I enjoy art. I’ve enjoyed art since I was a child. When I was pregnant with our sixth child, I took a smattering of art lessons, just enough to show me what I didn’t know. I do not have much time to pursue art these days, but I have wanted to equip my children with the knowledge that they need to pursue it if it is something that they have an interest in.
We have been searching for an art program since our children were young and until last year were unable to find a program that fit our needs. It needed to teach the children the basics of art theory without simply instructing them in how to draw pretty pictures in someone elses style and it needed to be something that the children could work through on their own (or nearly on their own).
Last fall we found Artistic Pursuits and have been thrilled. The books are written to the students, requiring little teacher direction, they teach the basic principles of art and incorporate appropriate practice giving the children the tools they need to improve upon the artistic talents that God has given them, while allowing them to maintain their own personal artistic style. Artistic Pursuits also incorporates art appreciation and art history as well as observation skills, color theory and technical instruction in multiple media. This is truly a complete art program.
Artistic Pursuits offers books for preschoolers all the way up through high school students. Our family was given Junior High Book 2 (color and composition) and Senior High Book 2 (color and composition) to review. Both books follow the same basic format, teaching art two days a week.
An Artistic Pursuits unit:
Each unit begins by introducing a new art concept (hue in both the Jr. and Sr. High color books) and has activities that help the child recognize that concept in their environment and create art that reflects their new knowledge.
Next the students are introduced to how a master artist has used this concept in his/her art. This lesson also includes some history about the example artist and the culture in which they live. The student once again takes their new knowledge and applies it to a piece of their own work.
The students are then taught specific techniques that make it easier to render the concept that they are learning in the media with which they are working.
Finally the student takes all of the information that has been introduced throughout the unit and applies it by completing a final project.
Junior High: Book 2- Our experience
The Jr. High book instructs the student in the use of both chalk and oil pastels as they progress through their study of color. Kaitlin (12) worked with this level. Kaitlin is our child who has always been frustrated with art. She has just never been happy with the results that she produced. After a few lessons in the junior high color book she came to me and said, “Mom, thank you so much for getting this book for me. I’m really happy with my drawings.” This was a first for her.
Kaitlin's first attempt with pastels
This book is a wonderful tool to teach your child about color using pastels. There is a lot of technical information about using pastels and pastel paper in addition to color theory and applying that theory in practical situations.
Senior High: Book 2- Our experience
Just as the Jr. High book teaches and uses pastels, the Sr. High book teaches and uses watercolor in order for the student to expand their understanding of color. Amber (13) and I both decided to work through this book, although Amber has progressed a lot farther than I have. Once again Artistic Pursuits has delighted us with the step-by-step instructions and activities that encourage better observation and provide a knowledge to really create art.
Amber's first (and still unfinished) attempt with watercolors
Pros:
- Terrific instruction in the basic principles of art.
- Teaches children in a way that allows them to use it to improve ALL of their drawing endeavors.
- Includes art appreciation and art history taught in conjunction with the concepts and principles that the children are learning.
- Introduces many different media and techniques over the course of study.
- Parent doesn’t need to know anything about art in order to use this program.
- The books are non-consumable and can be used for multiple children.
- Books include student examples from regular kids, so your kids can see what a child their level can be expected to produce.
Cons:
- My kids get very involved in their art projects and tend to spend a lot of time on them.
- Some of the supplies can be expensive.
Our family has also been using the K-3 grade: Book 1 and 4-6 grade: Book 2 since last fall. The K-3 book introduces children to many different media and experiences in art and the 4-6 book focuses on basic drawing and shading techniques. We have been delighted with all of the Artistic Pursuits products that we have experience with.
Each book of Artistic Pursuits is available for $42.95.
Better yet win your choice of AP books!
Giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to Sheri for winning the AP level of her choice.
To enter:
- Leave a comment telling me something about your (or your kids) experience with art.
Bonus entries:
- Tweet about the giveaway.
- Post about the giveaway on your blog.
Please leave an additional comment for each bonus entry. Open to U.S. residents only. Giveaway will end Thursday, March 25 at midnight.
Our family was given the Jr. and Sr. High Artistic Pursuits books in exchange for this review and giveaway. All opinions are mine and I was not otherwise compensated.
This post is included in the Homeschool Curriculum Review Roundup.
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Hi, I'm Kimberly. 
Art really is not my primary interest and it’s hard for me to sit down and do something with my kids that is artistic – it tends to be messy and involve a lot of cleanup, which is very overwhelming considering my house is so messy anyway.
That being said, I read another bloggers review of the same product and thought that we might be able to do this. I was excited and went to the website to browse the books. I would very much like to try it with my older 2. They are both creative but in very different ways. It comes easily to my second one, whereas my first one tries really hard to be creative and artistic and comes up with stuff that I’m not sure I’d call art (granted, I said I am NOT artistic!)
