Children's Illustrator Curriculum

So, as the STEM Mom, I acknowledge my need for help in the arts! While I am a photographer and crafter, I'm not well versed in art appreciation. So I went out in search of help to include art into our homeschooling curriculum this year!  

I am so happy to have found an art curriculum that I think will be perfect for us this school year. The curriculum came from Jill @ Enchanted Homeschooling Mom and is titled, "Storybook Artist Unit Studies." She wrote the curriculum to accompany this wonderful book "Artist to Artist: 23 Major Illustrators Talk to Children about Their Art."

 

This book has illustrators of children's books talking directly to children about their lives, art studios, inspiration, and many include photos of themselves as children! It is a wonderful attempt at showing how art is a process, and how we all are artists at heart. 

Jill's curriculum organizes the book into a curriculum that will last the full school year and maybe even more! I plan on trying to do 2 lessons a week, which means we will study one illustrator for two weeks. Jill's lessons include discussion questions and links on the web to projects that line up with that artist's style. I absolutely can't wait to get started!

In June I attended a Handwriting Without Tears workshop as I struggled with teaching this skill for my son in kindergarten last year. I feel I have a better handle on it this year, and want to start the year using the wide double lines.  Handwriting Without Tears suggests that the double lines, removing the red dotted line can reduce confusion for new writers. Therefore, I modified the Illustrator Report that Jill designed for us to complete during each illustrator study.  I also added one prompt that reads, "Pick one illustration and describe what you see and how it makes you feel."   

Feel free to download my version of Jill's Illustrator Report that uses the wide double blue lines that work well for students who use Handwriting Without Tears.