Confession about art

[creekmama]

I confess it. I do not like to do art. My son does not like to do art. I'm just not a hands-on gal. Art appreciation--yes. Art history--yes. But I just don't like to do it. Surely I'm not the only one...

So here's my question: If I only do some of the art in Bigger, am I cheating my son out of something important? For instance, this week the activity is an Indian sand painting. My daughter will think that's really fun when she does Bigger. My son and me? No. And what does art look like farther down the road? I've been looking at the catalog trying to figure it out. Picture study is in there, I think. And it also looks like drawing is incorporated into the writing. Notebooking, of course. Obviously, those things are really important, so I don't want to skip activities if they are preparing him for future guides.

Thanks for reading. I'd appreciate any input!

[GinainMD]

Well in my own experience my daughters have really remembered so much more from the lessons when there is a hands on/art activity tied to it. I haven't always known what the value of an activity may be but have been amazed at how my girls have ideas linked to activities in their little minds. Just my two cents

[LynnH]

There is art and projects in every guide. In CTC there are watercolor paintings each week that go along with the poetry. Draw and Write through history is used in Preparing and on up. As far as skipping the projects here are my thoughts for what they are worth. To me one of the most important aspects of the art and projects is learning to follow step by step directions, usually without a picture to go by. That is a tough skill, but yet one that will be essential in life. Often my ds has to read the directions multiple times to figure out what it is asking and has had to learn to break the steps down in his mind. He wants to maybe do some type of engineering in the future so what a great thing to learn now. The other thing I would worry about is teaching your ds that it is ok to skip things he doesn't like. I think this can lead to many problems on down the road. There will always be something in a school day that isn't his favorite thing and I think as parents we have to watch what we establish as ok.

From a totally different perspective I am a Physical Therapist by profession and I think the art projects are important especially for boys to help them with their fine motor skills. Boys tend to lag in this area and therefore often avoid things that require them to use their fine motor skills.

I also agree with what was posted above. My ds remembers something much better if he has made a project to go with it. He is terrible with names, can never remember them even after just reading an entire chapter about someone. However he can make a model of someone and remember their name months later.

[countrymom]

I am not into art at all, and I wish, wish I would have had a curriculum like HOD when I was going through school. Why? Because although I would have never become an artist, I would have developed some basic skills and improved in an area that I was lacking in. One of my sons is artistic and one is not, but the one that is not is already amazing me with what he can do now. I also second the others with the point that it helps our children apply and retain the information they are learning, as well as learning a very important skill of following directions. My last thought would be that it is good for anyone to do things that they don't necessarily enjoy, and often we are surprised to find our view change as we develop a skill or learn more about a particular subject/process, etc.