The cost of the books is prohibitive, so they only way I’d be able to let them use it is if I win it. So, count me in!
mychildsview.blogspot.com
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My daughter loves art…she would love something like this. Thanks for the chance!
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We really need to do more art in our house. My daughter has an art journal that she draws whatever inspires her, usually dresses. My oldest will be in high school next year and their high school curriculum really interests me.
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I would love to win this for my grandies. Is that allowed? They are very interested in art, as their mama is an artist and tries to teach them what she can. They don’t live close to me, but I get to talk to them on occasion. I’m not sure what I’m s’posed to say about ‘em in order to enter for the drawing, but I’d surely like to win. Thanks so much for the opportunity.
By the way, I’m trying to help a newbie get followers, so I’m having a drawing over at my place. In case you’re interested in checking it out, here’s the link: Three books to be given away.. Thanks for everything.
~ Yaya
Yaya’s Changing World
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Kimberly @ Raising Olives Reply:
March 22nd, 2010 at 10:43 am
Yes, winning for grand kids is certainly allowed.
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We are at the age where my oldest (4) is happy with paper, crayons, markers and stickers. Throw in some paint and glitter and life is good!
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I love to do art and so do my children. Unfortunately these last two years we have not dome too much. Before when we lived in MI the kids and I went to the art institute once a month and they also took art lessons once a month from a Christian art instructor who was awesome. We would all love to get back into art again.
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Art instruction has always been a missing element in our homeschool. I keep lots of art supplies and library books around so my 15yo has taught himself to draw beautifully and my 14yo dabbles in painting but we really haven’t had any kind of formal instruction so that the children know what they are doing. I’ve heard great things about Artistic Pursuits and I’d love to be more systematic about art instruction. My 14yo wants to learn to draw “properly” and my 11yo is just plain frustrated by not having the understanding of how to draw anything at all.
Thanks.
Joy
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We wwould love this! My 10 yo son loves to draw and my preschool age daughter loves crafts.
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my kids love art, they just love it. before we moved they had the best art teacher ever. we were so excited because she sent us a bunch of art work assignments in the mail
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We’re just starting more art projects. So far, we love making big messes.
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This looks fantastic! My little ones are very creative, but with a houseful (5 ages 7 yrs. and younger, with #6 due in two months) of “arrows”, it is hard to get around to electives. Maybe if we had lesson plans laid out for us, it would be easier!
Thanks!
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We are just starting our homeschool adventure, but my two littlies just love anything artsy. We make lots of messes! They got chalkboard easels from their grandma for Christmas last year and LOVE to sit and draw on them. They absolutely love paint, crayons, markers, etc. One of my favorite things to do for them is to tack a long strip of banner paper to the wall in the hall and let them color on it. There’s something special about getting to color on the wall.
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I’ve heard of these books-but haven’t been able to afford them. My kids love art and I’m soo inept that these would be a blessing. Thanks for the chance to win them!
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My daughter loves to draw. I’ve never managed to get art on our regular schedule so she would enjoy having Artistic Pursuits!
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I have never used AP, but am very interested in it!! Would love to win!
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Well, I have only littles here (3yo, 3yo, 1yo), so “art” is mostly making messes–but all in good fun! I do enjoy watching how my two preschoolers experiment in so many different ways with just paper, paint, and a paintbrush! It’s definitely process over product around here!
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My ds15 is actually very good at drawing…since he was very small. However, somewhere around the 5th or 6th grade he began taking to heart the mean comments of some kids at school who were telling him he wasn’t any good. At this point he only draws for schoolwork. I would love for him to start up again for pleasure.
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Kimberly @ Raising Olives Reply:
March 22nd, 2010 at 10:44 am
I hope that he can recover his love of art!
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I have taken so many art lessons over the years, but now have forgotten almost all the things I learned except the basics (things in the background are smaller, haha). I would love to have this book to teach (and relearn myself) my kiddos art.
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My oldest dd (6) loves to draw, but I’ve long since exhausted my knowledge of art and can’t teach her at all! She would really love this!
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My kids would love this. They are already artistically inclined, with a mom that can barely draw stick figures lol
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I would love to check .this out for myself! Sounds great
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We love to do art! We haven’t done much in the way of formal studying. We’ve experimented with drawing, watercolors, and acrylics and recently with wax painting. I’d love to actually use a curriculum to learn some actual techniques and skills.
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My eldest, who has shunned any and all art activities since he was 3-4 years old, has finally started to show some real interest in art. He’s even expressed interest in animation. I would love to win this!
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i am absolutely terrible with art. and i’m okay with that. however, my 11 year old son LOVES art and is somewhat dampened by my inability to pick a good art curriculum for him.
