One of the joys of homeschooling is being able to include our children’s interests in their curriculum. While public schools may limit electives or even do away with programs such as home economics, we can include art and photography and more as part of our everyday homeschool studies. Electives allow our children to pursue their interests and grow.
Art and Photography in Our Homeschool Day
We can include art and photography in our homeschool schedule in a number of ways. We can provide specific courses, like those offered at SchoolhouseTeachers.com, or just provide art and photography supplies so our children can learn and pursue their interests and talents.
Creative ways to bring art and photography into your day include:
- Studying artists as they come up in history courses.
- Trying different art techniques to express ideas, scenes, and events read in works of literature.
- Looking for art in nature during science class.
- Photographing the homeschool year for a portfolio.
- Taking family portraits at the holidays.
- Creating art as gifts.
Pursuing Interests through Art and Photography
What if your children’s interest is cooking? How can you bring art and photography into that elective? There are many ways! Your children can cook their favorite dishes and plate them for photos. Or they can study how to prepare and present food so that it photographs best for a cookbook or recipe website. Are they preparing food the same way they would for eating as they need to for professional photographs?
How can you bring art and cooking together? Look at how food has been presented throughout the history of art. When a painter chooses food as a subject for still life, which foods were commonly chosen? What art techniques help bring food to life better than others?
If your children enjoy music as their elective, bring that interest to art and photograph. Take some of the same ideas shared for connecting cooking with art and photography to music. Making connections between subjects is not difficult.
Here are a few specific ideas:
- Examine how sheet music has changed throughout history. Is artwork included? When and how?
- Study album covers and the art work included. (Choose these prior to the lessons so you can ensure they align with your family values.)
- Photograph musical artists as they perform.
- Take photographs to help illustrate what you feel when listening to different songs. For example, can your child capture a sad moment in a photograph to go along with a sad song?
Showcasing Art and Photography
There are a variety of ways to showcase your children’s art and photography. You can display their art pieces or photos in your home or office. Present them as gifts to loved ones. Allow them to open a social media account under your guidance to share their art work. Or share them on your own accounts or start a blog or group at HomeschoolBlogger.com to share their work. Look for local or national contests to enter their art and photography. Members of SchoolhouseTeachers.com can participate in the annual Art and Photography Fair.
Pursuing Joy
How do your children find joy in their homeschool day? Do they have a particular elective that they would spend all their time on? Let us know in the comments if they enjoy art and photography or if something else brings them joy.
HomeschoolingFinds.com Author
This article has been written by Kristen Heider. She is the Business Building Team Manager of The Old Schoolhouse® and the Social Media Manager of HomeschoolingFinds.com. She shares more about her family’s homeschooling journey at A Mom’s Quest Teach.