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Christian Art Curriculum: Spears Art

Despite the fact that I am crafty (of sorts), being consistent with art in our school-time is not one of my strong points. I might incorporate an “art activity” that goes along with the topic we are currently studying, but it is not focused on any specific art techniques or components. It’s just doing a project for the sake of doing a project.

I was THRILLED to receive a full K-8th Christian Art Curriculum from Spears Art Studio to review. Over the last month and a half I have been using it with both my second and first grader and love the techniques that it is teaching as well as how simple it is to integrate into our school day. My girls are really enjoying it too and look forward to the lessons each week.

The curriculum, created by Diane Spears, is based on a theme for each week of the school year and includes one or more activities for each grade level based on the theme, and addresses various art elements, art principles, and design elements. It also incorporates the various seasonal elements (fall, Thanskgiving, Christmas, etc…). The curriculum is in PDF format ($39.95) and includes:

  • Scripture integration
  • full color illustrations
  • complete lesson plans for each school year week – plans include objectives, Scripture references, art history ideas, vocabulary, teacher prep and motivation, lesson focus, materials needed, directions for the activity and evaluation tools
  • 269 art activities
  • 137 patterns and posters
  • 498 instructional pages
  • evaluation tools for student’s art projects

The lessons are divided months/weeks of the year and also by grade level, making it quick and easy to find the grade level that you need. Teaching multiple children at the same time isn’t difficult to do and it is possible to use the curriculum year after year without repeating projects since they change based on the grade level your child is in. It is also versatile enough to be used in your own studies or in a group setting such as a homeschool co-op.

The Spears Art Studio website has sample lessons available along with more in-depth information about the curriculum. Overall, this curriculum is an amazing deal when you consider that it covers from K-8 for $40 (this includes shipping!) – that’s a little less than $5 a year for an amazing art curriculum. I willcontinue to use this curriculum in the upcoming years with my children and am very thankful that it is one that provides a Christ-centered view toward art education.

About the creator:

Diane Shields, the creator of Spears Art has a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts and a Doctorate in Christian art/education. She has taught in both the public and private systems.

If you would like to read other reviews of the Spears Art Curriuculum you can visit the Homeschool Crew blog.

Inchworm Art Activity

Inchworm craft made with toilet paper rolls

We had so much fun making this little worm! (We had plenty of toilet paper rolls around the house thanks to Zachary pulling all the toilet paper off the roll, stuffing it in the toilet and plugging the toilet for us.)

  1. Cut two toilet paper tubes into rings (4 rings each for a total of 8 rings).
  2. Fold 7 of the rings flat and then cut them in half. One ring needs to be left whole to use as the inchworms head.
  3. Have your child color the inchworm pieces if they would like.
  4. Staple the inchworm together so the his back is like little arches.
  5. Use a paper punch to put two holes at the top of the worm’s head. Insert 1/4 of a pipe cleaner into the holes to use as antennas. Add googly eyes.
  6. Admire your handiwork.

 

Drawing Class


Friday, the weather hadn’t warmed up quite enough yet to go out in shorts (like the kids wanted to) so I had them sit down in front of the patio door, gave them pencils and paper, and asked them to draw me something that they saw outside.

Laurianna drew a great picture of one of my plant stands and pots on the deck.

McKenna drew a little of everything: the table, the umbrella, a chair, the truck across the street, a house…because variety is the spice of life!

Zachary drew the table (and this is verbatim): “This is to the left, and this is to the right…(and then I asked what this large oval shape on the paper was)…”and that’s the whale. He got lost in our backyard.”

Who could have known? I completely missed seeing that hanging around the backyard.