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We homeschool too. Everyday I wake up to: Mom, are we doing an art project today????
We’ve had luck with a book called Oxford First Book of Art. Its not very long though and we’ve worked our way through it already.
I’d love to win this.. Thank you.
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This is an area of our homeschool venture that needs a boost. I’d like to try this out.
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I myself have always been artistic, and I am very pleased to say that my daughter has also taken on this trait. She is 5 and can draw a horse better than alot of adults can. I am so proud of her and I hope to win one for her!
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Tweeted
http://twitter.com/carriesymes/status/10885531038
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I am wanting to start homeschooling my daughter in the fall and she LOVES drawing and anything artistic! This would be fantastic for her!!!! love your blog:)
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Mistee, I hope you don’t mind if I respond too.
I saw a lot of the books can be accessed online, but wouldn’t that be a lot of ink and paper to print them off?
Most of the books are also available at the library and as inexpensive reprints. There is also information on saving money on ink and paper when printing them out on the AO website. What I like about printing them is that I can adjust the font size and colors and add questions for my kids to discuss to the word document before we print it out.
I also sometimes only printed out a couple of chapters at a time.
Reading off the screen is an option, but wouldn’t that be a lot of time in front of the computer? And only one person could read at a time…
I don’t like my kids doing a lot of reading from the computer, but I usually have had perhaps one book a term we used online. We find that two can read at a time. Sometimes one child reads aloud while others listen.
Other books are also available as audio files at Librivox, including many AO books.
For instance, how do you do math in 15-30 minutes a day?!?!
This is really why I butted in and answered even though you were asking Kimberly.=) Math in short spurts is ONLY for the lowest grades, NOT high school. Not even Junior High. Math becomes progressively longer and more intense as the children grow older (a lot of people read only her first volume and think that sums up her method, but the first volume was only for children from birth to six). Miss Mason’s students were working directly from Euclid by high school for geometry, and they were using math textbooks comparable to our high school textbooks (but with less twaddly socio-political claptrap).
There is also nothing in AO that would require you to limit math to 15 minutes even for your kindergartner if you didn’t want to.
And, what about high school? My oldest is entering 9th grade in the fall and wants to be a missionary doctor. I don’t want to make things too lax and mess up her chances for college.
My oldest graduated with honors in history from a prestigious state university last May. Her scores on the SAT were respectable enough to get her a very nice little scholarship. Her professors all begged her to continue to pursue a Ph.D. Two professors have promised to work with her to help her get her paper published.
My second was not interested in college, but she did take some CLEP tests for college when she was 17. She passed those tests with flying colors, including a college senior level course test on the Civil War.
Both of these girls took online classes from a Professor of logic when they were in high school. He valued their contributions so much he asked them to continue to take his courses- for free. He said he wished his college students wrote so well and were that capable of analyzing their reading.
I know it sounds like bragging- but these girls were exclusively home educated using Charlotte Mason’s ideas for their entire lives (with a couple years for unit studies and one workbook Grammar disaster they will never let me live down).
Our fourth daughter (the third is multiply handicapped) is not the least bit academically inclined and never was. Yet she reads War and Peace and similar novels for fun.
The books AO uses for high school (HEO is the high school program) are often used in colleges. A more frequent complaint about them is that they are too hard, too challenging- not too easy. It is a seriously rigorous course of study.
AO is not for everybody, and it can be extremely hard to juggle it with a large family in many different grades. Students who are not used to reading excellent literature (and their parents) may have a hard time adjusting (and should probably start with a lower year). Those who prefer a child-led approach, workbooks, or unschooling should probably choose something else But it is sound college preparation, and fifteen math lessons are not the recommended daily allowance for all 12 years of AO.=)
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Er, fifteen *minute* math lessons are not the RDA for all 12 years of AO.
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Mistee Reply:
March 23rd, 2010 at 3:11 pm
No, I didn’t mind at all your jumping in. It is very helpful to my husband and I to hear how well your children did with a Charlotte Mason approach. Thank you for commenting! Incidentally, a friend (who uses Ambleside, the one who told me about it), recommended your blog to me last week.
I do have a couple more questions. How do you keep transcripts? Do you do standardized testing or teacher assessments or does your state not require either of these like mine does? I’m wondering if I’d have enough to “assess” or if they’d do alright with the testing we have been doing every year. Thank you for your help too.
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I am not really into art, never have been. But my sweet five year old wants to be an artist! Wouldn’t you know? So, I have been looking for some art curriculum to use that she would enjoy and I could teach.
Sounds like this might be for us.
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Hi! My oldest is my most artistically inclined. She loves art. I have tried 3 different instructors for her (and some of her siblings) in the hopes of giving her a great foundation in art. We have had mixed results. These books sound great since they are student driven. Blessings – Kelly
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My favorite thing is that my 4 year old son loves to paint pictures for his 2 year old sister. He works really hard to make it something special that she will love!
