artBeast Classes for Elementary Aged Children
Art Beast is offering classes to children 7 to 10 years old in the year ahead. The first round of classes will begin in September with more classes rolling out in 6 and 8 week sessions throughout the year. Offered in the early afternoon, the classes are ideal for homeschooling families looking for dynamic classes in the arts and sciences. We always welcome feedback on the classes families would like to see us offer.

The first session:

Introduction to Ceramics: Monday 1:30 to 2:30 (September 10 to October 29): $75

Beginning Drawing Techniques: Wednesday 1:30 to 2:30 (September 5 to October 24): $75

Yoga Circle: Wednesday 3 to 3:30 (September 5 to October 24): $35

Brain Boosting Biology: Thursday 1:30 to 3:00 (September 6 to October 25): $95

Complete details about each class, teacher bios and material fees are below.

Art Beast is located at 2226 K Street in midtown Sacramento. The building is surrounded by free two hour street parking. Classes will take place in the outside courtyard or upstairs classroom depending on teacher preference. The classes do not include unlimited play in the general studio unless a family membership or admission is purchased. Parents may drop their child off for class by checking in with the teacher and indicating they will be off site during the class.

Art Beast is a register vendor for South Sutter Charter School and Visions. If using these funds to attend the class, a purchase order must be requested with the school to start the registration process.

To register: Call Art Beast at 916-441-1233 or register online at http://www.formstack.com/forms/?762869-MO30K16Kno

We are capping registration at 12 students. Once a class fills, a wait list will be established for interested families and additional sessions may be added. Registration is final and refunds cannot be given. Studio credit will be issued if the cancellation comes with one week’s notice.

Art Beast’s Dual Mission: Art Beast is committed to nurturing each child’s creativity by offering an environment for child directed play and parent connection. Every penny raised at Art Beast is dedicated to Tubman House, a community for young parents overcoming homelessness. In choosing Art Beast to share the world of art, play, movement and song, you are also choosing to support families in need as they attend college, secure work, stabilize housing, and find the time and space to love and celebrate their children.

Introduction to Ceramics: Mondays 1:30 to 2:30
Discover the magic of ceramic work as children learn to transform a ball of clay into a variety of creatures and creations. During this eight-week course, the teacher will introduce the students to the three basic methods of hand building using the pinch, coil and slab techniques. The students will become familiar with the tools and materials used in hand building objects from clay. They will learn to incorporate texture and glaze in the design of their projects. Student work will be bisque fired in preparation for glazing.
An $8 lab fee for class materials includes Clay, Glaze and Firing of finished pieces.

Teacher: Andre Gayet has been creating art for over 40 years. With a strong background in pottery, ceramics and blowing glass, Andre’s work can be found in local galleries. Andre has taught adults and children the wonder of working with clay, including creating collaborative pieces with the students of Theodore Judah Elementary.

Beginning Drawing Techniques: Wednesdays 1:30 to 2:30
Students will learn the techniques artists use to create dynamic drawings. Using a range of drawing tools, children will learn how to use shadow, texture, light, and perspective to develop as artists and expand the possibilities of putting pencil to paper.

A $8 lab fee for class materials includes paper, charcoal and drawing media.

Teacher: Kathleen Salvo is a working visual artist with a bachelor’s degree in art education and 6 years of experience teaching art to elementary aged students. Says on reviewer: Katy is “an educator dedicated to her students and their exposure to art and techniques from a wide variety of cultures, time periods and genres. Katy brings to her lessons a unique understanding as both a talented artist and a teacher well versed in the California Art Content Standards. She can create, teach and inspire all at the same time! ”

Yoga Circle: Wednesdays 3 to 3:30
Children gather for a session of yoga that welcomes wiggles and giggles while introducing the poses, breathing, and peacefulness that yoga brings. Each week children move through a series of poses, moving toward mastery of simpler poses while greeting the challenge others.

Teacher: Erin Tinney is the Assistant Director of ArtBeast as well as a Registered Yoga Teacher. She earned her BFA in Fine Arts and enjoys all mediums of creative expression! Erin's experience with children includes serving as a full time nanny for many years, leading children's programming at a non-profit tutoring and community center, substitute teaching and leading children's classes with a mobile museum program. Erin is thrilled to share the gentle rhythm of yoga with children each week.

Brain Boosting Biology: Thursdays 1:30-3
This eight week series will introduce students to the fascinating world of biology in a fun, inquiry-based nature. Students will be expected to maintain a weekly journal with descriptive illustrations and/or notes, depending on capability, chronicling our journey through science. We will pull knowledge from each class as the series progresses. Each student will end the series as a scientific thinker.
Lab Fee: $12

Teacher: Vanessa Dunne, brings scientific expertise, a sense of joy, and a tremendous amount of passion to working with children. Vanessa is a CSUS Biology professor and a homeschooling mother of 3 who believes the world is her classroom! She earned her BS in Microbiology from UC Davis and her MS in Molecular Biology from CSUS. Although she enjoys using her education to engage students in her community college classrooms, she has the most fun getting slimy and dirty with her kids in the backyard. She has worked with children in various capacities, from teaching creative movement in elementary schools to guiding nature studies to exploring messy science with Beasties!

Week 1: Introduction to the Scientific Method
Students will begin to think like scientists! This class will cover the understanding and implementation of the steps in the Scientific Method and will progress into designing effective experiments. This class will lay the groundwork for the next seven class sessions (and the next seventy years of life!).

Week 2: Characteristics of Life
What is life? This class will help answer the question of the definition of a living thing. Students will learn the basic characteristics of life and design experiments to test whether various items are considered living or non-living. By the end of class, students will be able to logically deduce whether Mary Shelley’s monster was truly alive!

Week 3: Animal Geniuses: An Introduction to the Animal Kingdom
We all have our biases, but in this session students will design an experiment to end the age-old debate: which is smarter, a dog or a cat? We will study the physical and behavioral characteristics of a variety of mammals to help understand classification of the animal kingdom. Students will have creative freedom to design experimentation to test any number of questions they may have of these curious critters!

Week 4: The Hidden Life of Plants: An Introduction to the Plant Kingdom
In this session, students will study classification, vascular actions, and ecological significance of our quiet plant friends.

Week 5: Protists and Fungi
Students will investigate the macro- and microscopic world of the Protist and Fungi Kingdoms. This class will definitely be a little gross, but full of wonderment with interesting experiments on these unpopular but essential members of our world.

Week 6: Human Behavior: Reaction Time
This session will begin a three week exploration of human behavior, starting with a look at reaction times. Is it humanly possible to dodge a speeding bullet? No, we won’t directly experiment on this one, but we will be able to make a rational conjecture after plenty of fun and creative experimentation!

Week 7: Human Behavior: Senses
Students in this class session will explore all of the senses and discuss whether a sixth sense really exists!

Week 8: Human Behavior: Perception