I Can Do All Things is a beginning curriculum for drawing and painting that covers three years and ages six to ten. The first thing that is covered is how it should be structured. Some children enjoy art and will require more of it, while some aren't interested and should maybe only do one hour a week. The author also gives ideas on how to preserve the child's artwork, how to develop and expand a curriculum, and your main purpose as an art teacher. Another suggested way of encouraging the child is to draw “elbow to elbow” with them, as you too learn how to draw and paint. There are also ideas for how to grade or evaluate a child's artwork and helping those children who may not have the dexterity for long drawing lessons.
Before beginning any ‘real’ lessons the child will work on an A to Z introduction to drawing that progresses in difficulty as the child goes through the chapter. Practice exercise A is practicing to draw horizontal, vertical and long horizontal lines, which teaches how to draw a straight line without the aid of a ruler. As the child progresses, the exercises involve other shapes such as drawing Wally the Worm behind a ball, drawing a box and a cube, stripes and waves and much more. The information covered in the introduction is big on instruction, great on encouragement and large on teaching the method.
The next chapters are Beginning Drawing, Colored Pencils, Colored Markers, Studying the Masters, and Children’s Art Journal and Examination. There's also a Glossary for quick review of words or methods being taught. Mr. Stebbing recommends moving around the book to keep the child engaged and eager to learn art, so instead of working though all drawing, then doing the next section, you may want to do drawing one day and the next do painting, and then switch to colored pencils. There are also some lessons that may prove to be a bit more difficult for younger children, and those can be skipped until the child is ready for them.
Included with the text are 38 paint and marker cards, which are printed on heavy 8 ½ by 11-inch cardstock paper and are used in various lessons when learning to paint and use markers. This provides a thick paper so that paint and markers won’t bleed through and the paper won’t become wrinkled from those media. It is easy to tell when the child will need the cards, as they are also included in the text. To make them easy to access, store them in a folder with the text. The cards cover lessons such as coloring with line, colorful frames, stripes, secondary colors, painting with control, and more.
The examination that concludes the text is a way to gauge what the child has learned over the course of the study. It could be given in any number of ways; such as at the culmination of the entire study, by figuring out what has already been covered, or having the child answer only those pertinent questions. It is a fun exam, meaning that the child will get to color and draw, versus just answering questions, so it's a way to actually show what you know. It's a fun way of summing up a three year study on art – even though the whole book makes learning about art fun!
Editor's note: Paint and Marker Cards are available separately if you have multiple students using the program. A supplies kit is also available for the course, as well as instructional DVDs. I Can Do All Things is also available as a bundle package set which includes the book and supplies, and a DVD package set.