This year in our homeschool, we’re pairing our history lessons with art — and it might be the best thing we’ve added to our routine in a long time.
We’re working through Unit 1 of *Our Pioneers and Patriots* with my four youngest (ages 5, 7, 10, and 12), and for each topic we pull up a matching lesson from You ARE an ARTiST — the chalk pastel video lessons by Nana. The kids watch the lesson, we all paint along together, and somehow the history sticks in a way that just reading never did.
Turns out there’s a reason Nana calls her companion series I Drew It Then I Knew It. When my 5-year-old has to think about where the dragon head goes on a Viking longship, he’s thinking about Vikings — not just coloring.
Viking Longships
Our first set paired with the Vikings. Every ship got the long curved hull, the striped sail, and of course the dragon head on the prow — nobody was leaving that part out.
Explorer Tall Ships
Next came the explorers. The kids loved the big square sails on these, and watching each of them interpret the same lesson in their own style is one of my favorite things about doing art this way. No two ships came out the same.
Tribal Hairstyles of the Sioux, Cheyenne, Ute, and Comanche
This one might be my favorite of the three. Each child drew all four hairstyles — Sioux, Cheyenne, Ute, and Comanche — on one sheet, and you can see them comparing the differences: the braids, the beads, the feathers. That comparison is the history lesson, and it’s sitting on our fridge now.
The Secret Ingredient: I Paint Too
Confession: I do every lesson right alongside them. Nana insists there are no mistakes in chalk pastels, and I’m choosing to believe her. My Viking ship and my explorer ship hang right next to the kids’ work, and honestly? I’m proud of them.
There’s something about sitting down and doing the same lesson — not correcting, not supervising, just painting — that changed the feel of our school day. The 12-year-old isn’t “too old” for it, the 5-year-old isn’t lost, and the 7- and 10-year-olds are right in the sweet spot. One lesson, four ages, zero prep.
How We Make It Work
- Match the art to the unit. We pull up the chalk pastel lesson that fits whatever history topic we’re on that week. Unit 1 gave us Vikings, explorers, and Native American tribes — perfect art material.
- Keep supplies simple. Chalk pastels and construction paper. That’s the whole supply list, and it’s cheap enough that I don’t stress about the mess.
- Do it together. I sit down and paint my own. It keeps me from hovering over their work, and it models the “you are an artist” idea better than anything I could say.
- Display everything. The sheets go on the fridge or the wall for a week. Reviewing history is as simple as walking past the gallery.
Supplies
- Construction paper — Prang/SunWorks Smart-Stack, 9×12, 300 sheets assorted
- Chalk Pastels – Mungyo Gallery 64-pack
What’s Next
The science version of this post is coming later — we’re working through a mammals unit right now, and the cow lesson may have been my best chalk pastel to date. Stay tuned.
We use the You ARE an ARTiST Clubhouse for our art lessons. This post is just us sharing what worked in our homeschool — not sponsored. This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
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