How to Best Use the Catholic Schoolhouse Art Tour Guides

The Catholic Schoolhouse Art Guides were created to make your life easy. Use our Integrated Art Program to enjoy and embrace art. You can teach art!

Our art projects are designed to be more than wow projects. As a classical program, they intentionally introduce students to fun experiences—encouraging them to become producers of art outside of class and find what they love. In this way, classical education connects to life.

Catholic Schoolhouse developed its Integrated Art Program to align with the historical timeline. Within each Art Guide, you will find 24 weeks of projects. Each week presents a featured artwork, included in full color in the guide, background for the teacher, and complete project instructions, all from a Catholic perspective.

YOU CAN TEACH ART! Also included are tips for the teacher on how to teach art, encourage students, and maintain a good classroom environment for “artists” at a variety of ages. Projects have been designed for all ages to learn together, making Catholic Schoolhouse Art suitable for family study.

Students increase proficiency in the seven elements of art through guided projects inspired by great masters. A variety of media are used to expose students to new experiences. Over the three-year cycle, the students will be exposed to 24 great artists and become familiar with their style, school, or movement. Throughout the Art Program series, students learn and experiment with the seven elements of art: Line, Shape, Color, Form, Space, Texture, and Value.

Here are some helpful tips when using the Catholic Schoolhouse Art Guides.

• Explore a variety of skills and techniques.
  Each Tour in the Catholic Schoolhouse Art curriculum stands alone, yet all work together to create a well-rounded experience.
  • Tour I – American Art focuses on drawing skills and the elements of art
  • Tour II – Ancient through Medieval Art focuses on painting skills and the great art masters
  • Tour III -Renaissance through Modern Art’s focus is composition and painting techniques.
• Take time to look at the “Skills to Learn” and “Terms to Know.”
  Found on the right hand side of the page, these skills are intentionally distributed over the three years to assure your artists experience art integrated to the timeline. Skills include cutting, folding, gluing, correct brush techniques, perspective drawing, shading and blending, and more. When teaching, remember, the end project is not the goal—it is the skills and steps to create the art project.
• Consider experiences.
  Catholic Schoolhouse’s Art guides may introduce art techniques that become inspiration for additional projects. You succeed when your students continue to create outside the classroom. These experiences include origami, book making, triptychs, cut-paper art, pottery, 3-D projects, clay work, stained glass, replication, and more. You have truly succeeded when a child says, “I didn’t know I love origami!”
• Discuss the value of art.
  Art and culture are connected. Catholic Schoolhouse Art connects history events with changes in the art world. We adorn what we value, and the journey through time will connect art to culture by showing what each civilization valued, leading to the discussion: What do we value today?

Tell us how your family is using our Art program.