Art Is Fundamental: Teaching the Elements and Principles of Art in Elementary School

This book is perfect! I know nothing about art, and ended up homeschooling my son (age 6). This book has short (2 page) art lessons and literally explains what you’re learning about art, what supplies you need, and how to do each lesson. It’s much better than just an arts and crafts book because this is actually teaching art concepts. My kid is 6 and the lessons are easy enough for him but could be adapted through middle schoolers and beyond. Really well written, practical, easy to understand. I love it!

LOVE this book! I haven't even gotten past the first 100 pages yet!

This is an excellent book for art teachers. It is set up like lesson plans. Every project is well explained. I think I was looking for something simpler with less lesson planning and just filled with projects.

I used it for teaching my grand niece and nephew in home school!

This book was life changing for me. I cant wait to try out these lesson ideas. They are geared toward 1st grade through 3rd grade, but you could honestly use the lessons for grades 1-5. I loved this book so much, I ordered her Art Matters book after reading/highlighting this one. I love how it emphasizes teaching the concepts, but letting students choose their subject. There is so much room for creativity. It's great for someone interested in TAB, but unsure of how/where to begin. I enjoyed the freedom of it.

I bought several different books about teaching art to elementary school children and this one is extremely helpful, well organized with project ideas and class management tips. It's definitely aimed at teachers: to help them prepare or adopt a lesson from the book. Lots of reading & explanations for the right approach to subject. I wish the black & white pictures & illustrations were in color but the focus of this book is definitely on concepts, theory and presentation for teachers.

This is a cool book for K-8th. and has saved the day so many times in what and how to teach. This is one of my favorite books to use and has so many ideas.

I have mixed feelings about this book and perhaps most of my criticisms are more to do with our particular needs as homeschoolers with me, having been trained in art myself, as the teacher. First, I love the fact that this book breaks down the fundamental elements and principles of art and goes through them systematically. That is foundational to teaching art and it is exactly what I was looking for when I was searching for an art curriculum. A child (or adult, for that matter), must have an understanding of what makes art "good"...the "ingredients", so to speak. Also, each element and principle comprises one unit, with a number of projects related to it to help the child grasp the concept. However, the lessons are drawn out over three years. This is, in part, due to the fact that a classroom full of students requires much more time, since much of it is spent in preparation, clean-up, crowd-control, etc. I am finding, as I use this with my kids in our homeschool, that the lessons just are not "full" enough and we have sometimes combined lessons to make art class last longer. Also, I don't particularly like being told exactly what to say at what point. I like to be given a general outline or structure of what it is I should be trying to accomplish and then be allowed some flexibility in that. I feel that when I follow the lessons as written, it comes across very contrived. I am actually starting to ignore the detailed step-by-step, "first say __, then explain __...", type of instruction and substituting my own thoughts and instructions. This may be partially due to the fact that I already understand the subject matter. So, that said, it may be very helpful to someone with absolutely no art training to be told explicitly what to say and when. Finally, being an artist, I am very visual. If you are like me, you will be disappointed with the plain format and minimal (mostly black and white) pictures. While there is a section near the end that has color photos of some of the completed art projects, I would find it far more helpful if there was at least one for each project and they were integrated into the rest of the book with each project. Overall, this book has been okay for filling my needs as a homeschooling mom. However, I will likely switch to something new when I can afford to. I am seriously considering the posters, DVD, and guides called "Elements and Principles of Design" from DickBlick.com ([...] They look like they would be what I am searching for.

good book.

I have used this book consistently in grade 3, 4, and 5. The first set of lessons is called Year One. Year one, is comprehensive. If I teach the same kids two years in a row, I just progress to the year two lessons. There is lots of relevant theory. It follows an excellent progression. I have created PowerPoints for each of the lessons to help me highlight teaching points and show samples from the book as well as from previous student work. Some reviewers have been disappointed with the “dullness” but I strongly disagree. In my opinion they are just not committed to actually teaching elements of art and want a quick project book. My students love and apply the elements in their projects. Buy this book!

C'est un livre qui donne plein d'idées et qui pourra bien aider ceux qui s'intéressent à appliquer le dessin et la peinture en cours ou tout simplement à la maison avec les enfants ou encore, avec soi-même. Mais c'est un livre où les couleurs ne sont que sur la couverture car a l'intérieur, tout est en noir et blanc, même les images. La couverture est souple et les feuilles sont en papier fin, un peu comme ceux de livres de poche...

This is a full curriculum for grades 1-3 easily adapted to the curriculum in my location. Very helpful and insightful, easy to navigate. Full marks.

Great reference book for teach8ng art to kids