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We love art but have never tried the artistic pursuit books, they look amazing….thanks for the chance to win!!!
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I was just at a homeschool book fair this past weekend looking for an art curriculum, but didn’t find “the” right one. Perhaps this is what I was looking for?!? Thanks for posting this giveaway.
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I just spent time perusing the Artistic Pursuits website. Their materials look fabulous! Thank you for introducing me to them.
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I have 4 children and we are just at the beginning of our homeschooling journey. So far our art experiences have been simple drawings, paint and coloring. Mostly because I have no direction on how to teach it. We’ve spent so much time researching other curricula for core subjects that art has taken a back seat and I thought I could do it myself but I’ve failed miserably. This curriculum looks fabulous and I hope to win.
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Cool giveaway, Kimberly!
My kids are all drawing maniacs, but my oldest (soon to be 10) is frustrated. He wants to draw realistically, but all the art programs we’ve tried in the past tend to be really “craft” oriented”, not his thing. And the drawing books he’s tried focus on drawing a particular thing, also not what he wants. I’m hopeful that Artistic Pursuits would give him the foundation he craves.
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Tweet: http://twitter.com/susanadale/status/10927479201
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My 13 year old wants to be an author/illustrator when she grows up. She has a lot of natural talent for both areas, but I’m having a difficult time trying to develope her artistic side. She has many “how to draw…” books, but I would love to be able to provide her with some real instruction on using different mediums. Unfortunately, I’m more of a craft art person than a drawing/painting type.
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My boys all enjoy drawing and crafts. My second son seems to have a natural gift to drawing and creating. I’ve been looking for some time for a program that would be a good fit for us at home…something that would really expand his knowledge and teach him what he needs to know along with not being too time consuming for me. This program sounds very interesting. Thanks for the opportunity!
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I love Artistic Pursuits! We did a co-op in previous years with a very creative and artsy lady who had the books, which is great because they are rather expensive and I am overwhelmed with the mess that comes with most art. I’d love to win and get my girls involved in art. I regret that they really miss out on visual art.
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retweeted
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When my daughter was 18 months old she lost the use of her right leg, It took months of x-rays, casts and hospital trips to diagnose her with bursitis. During that time we were encouraged to keep her rested and avoid any stress to her ankle area, so everyday we sat her in her high chair and painted, couloured, stickered and glued for hours to keep her entertained. She never lost her love for art time. After diagnosis and months physiotherapy she recovered. Just earlier this week she drew her first 3 dimensional picture without any instruction (a cube shaped present under a Christmas tree) she is 4 years-old. Art time was probably the best therapy my hurting little girl could have had. It made all of our lives more bearable and even enjoyable during those stressful times.
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Hi Mistie, I am glad you do not mind my butting in.=)Relieved would be more like it.
How do you keep transcripts?
There is some information on this on the AO website and on the HEO email list. I downloaded a couple transcript forms online and my oldest daughter filled them in retroactively. We did ‘fudge’ a bit on dates- I mean, the school was not interested in hearing that we did the equivalent of 1/8 of a credit in, say, art history, each semester of four years, so we just listed art history, one credit and picked a year for it.
Do you do standardized testing or teacher assessments or does your state not require either of these like mine does? My state requires neither (HOLLYLOOOOOLAH!!! as one of mine used to say). I know that this gets discussed on the email list and there some people prefer one option and some the other, though my unscientific guess based on my scattered reading of that list is that a portfolio or teacher assessment seems to be preferred in the younger years.
We did do standardized testing once, years ago, and both the girls who took the test did very well then (they were around grades 2 and 4).
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Mistee Reply:
March 23rd, 2010 at 3:49 pm
Thanks.
It looks like I need to check out AO’s website a bit more. I’ve missed a few things. 
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I am very much non-artistic, but my daughter (4) absolutely LOVES all things paper–cutting, gluing, coloring, crafting, drawing, painting, etc. etc. etc. This looks like a great program for encouraging her budding artistic skills.
)
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My husband and I are both very into art. It is something that is very important to me so I am excited to pass that onto my children. I would love to have the preschool book.
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My kids love anything to do with paint, colored pencils, markers, and drawing in general. I have been looking at getting Artistic Pursuits so I would love to win it!
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I am not so great at art!!! But my children LOVE art. Drawing is one of our favorite pasttimes. One of my favorite pictures that Hadassah (age 4) drew was a picture of a birthday cake. It was drawn for my 31st birthday. Only we sat and counted the candles, and there were 60 candles on the cake. When I asked her about that she just said “yes, mommy, I put LOTS of candles on the cake, because you are VERY old”. That particular picture is being saved to be returned to her on her 31st birthday!
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