Going through my old email, I found this one, which may be of interest to some of you:

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Hello,
I’m Beth Larsen, a homeschool parent in Albuquerque.  I’d like to make others in the homeschool community aware of a wonderful art program that is ideal for homeschool co-op groups.  Art In The School, Inc. is a private, non-profit art education organization based in Albuquerque, serving the state.  It provides arts education for elementary and middle school children by training volunteers to present themed units in the classroom. The units include content in art history, art criticism, philosophy of art and art studio.   I volunteered last year for Cottonwood Homeschoolers and we had a blast in our co-op class. Arts education, as you probably know, has been proven to enhance learning in all subject areas.   As one 4th grade student remarked, "I learned that when you look at art you get ideas."

Here’s how the program works:
Each school year, Art In The School (AIS) trains volunteers (usually parents) to teach four units on a particular theme.  Typically, the PTA or school will pay for the school to be a member.  The cost per school or organization is $300, which pays for the AIS presenter to attend all trainings and lectures, and a copy of the unit’s slides and lesson plans.  Presenters need not have any art training or experience – just a love of art and willingness to learn.  Trainings include a background lecture, usually with art experts from the community (such as artists, museum experts, art history professors); the following week is a studio portion, which prepares the presenter to share the slides with the kids and discuss the ideas in them, as well as lead them in a hands-on exploration of the art.

Last year, Cottonwood Homeschoolers had 15 families participate, so the cost was only $20 per family for the entire year. I presented the units at a local library throughout the year.  First was a discussion around the slides, then a hands-on studio to try their hand at the art.   Each family brought their own supplies for the studio portion (not a burden for homeschool families, since they had many of the materials on hand - scissors, glue, paper, paints, etc.).  The kids, from kindergarten through high school, loved the sessions, as did the moms.  As a presenter, I loved going to the training sessions.

This year, the units are:
Photographers Capture the Southwest
A Community Crafts:  Pueblo Pottery
Prints Make An Impression:  The Aesthetics of Multiplicity
“Bi-planes and butterflies…” An Albuquerque Art Adventure (re: landscape
architecture)
I know they will all be great, because AIS founder and Creative Director
Sara Otto-Diniz is a master at creating interesting, stimulating units.

If you are interested in knowing more about Art in the School and how you might form a co-op class in your group, please feel free to contact me via email at rbelarsen@hotmail.com or at 897-7876, or contact Art In The School at 277-6495.  You can also review the Art In The School website:  http://www.artintheschool.org      Art In The School would love to have more homeschoolers enjoying this wonderful program. Please feel free to forward this email to interested homeschool groups.

Sincerely,
Beth Larsen
Cottonwood Homeschoolers
Volunteer, Art In The School