How to Teach Children Art

If you're wondering how to teach children art when you can't draw worth a flip, don't worry. We aren't a particularly artictic family, but I do have one child who likes to draw and is showing some talent at it.

So...the age-old dilema...how do I teach what I don't know?

No problem.

Just like in all of the other homeschool subjects, there is a multitude of books and programs that will show you how to teach children art.

What I personally recommend, is that you start out with one of these books listed on this page.

Work through the lessons.

See how your child does.

If he is truly interested and just loves drawing - sticks to these lessons - spends a lot of his free time drawing - THEN...check in your city for drawing lessons. You can probably find lessons at your local craft store or your co-op. If these sources don't work out, ask around. More than likely, one of the other homeschool moms will know somewhere your child can take drawing lessons.

Here are the books that we have used:

Draw Write Now!

My kids loved these books when they were younger. Of course, we don't use them now, but they are still sitting in my "homeschool closet" because I can't bear to get rid of them...too many good memories :)

These books are a series that each cover a certain topic. They are used to teach very basic drawing, using art worksheets, which is what your little guys need when they are just starting to draw. It gives step-by-step instructions and gives pictures to draw. After they learn the basic techniques, they can make their own pictures by using pictures in different books or from different pages in the same book.

Some of the titles are:

• Animals and Habitats - On Land, Ponds and Rivers, Oceans
• Savannas, Grasslands, Mountains & Deserts
• Tropical Forests, Northern Forests, Forests Down Under
• Christopher Columbus, Autumn Harvest, The Weather
• On the Farm, Kids and Critters, Storybook Characters
• The Polar Regions, The Artic, The Antarctic
• The United States, From Sea to Sea, Moving Forward
• Native Americans, North America, The Pilgrims

As you can see, the Draw Write Now! books will show you how to teach children art. These books go along with just about any topic that you are covering in your schoolwork. Each page has several lines that your kids can write a sentence or two on the art worksheets, to go along with the pictures they draw. Once your child is a little older, 4th grade and up, a good drawing series on how to teach children art is:

Mark Kistler's Imagination Station.

We had a great time with these.

The Draw Write Now! books are for the younger children and teach basic drawing and shapes.

The Mark Kistler's Imagination Station books go into a lot of depth. Your child will learn:

• Perspective
• Shadow
• Drawing in 3-D

This guy is cool. His lessons are cool and he makes drawing fun!!!! Your kids will be able to draw some pretty cool things after working through these books.

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