught my eye:  


Digging Deeper into Art Appreciation

As usually happens in our homeschool, one of my children will become interested in a particular artist through our studies. At that point, I believe it is important to have materials placed throughout our home so they can investigate further if they wish. 

In addition to library books I might seek out, I invested (when the kids were little) in the Getting To Know The World's Greatest Artists books. They are informative, silly, and fun - with many cartoons that appeal to children. 

Making Art Appreciation Fun With Games

One last resource I want to share with you, and that will be enough. 

Remember -- too much information can actually overwhelm and confuse, but a few quality resources made available to our children can enrich their lives. 

The Renaissance Art Game is just one example of how to make learning about art fun!  

You can play memory match, Go Fish, and also learn about the pieces of art with the book that accompanies the cards. This is BY FAR my favorite art game. 

There are some other art cards I have my eye on... which we may need to use in our homeschool this year!

Art Game: Van Gogh & Friends
BIRDCAGE/JOHN N. HANSEN

Do you teach art appreciation in your homeschool?

Tell me about it in the comments below!


LEGO Animal Cell

LEGO learning can make any subject more fun and interesting. 

Using LEGO bricks also usually LOCKS that learning into a LEGO lover's brain! 

So, this week, when it came time to learn about the parts of an animal cell, my son immersed himself in LEGOS for a few hours and developed a great model of an animal cell. 

LEGO Animal Cell

As part of our Classical Conversations science memory work, my son needed to memorize the parts of an animal cell. Since I am a firm believer that the memory work is enough, we generally don't expand too much.

I printed a simple diagram of an animal cell and pulled out our Acts & Facts Biology Science Cards.  I love the Acts & Facts cards because they provide just ENOUGH information... but not too much to overwhelm the elementary age child.  

 Right now the focus is on MEMORIZING the parts of the cell, not knowing the functions of each of those parts. That will come LATER. 

LEGO Animal Cell

I gave Grant the task of creating an animal cell with LEGO bricks.  

He used a different piece for each of these parts of the cell:

  • Nucleus

  • Cytoplasm

  • Vacuole

  • Mitochondria

  • Cell Membrane/Wall

  • Golgi Bodies

He also opted to make his cell rectangular, because then he could use a base plate to hold everything. We realize this isn't the shape, but hey -- I wasn't going to get picky with him because I was so thrilled with his creativity.

Build a LEGO Animal Cell

He used flags to label each part of the cell, and attached them with tape. 

I love all of the little animals he put on the cell wall (from our LEGO® Education StoryStarter set). 

How to Make a LEGO Animal Cell

I love the finished product! 

How to Make a LEGO Animal Cell

We looked up some fun facts about animal cells, and Grant wrote a simple presentation for CC community day next week.   

PERFECT. SIMPLE. MEMORABLE.

 

Here's a video to show you the cell up close and personal.  

Please visit my LEGO Learning page to learn more ways to use LEGO bricks in your child's education. 

The possibilities really are endless! 


Do you use LEGOS to teach your kids?  Tell me about it in the comments below.  

And, isn't this the cutest LEGO Themed Latin Daily Calendar?  It's perfect for the LEGO lover in your house -- and sneaks in that Latin vocabulary, too!