For my fourth and final book in the American Art History Series I have once again enlisted the help of that wacky wordsmith, the biographic bard, to give us the outline of the life of Mary Cassatt. This time he has set the story to the tune of Oh! Susanna. Take it away, Bard! Born…
ARTK12 Blog
ARTK12 in Fast Motion
The White Cloud by George Catlin This new video is a time lapse of what a student would do after completing the drawing of a project. The drawings are simple to complete with step-by-step instructions with a good starting point for students. Kristin has found that students (particularly, young students) often get frustrated because when…
The Wright 3 by Blue Balliett
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House At the end of my American Art History: Volume IV, we study two of Frank Lloyd Wright’s pieces of architecture, one of which is the Robie House, built in 1910 in Chicago near the University of Chicago. There are few children’s books on Wright, and really only one good one,…
The White House: Lego Architecture Series
In the third volume of my American Art series, I introduce James Hoban’s original drawing of the White House. Students learn about Hoban and the different architectural components of the White House, and complete a copy of Hoban’s drawing. Lego’s Architecture Series A fabulous accompaniment to this lesson is Lego’s White House in their Architecture…
Serious Fun: Homeschooling with Real Books Video
Kristin spoke to a group of homeschool parents on February 5, 2013 about homeschooling with real books…not textbooks. Over twenty parents attended and many purchased her book, Serious Fun: Homeschooling with Real Books. Watch the video of the event: Photos of the event can be seen here.
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Serious Fun: Homeschooling with Real Books is Published
Kristin Draeger’s new book, Serious Fun: Homeschooling with Real Books, has just been published and is available in both paperback ($14.95) and Kindle editions ($6.99). Over 1,500 Books for K – 8th Grade Serious Fun has an opening essay chronicling how Kristin used real books (not textbooks) to homeschool her son from Kindergarten through the…
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Homeschooling with Real Books, Feb. 5, 6:00 – 7:30
I will be speaking at the Julian Charter School San Diego Learning Center on February 5th, 2013. Here’s my topic: Homeschooling Got You Down? Are you frustrated trying to teach school in a traditional way at home? Do your students have difficulty focusing and sitting still? Do you dread school time? Very early on I…
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Dog’s Night by Meredith Hooper
Back in Print! A wonderful children’s book that highlights four famous works of art is now back in print. Dog’s Night, written by Meredith Hooper and illustrated by Allan Curless and Mark Burgess, is as entertaining as it is clever. Back Where Dogs Belong The plot involves four dogs in four works of art in…
Heritage of the Americas Museum at Cuyamaca College
After finishing the first volume of my American Art series, I recommend to my students here in San Diego that they go visit the Heritage of the Americas Museum at Cuyamaca College in El Cajon (a suburb of San Diego, see map of museum location). Impressive Collection This museum has one of the most impressive…
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A History of US by Joy Hakim
Textbooks that are both interesting and engaging are rare and I rarely recommend them, but if you absolutely need a textbook for American History, A History of US is the only choice. Written in a narrative style, A History of US tells the history of the United States, from prehistory to the present, thoroughly and…
The Boy Who Loved to Draw: Benjamin West by Barbara Brenner
This is a sweet and interesting biography of the childhood of Benjamin West, who is often called the Father of American art. I read this to my class on Friday while they were drawing and they loved it. I didn’t hear a peep throughout the entire story. Although the illustrations are beautiful, they were not…
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If The Walls Could Talk by Jane O’Connor
When I teach classes here in San Diego, the only homework that I assign is reading. I provide 50 – 60 books per semester for my students to check out each week from my personal library. Each book is linked to a piece of art in my curriculum. I hand choose each title based on:…
Max Schmitt in a Single Scull by Thomas Eakins
Thomas Eakins friend, Max Schmitt, won the single sculls competition on October 5, 1870. This painting (completed in 1871) celebrates his victory. The painting measures 32.5 by 46.25 inches and is currently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Enjoy! Thomas Eakins and his paintings The Gross Clinic along with Max Schmitt…
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The Procession to Calvary by Pieter Bruegel
Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525 – 1569) was a Flemish Renaissance painter. He was sometimes referred to as the “Peasant Bruegal”. His painting, The Procession to Calvary, measures 49 by 67 inches and was completed in 1564. There is a lot of detail in this painting so don’t miss it. Many of the photos below…
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The Gross Clinic by Thomas Eakins
Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins (don’t ask me to pronounce his middle name) was an American artist born in 1844. He died in 1916 and is considered one of America’s most important artists. One of his most famous paintings is The Gross Clinic completed in 1875. Thomas Eakins and his paintings The Gross Clinic along with Max…
Babbling About Bingham by The Biographic Bard
ARTK12’s American Art History, Volume II will be ready for purchase at the end of January 2013. For the first time in the short history of ARTK12 curriculum The Biographic Bard will be making her debut with three new biographies all sung to the tune of popular songs. Here is a small taste of things…
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The Voyage of Life by Thomas Cole
Thomas Cole tackled the journey of civilizations in his five paintings The Course of Empire. In this series of paintings, The Voyage of Life, Cole illustrates the individual life in four stages. Cole depicts the journey as one progresses from Childhood, to Youth, to Manhood and finally, to Old Age. The four paintings are currently…
The Course of Empire by Thomas Cole
Thomas Cole was an American artist who was born in England. That’s right. He defected. He was born in 1801 and his family settled in Ohio in 1818. Let’s talk about his somewhat short life, his major influences and what academia thought of his works…..nahhhh….let’s just skip that and get right to the good stuff—his…
Why Learn About Art?
Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, former curator and Fellow for Research at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston wrote an essay entitled Why Exhibit Works of Art? Throughout my art history and teaching career, this essay has been pivotal in developing my own philosophy of art. His ideas go against much of what passes as art education…
American Art History and Literature
Just as the works of early American artists can be accessible to young students, so can real works of early American literature. A local teacher that I work with asked if I could expand my companion reading list to include literature, thus making the curriculum a full humanities curriculum. After searching through the literature currently…