As I shared recently, I have been making changes to our homeschool curriculum. One of these changes involves looking for more organic ways to incorporate learning into our everyday encounters.
At the beginning of the year, I decided to have periodic studies of famous artists. Unfortunately, my plans were quickly derailed because my efforts were all too teacher-directed. However, the exploration of our artist for September (Paul Klee) was reignited as a result of a nature walk last week.
Artist studies are a great component to add to your homeschool lessons! Check out this Paul Klee inspired curriculum! #homeschooling #art Click To Tweet
THE BAG THAT INSPIRED THE PAUL KLEE ARTIST STUDY
My daughter was filling a bag with leaves when she excitedly told me, “Mommy, I think Paul Klee made this bag because look at all the lines between the colours!” Indeed, this is reflective of some of Paul Klee’s artwork.
So we dug up some library books about Paul Klee.
My daughter was fascinated by his work. She especially loved the artwork which showcased strong black lines and bright colours.
LEARNING ABOUT THE ARTIST
We explored and learned so much about his life. We discovered that he was born in Switzerland, created over 9000 pieces of art and loved to play the violin. He was a teacher, poet, musician, and philosopher.
After all this exploration, my daughter decided to create another Paul Klee inspired painting (she had made one back in September). However, this time, she wanted it to be “really real” (painted on canvas as opposed to paper).
PLANNING
My daughter was fascinated by Paul Klee’s painting entitled, Grieving. The repetitive squares of different colours caught her attention. She decided she wanted her painting to have lots of squares. So she got out a square Duplo block and started tracing her squares onto the canvas. Then she outlined the squares with black paint.
Upon letting the dozens of squares dry, she began to paint them in. She was intent on having a pattern to her colours and was very methodical about every colour she added to the painting.
She worked so hard on her painting and took great pride in the finished product. We hung the painting above our kitchen table and I am thoroughly in love with the newest piece of artwork in our home.
“Rainbow Squares”
THE CURRICULUM SUMMARY
Here is the outline of our Paul Klee inspired curriculum, broken down by subject areas.
ART
– planning, sketching, and painting with acrylics
SCIENCE
– mixing colours for the orange (we didn’t have orange acrylic paint)
– discussion of rainbows in relation to the artwork my daughter created
MATH
– patterns (creating a core and repeating it)
SOCIAL STUDIES
– read about Switzerland (where Paul Klee was from); discussed the timezone of Switzerland in relation to Alberta
– discussed our art gallery which is located downtown (and where that is in relation to where we live)
LANGUAGE ARTS
– read lots of books about Paul Klee (there’s even a children’s storybook entitled: The Cat and the Bird: A Children’s Book Inspired by Paul Klee)
An additional resource to investigate is Artsy’s page on Paul Klee. It has Klee’s bio, over 30 of his works, exclusive articles, as well as up-to-date Klee exhibition listings.
Colour is the place where our brain and the universe meet.
Paul Klee
We will probably continue to explore Paul Klee’s work for the next couple of months. He has become a fascinating artist to both my daughter and myself.
SHARE WITH OTHERS
Wow, that’s awesome! What a fun study that came to be purely organically! How awesome that your daughter already knew who the artist was. :-)
Very cool study!!
We’re enjoying this (and far from “done”). My daughter is really enjoying Paul Klee’s work.
This is so cool! You know the knowledge is sticking with her because of what she said while gathering leaves in her bag. Too cute!
Very interesting and also very sweet ! What a great mother you are :-)
Thanks for reading Sheri! Yes, it is interesting and it’s amazing how much we can learn simply by exploring the work of one artist!
I love it!! I love that your daughter incorporated September’s Paul Klee lesson into conversation during your nature walk. The information stuck with her! And the fact you rolled with it and made it into a more in depth lesson is something that would never happen in conventional school. Bravo deliberate mom! Her painting is beautiful, which is also a win ;]
I love it too! This project is much more aligned with the way I wish to homeschool. I can’t believe how many subjects we were able to pull into the investigation of one artist… and we’re still not “done”! My daughter wants to learn more about Paul Klee, so we’re going to keep on exploring. I loved her painting too! It’s so colourful!
What a great project!! And what a beautiful piece of art work to display in your house!
I love her art work and how one topic can lead to learning so much. I think your’e doing fantastic!
I mean my goodness! She is quite the little artist! This made my day. It’s so great that she’s so interested in art and learning about the artists as well.
Have a wonderful weekend Jennifer!
xoxo
What an inspiration. I’m so happy that you’re able to incorporate real world with your learning. That artwork is simply beautiful as well. Love the name “Rainbow Squares”. I’m going to be coming back here in a few years when I’m ready to homeschool Madison because I’m so going to need the help.
I feel it takes a lot of effort to home school from parents side.
It is not very popular in India, in fact I don’t know anyone who has home schooled their kids.
I did do my 12th grade via home school though. I studied at home and gave my exams in the centre of the course(pattern) I followed. I did this, just because I got married in between and I did not want to hear every classmate snarl at me lol.
That’s a great post – I love the finished piece too
Beautiful. Well done and thank you for linking with the virtual fridge. Your beautiful art will be featured tomorrow. Please check your inbox for the “I was featured” button HTML code :)
I love this. You’ve inspired me to study Paul Klee and more artists in our homeschool!
This is awesome. I really enjoyed it. Art is everywhere. And..it is so much more than art, it is an integration of all subjects across the curriculum. Hands on learning. Nice work. : )
I love when I can integrate various subjects into one project. I’m hoping that next year I can have more integrated curriculum projects like this.
Glad you enjoyed this!