Half a Hundred Acre Wood

Christian homeschooling integrating Classical and Charlotte Mason principles

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“How did you remember that?!?”

I can’t tell you how many times our children have surprised us by spouting off some seemingly random fact or idea. It’s perplexing to consider that we spent so many years focusing on memorization of facts through songs, chants, and hand motions, only to find that over a period of a year or two, that information has so easily slipped from their memory. (And this even after reviewing the information for several consecutive years!)

But then… they go into great detail over something we didn’t even focus on memorizing at all.

How can this be?

Our children have memorized quite a bit in the past, but time has revealed what they’ve actually held onto long-term. These “memories” have most often been etched into their minds from an experience that connects them to the person, event, or fact they’re studying. One of these rememberable experiences is… the incorporation of simple art projects. In fact, we’ve incorporated art projects into our Mission Great Commission curriculum because of how effective it is! And… the simplest of art projects includes a short list of just three supplies: chalk pastels, construction paper, and a baby wipe.

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Chalk pastels are truly one of the easiest mediums to use – even for the perfectionists in our family! And if you’re intimidated by the idea of arting with your children, there’s no need to fear! Nana at Chalk Pastel can walk your children through simple art projects, step by step.

This summer, we’ve enjoyed some art projects from the website Chalk Pastel. The literature course, which is only available as part of the Clubhouse Complete membership, is one of our favorites. It includes art projects for Little House on the Prairie, Shakespeare, A Christmas Carol, Charlotte’s Web, The Green Ember, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Secret Garden, The Ox-Cart Man, and The Hobbit, just to name a few!

And… our youngest son even won a first place in pastels (for his grade level) at the county fair this year for his picture of Bag End!

An Overview of Chalk Pastel

Chalk Pastel offers over 700 art tutorials and fine arts curriculum plans for preschoolers through 12th grade, including tie-ins to…

  • history
  • science
  • geography & map-making
  • Bible
  • hymns
  • composers
  • literature
  • and even Hebrew!

Studying astronomy next year? Check out the astronomy art lessons.
Studying world history or world geography next year? Check out the world history, world landmarks, or world maps art lessons.
Studying fine arts or hymns? Check out the famous artists, composers, or hymn art lessons.

No matter what you’re studying, there’s bound to be a related art project! (If you’d like to try some free lessons, scroll down to the bottom of this post.)

In fact, sorting through 700+ art tutorials within 50+ different courses can be a challenge! Because I was having trouble remembering which art tutorial was where, I ended up compiling a course-listing guide as a convenient, searchable reference to know which art tutorials can be found under which course. You can download the course listing here.

You ARE an Artist Membership Options

While many courses are offered individually as a one-time purchase that provides lifetime access, some courses are only available as part of a monthly, quarterly, or annual membership plan. The membership options include:

If you’re only interested in reinforcing your history studies, the History Art Lessons Subscription consists of the following options:

Using the history subscription, you can develop an entire portfolio of history-related art projects! For a complete course listing (in PDF) of history video art lessons, click here. All of the above courses are also available in the You ARE an Artist Clubhouse Complete Subscription described below.

(NOTE: Several art & music appreciation curriculum options are also available. These are digital PDFs that are offered as a one-time purchase and are not included in the memberships.)

SIMPLE START Membership vs COMPLETE Membership

In a nutshell, the You ARE an Artist Clubhouse Complete membership is a complete collection of all the video art lessons – present and future! It includes the entire collection from the I Drew It Then I Knew It series, all courses, all ebooks, and all resources. The You ARE an Artist Clubhouse Simple Start membership provides partial access to this collection.

The SIMPLE START membership includes:
(Some of the links below refer to the individual, one-time purchase for that course because there’s usually more information provided.)

In addition to ALL the courses listed above, the Clubhouse COMPLETE membership includes the following courses in history, literature, fine arts, and mapmaking:

In addition to the art tutorials, several of the courses include companion guides to extend the learning even further. These include planner pages, recommended booklists, writing prompts, fun facts, and biographies!

Memberships also include other planning resources as well as a monthly calendar that schedules out a painting per day should you not want to make that decision yourself.

Courses in Acrylics, too!

For students who would like to try other mediums, there are also acrylic tutorials. Our youngest son entered his acrylic pumpkin in our county fair and also won first place for acrylics! (This one ended up as a Best-of-Show!)

Our youngest two sons (ages 8 and 13) have enjoyed these art tutorials because…

  • The videos are the perfect length – the art projects can be started and finished in one sitting.
  • The supplies are simple and cost-effective.
  • The grandmotherly art teacher “Nana” encourages our boys through their mistakes.
  • It has provided a non-threatening way for them to continue to improve in their art skills while also reinforcing their learning in other subject areas.

Now we’re able to tackle art much more often in our homeschool because of the simplicity of this program.

Free Resources – Try It!

You can download the free ebook, Getting Started with Chalk Pastels, which includes some links to free art tutorials to get you started. You can also try the following free tutorials (scroll towards the bottom of each page):

If you have questions about Chalk Pastel, please hop down to leave a comment. We’ll be glad to help in any way that we can!