I did not intend to purchase an art curriculum at the homeschool convention, but was lured in by the beckoning DVD covers, the TV demonstration and the friendly faces at the Home Art Studio booth. When I found out the second grade DVD was all about fairy tales, I started to reach for my credit card. Then Ms. Volin informed me that the first grade DVD was about world cultures. Well, that sealed the deal and I sprang for it.

Not every lesson on the DVD is culture-related, so we went ahead and did the first one today — making our own three-dimensional sculpture of a roller coaster. I had glanced at the lesson plan PDF which is included on the disk, so I knew what materials we needed and gathered them. Then we popped the disc into the computer and started the lesson. We paused it often and at one point rewound it to watch some again. That made it incredibly easy to follow along.

In the very beginning, as we cut the strips of paper, John proclaimed, “Art is boring.” I told him he did not have to participate, so he made his own bowl of yogurt and watched from the other side of the table while Olivia started making her roller coaster. The video began with a brief history of roller coasters and an explanation of how roller coaster designers make models of the coasters before they build them. Ms. Volin walked us through the project step-by-step and reminded us of things like not using too much glue and other tips which made the project easier (and the kids really took them to heart coming from the art teacher instead of just mom — go figure).

As Olivia worked we discussed coasters, how big you had to be to ride, if I like them or not (not), if I would ride with them or if dad would (dad), if you need to hold on (yes), etc. It was great, great, great conversation. And about the time his bowl of yogurt was done, John decided that he wanted in on the action and started to make his own.

Here are their finished projects. Note, that John was the one who really got into the design of the coaster — his has far more pieces, twists, and turns than Olivia’s does.

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John named his coaster “The Scary Monster Coaster”
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Olivia’s coaster ended up with a super big loop, so it was “The Super Coaster”

Then Olivia decided that her coaster needed a car with people. At first she wanted to make them with clay, but I was able to convince her to let me fashion a car from cardstock. Then she drew in all the people and decorated them.

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Olivia’s coaster car full of people.

I love how their work reflects their personalities. John’s coaster is all about the coaster — the machine! Olivia’s work focused on the people, and that is where she spent the bulk of her time. They worked on these for a long, long time — over an hour at least. If a few more lessons go as well as this one did, I will be sending away for the kindergarten and second grade DVDs to round out our art studies this year.

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John’s car. He also added some concerned parents watching from the ground.
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