Create a Fabulous and Fun Picture Study for FREE
“Charlotte Ssssmason. I don’t want my kids staring at paintings all day!” -That’s what I thought when I first heard about Charlotte Mason style picture studies. Boy was I wrong!
There are so many benefits to doing a picture study in your homeschool! Charlotte Mason said that we need to be trained to see. How true is that! We have to be trained to see the details that are right in front of us. The magnificence of God’s creation that has always been around us that we have grown too lazy to look for as adults.
We all have need to be trained to see, and to have our eyes opened before we can take in the joy that is meant for us in this beautiful life. – Charlotte Mason
I have wanted to do picture studies in our homeschool ever since I heard about the benefits of them. I want to train my children to see the details and to soak in the beauty around them (amongst other things). In order to do that, you can create your own picture study for free.
Choose an Artist
Choose an artist you have heard of, are interested in, or love (depending on your art background level 😉 ). This can be any artist who has multiple paintings in their repertoire. Choosing an artist from the classical period may be a good place to start your picture study for free.
Find Paintings
Find 5 – 10 of that artist’s best paintings. These are simple to find when searching online. Print off those pictures or plan to have a computer or ipad handy to view the paintings on. It is also fun to hang these around the house in readily visible places for natural study. I heard of a mom who hung pictures at eye level so her kids would see them while sitting on the toilet! That’s one-way pictures are bound to be seen haha! 😉
Observe and Report
Have your children look at the artwork quietly for a few minutes. Tell them to really look at it and to pay attention to the details. After this quiet viewing period is over, ask your child questions about what they saw. Start off with them taking turns describing the painting from memory. You might just be surprised by what stood out to your children that you missed!
Questions
Follow up your observation and reporting time with additional questions. “How did the painting make you feel?” “Do you like this painting?” “Does it remind you of anything you have seen or learned about before?” Once you have thoroughly studied and enjoyed one painting, go on to the next!
Read More
Once you have studied all of the paintings you have chosen from a particular artist, then check out a book about famous artists. We have a few books at home that we enjoy reading from too! Those that cover multiple artists are nice to have on hand. Read about the artist’s life and style of painting. See if anything about their life comes out in their artwork and makes you understand the pieces better!
Recreate
If you are feeling artsy, try to create your own piece of artwork using the artist’s techniques. I love how Classical Conversations communities do this. Allow children to mimic an artist’s technique is a really fun way to improve their creativity and their art skills.
How do you do picture study in your homeschool? 🙂
Tiffany
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