When you are a homeschooler sometimes it is hard to figure out how to actually incorporate art into your curriculum. Maybe you have been doing arts and crafts project but you really want your child to learn the different methods and art techniques. You also many have looked at homeschool art programs, but have not found one that works for you. 

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 Personally, when I got the chance to review one of the new homeschool art programs, Beyond the Stick Figure (disclaimer I did receive the course for free so that I could review it, but of course what follows is an honest review of the course),  I was looking for a course that actually had more about doing art than art history. I am a tutor and don’t currently have kids of my own but I help other parents with homeschooling and one of my students is in the K12 program I love this program but their art classes are pretty full of art history with a little art project thrown on the end. Hence I was looking for something that would actually involve drawing or doing art instead of just hearing about it. 

About Homeschool Art Programs: Beyond the Stick Figure

Beyond the Stick Figure is a homeschool art curriculum. It is taught by Sally Stansfield. She is an art teacher and homeschooler herself. There are a couple of options for courses that you can get in this program. The first one is an all year homeschool art curriculum it is $360 which is well worth the price considering it is a whole year of content, which can be used with multiple grade levels. There is also a drawing course for those who might just want to get their feet wet. Although, it is significantly fewer lessons it is still an amazing course and is a more budget-friendly $45 dollars. 

This homeschool art program unlike many others that I have seen does not require a lot of supplies. There are only two things that you will need: Computer paper and Sally suggests a set of Prismacolor markers in the primary and secondary shades. These markers are more expensive, but they are higher quality and as such will last longer and work better. Also if you get them on Amazon they are not really that expensive it is about 18 dollars for the set.  It is also covered in the course how to take care of these art supplies to teach your kids that they need to keep their art supplies nice to make them last longer. 

The course itself is hosted on the teachable platform. It includes plenty of easy to follow videos and also some lessons come with PDF files that you can print. I personally love PDF files. They have all the instructions and some of these have frame graphics that your child can draw art in and it looks nicer for display. The videos are great too and really break things down for your child starting from the beginning, which makes this a great homeschool art program. 

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Advantages of Homeschool Art Programs: Beyond the Stick Figure 

Some of the things that I love about this homeschool art program is that is is so easy to follow. Your kids can replicate the art that is being made just from the videos with little instruction from you Sally has you covered and is very easy to follow. I also love that she builds on previous lessons. This homeschool art program really fits with the idea that you have the crawl before you can walk. It starts off simple and builds on those basics to take your child to the next level in their drawing skills and proving that anyone can draw. The videos are also very short most of them are around 5 minutes and the longest is about 10 minutes. This is the perfect amount of time so kids don’t get distracted but can focus the whole time. The PDF files are amazing in this course and make it so easy to follow the idea and gives more ideas for homeschool art projects. Lastly, the fact that the other materials that you will need are a set of markers also makes it really easy so you don’t have to worry about having to grab more art supplies. 

Drawbacks of Homeschool Art Programs: Beyond the Stick Figure

This is a course that starts from the very beginning. Although it is great to build that firm foundation older kids who have some experience drawing may be bored with the first couple of lessons. The easy way to get over this is to skip a couple of lessons in when it starts to get more complicated. Another drawback is that if you are looking for an art history course or a homeschool art program that at least has some art history then is not the course for you. This course is strictly about doing hands-on art projects. This is exactly what I was looking for since I already was working with a homeschool art curriculum that has quite a deal of art history. Lastly, this is a homeschool art program that takes place online, while I know that is what some people are looking for I know that others would not want that type of curriculum. 

Overall, I really liked this homeschool art curriculum it was what I was looking for in terms of being more hands-on art and not just art history lessons. I know that my homeschool student would love it because he loves tutorials on how to draw different items and this is just that. It is a perfectly balanced curriculum that students of all ages can do. It requires very little material and is not so time-consuming that it will take over a major block of your day. I would recommend it for anyone that is looking for an online homeschool art program. To purchase this course visit the Beyond the Stick Figure Teachable Site. 

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