Disclaimer: I received a copy of this product in exchange for an honest review.
My 6 year old is quite an artist. She loves art & spends hours every day drawing, painting, gluing and more. When we had the opportunity to review ARTistic Pursuits again, she was overjoyed! Her outside art classes were on spring break and she was getting bored. We were delighted to have another book from ARTistic Pursuits to work from!
ARTstic Pursuits
Artistic Pursuits is an art and art appreciation course for preschool through high school students. We were sent a copy of Early Elementary K-3, Book 2: Stories of Artists and Their Art. Stories of Artists and Their Art is a comb-bound, non-consumable text. The text has a very classical and Charlotte Mason feel to it. There are three books per grade and they travel through history, in time order, through the books. Each book has 36 lessons so a fairly average pace would be a lesson a week for a year. The book I received retails for $47.95. The art supply list is fairly short and more affordable than outside classes.
Likes and Dislikes
As a busy mom who hates prep work but feels very strongly about art & art appreciation, I love several things about ARTistic Pursuits art curriculum. First, I love how no prep it is. The supply list is short and it took me an hour to stop at Michael’s to get what I needed. I put the items in a box on the top of our school shelf for Art day. Done.
Second, I love how simple and quick it is. There is one lesson per week (or so). No fitting in another subject several days a week. Once a week and it’s not an all day deal. Maybe 5-15 minutes of reading, discussing & setup and then as much (or as little) time as you’d like to spend on the art, plus 5-10 minutes of clean up.
Third, it’s thorough. In Early Elementary K-3, Book 2: Stories of Artists and Their Art, each lesson gives a mini history lesson about an artist & their method. Within that, there is a small piece of art and some questions about it. Then there is a project with very simple directions and one tiny example so your students don’t get hung up on trying to copy, but rather try to create.
There are a few improvements I would love to see. Spiral binding would be way nicer than the comb binding. I hate comb binding. Second, is a slightly better supply list, maybe with pics or links of the more odd items. Or even suitable substitutions. My hubby had no idea what spackle and a plastic putty knife were or where I would find them. I bought a drywall repair kit in which the putty knife was called a “brush.” Also, I had no idea what mortarboard was or that I had to buy a giant piece & cut it down. We ended up using canvas boards, though in the lesson they suggested cardboard as an acceptable alternative.
The only other improvement would be some optional extras. It does such a great job with the history in this particular book that I would love artist flash cards and timeline figures or even a timeline just for the book. I would love some cards about the works of art, too, with a little info on the back.
Summary
Overall, we really enjoyed Stories of Artists and Their Art. My daughter is always excited when its time for art & her little shadow, I mean sister, likes to work with her. I love how low prep it is and how little time is required from me. I also love that the K-3 books fit with both Classical & Charlotte Mason studies–at least those that I’ve seen do. The lessons are quick — very CM. I would consider it to be art history, art appreciation and art (the do kind). And because it goes through time, it would dovetail with history fairly well, like classical education does.
If you consider art important and struggle with fitting it in, consider the books from ARTistic Pursuits.
Click here to read reviews of all the different ARTistic Pursuits curriculum by the Schoolhouse Review Crew!
