Homeschool Art Appreciation Curriculum: Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists Review

by Sarah
(Tacoma, WA)

Homeschool Art Curriculum Suggestion

Teach your children about the lives and works of great artists with this easy and entertaining video series...

Every year I am determined to teach art appreciation to my two sons (ages 11 and 8) but it has been hard to find a good fit. We have tried several art appreciation curricula but I disliked them because I felt they were "dumbed down" for the kids and the boys thought they were boring. I've also tried making up my own unit study about particular artists but found it very time consuming and our other subjects always seem to take precedence.

This year I had almost resigned to give up when a friend suggested the Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists video series. We love it!

There are seven different artists featured in the video series - Monet, Van Gogh, Cassatt, Warhol, Michaelangelo, Rembrandt and Da Vinci. Each video is around thirty minutes long and in cartoon format. They are short enough to hold the kids' attention, yet they really manage to pack in a lot of information. The animation is fun and the storylines are well-written and funny. Even my husband who is not fond of "kid's movies" thought these were great. The best part is that we all learned something about these artists and the kids really retained the information that they learned in the videos.

The cost for the videos on the publisher's website is $199 but we have been able to find all the videos at our public library. The aforementioned website also has ideas for activities to accompany each video. I highly recommend this series as an easy and entertaining way to teach your children about the lives and works of great artists.

Sarah, thanks for sharing this great homeschool art resource; I have never heard about it. Thanks too, for the great money-saving tips! Blessings, Heather :)

If you would like to own this series, you can find the entire set at gettingtoknow.com. I found the set on Amazon, but its more expensive than purchasing directly from the publisher. I also noticed that the VHS videos are on sale for $9.95 = 60% off through the publisher's website!

Would you like to leave a comment, or write your own homeschool curriculum review? Use the links below...