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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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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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…
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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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…
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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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:…
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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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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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…
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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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…
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…
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…
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…
Crayons. We all have memories of new boxes of Crayola crayons all perfectly sharpened and lined up in their new orange and green box with the flip-top lid. Crayons are great for little kids, but what most people don’t know is that they are great for real artists too. Yep, real artists use crayons. Of…
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ARTK12 American Art History products for semester one are ready for sale. This includes 2 student books, 2 drawing books and the art bingo game. The books are also available in black and white at about half the cost of the color editions (this is no longer the case, only color editions are available –…
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I’m happy to finally be making this site live. Glen (my husband and webmaster) and I have been working non-stop all weekend to make this happen. Feel free to ask questions and leave comments. I’m looking forward to getting your feedback. Kristin
