For preteens and teens that enjoy art, a studio class gives them the opportunity to explore new media, develop their skills, and engage their social skills.
Parents can encourage the artistic expression of older children and teenagers in an open studio environment created at home. One parent can host each gathering or the meetings can move to different homes. One advantage to assembling a small group of homeschoolers for an art class is that the cost of materials can be spread to several families. Another benefit is the opportunity for teens to share an interest with similar-minded individuals and perhaps develop new friendships.
Structuring an Informal Art Series
If one individual is starting the class, he or she can determine how many weeks she’d like the class to continue, whether or not he’ll purchase all supplies beforehand, where and when the class will meet, and what the classes will focus on (just drawing, painting, or photography). Some of these factors will limit the number of students who can come into the class. Also consider if students must commit to a set number of classes or if a drop-in format will work.
If a couple of parents start the class with the intention of welcoming in other homeschoolers, they should still consider the advantages of presenting some degree of structure to others as the more people involved in the planning process the more difficult it can be to create a class.
Look for students through a local homeschool group, several fliers hung up in local libraries, Yahoo! Groups or other online social networking sites, or other types of classes the students already participates.
Creating a Skill-Development Art Class
If the interest is on developing skills in drawing, painting, photography, parents should look for someone in the homeschool community who possesses these skills. Also try contacting the local schools for a recently retired art teacher who may be interested in teaching a couple of hours a week. Look to the teachers of community education classes who may be interested or able to teach a class during the day.
http://homeschooling.suite101.com/article.cfm/develop_an_art_class_for_tweens_and_teens
