CLEARWATER, Fla. — Back to school means returning to your best friends and your favorite classes. Art class is always popular for many students, but what if you’re homeschooled?
It can be tough for parents to come up with creative projects daily, which is where Elizabeth Cadena, founder of Art Tampa Bay, steps in.
Cadena enjoys offering homeschooled students an authentic art class that can’t always be duplicated at home.
“I saw a need and I wanted to fill that need in the community,” said Cadena.
Parents say after a long day of traditional subjects like math and science, art sometimes gets lost in the shuffle.
“You’re at home all day long, you know, and it is a little different to get somebody else’s insight, someone else’s point of view. The kids see it a different way,” said mom Alyssa Dunham.
It also allows the kids to participate in a class with someone other than a sibling or a parent.
“I like it because since we aren’t around kids every day, it gets us out of the house,” said freshman Samantha Chanfin.
“We like having these opportunities because we don’t actually have students that are always in our classrooms like we would if we were in public school, but it opens us up more to the world,” said mom Patricia Darosa.
Month to month, Elizabeth is always switching things up.
“Watercolor class, paint with me, paint your own canvas,” said Cadena.
She likes teaching beach art because it includes so many materials commonly found in Tampa Bay, like sand and sea shells.
“They love it, they love it, they get so excited, and all the stuff they get to use and then put it together, I’m amazed at their creativity,” said Cadena.
The parents play an integral role, encouraged to incorporate these classes into their own home school curriculum.
“We get to actually play with our kids and actually interact with them, and see what they are going to do when they get older, are they into art, we can actually learn with them and not be stuck in a book all day,” said Darosa.
