There are a number of curriculums available that can be used for weekly art study during morning time.  

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1) One option is made by Memoria Press.  At their website, you can purchase art cards, posters, along with enrichment guides that have information about the artists.  I never opted for this program because I found the 5 X 7 inch art cards a little smaller than what I wanted to use.  If you opt for the smaller cards, one year of art study materials would cost about $33, and if you get the posters plus an enrichment guide, you would be spending close to $49 per year.

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2) Another good option, but the most expensive, are the art portfolios from Simply Charlotte Mason.  A picture study portfolio covering the artwork of three different artist, costs nearly $67 dollars.  Considering art study is not central curriculum, this would be a very steep price for many families.  The curriculum is also set up so that families study one artist per 12 weeks.  My personal opinion is that young children need more variety and this sort of focus on one artist would be more suitable for middle schoolers and high schoolers.  At least, I am speaking for myself, I don't think I would want to focus on the same artist for 12 weeks!  However, this is still a great options available for those where budget is less of an issue that are interested in that sort of focus.

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3). At around $28, Mother of Divine Grace offers art study books with enough photographs for the entire year, or more.  What I love about these books is that they include questions to be asked of the children to aid in discussions, and the whole curriculum is all one book without multiple pieces of which to keep track.  The pictures are bigger than the 5 X 7" card by Memoria Press, but not quite poster sized.  We used this curriculum for two years and I was very pleased with it.  I also love that the books are high quality and make great coffee table books.  It is easy for kids to sit and flip through the book even after that curriculum is no longer being used.  That is unlikely to happen with something such as art cards.  However, one thing that I did not like about the book is that it did not contain information about the artist or the time period, so it was very much an art study and not an art history lesson.

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4).  Because I wanted to include art history with our art study lessons, I switched to the Come Look with Me series.  I learned about this series on the Rainbow Resources website.  This series has been my favorite so far.  Each book is very reasonably priced, can be enjoyed long after the school year is over, and contains guided questions and a short biography of the artist and time period.  One downside is that, unlike the other three curriculums mentioned there are a few more art pieces that might lead to "discussions" about what makes good art.  For some families with older children this might be welcomed, but I can see other families, especially with younger children, not wanted one more thing to have to "discuss."  There are just a few of these pieces, not the majority. I really appreciate how the curriculum is set up and I haven't found the few art pieces we don't care for to outweigh the low cost and ease of use of the curriculum.

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I will say though that this will be my first year using funds from the Arkansas LEARNS Act to purchase curriculum, and I may ended up trying a different curriculum and if I do, I will post about it here!

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