Art » The Curriculum Choice

See the Light Art DVDs

Art, Electives, Fine Arts, Uncategorized No Responses »

Feb 102012

I love art, but have no real training in it. I believe my children need to learn art techniques, but I can’t afford $60/hour lessons at the local art studio. What’s a homeschooling mom to do? Well…I had the blessing of reviewing lessons 1-12 of See the Light Art Class DVD’s and found them to be full of solid instruction at a reasonable price.

Before I even begin telling you about the lessons, you ought to know the film quality is very good. That means a lot to me considering so many DVD programs I review leave a lot to be desired in quality. No need to worry with these!

The complete first year program consists of 36 lessons, meant to be taught once per week. The teacher has an engaging personality, gives clear directions, and models lessons at an appropriate pace – all important aspects allowing my children to stay focused. And, she teaches lessons incrementally, meaning each new lesson expands on a previously learned skill.

Technique and art vocabulary are key components in the lessons, as well as learning how to effectively use various art media. Even though the lessons are simple to implement, they are in-depth, making art class a serious (and fun) venture. Additionally, each lesson is wholeheartedly Christian, tying in Bible verses or mini-devotionals to the art topic at hand.

Students are encouraged to have their own “toolbox” of basic art supplies including #2 pencils, paper, a drawing pencil, charcoal pencils, a black Sharpie marker, colored pencils, a sharpener, a medium to large box of crayons, a large white eraser and a kneaded eraser. Some lessons will include easily found household supplies, too, like two apples in lesson 3, for example.

Each lesson lasts approximately 15 minutes and it’s assumed your child will put to practice some of the newly learned skills afterward. I have used the lessons with my 6th and 9th graders, but even my five year old enjoyed taking part most of the time.

You can purchase all 36 DVD lessons in a bundle for $99. (Yes, that seems high, but it’s an entire year of art instruction.) You can also purchase DVDs of four lessons each for $14.99 or get an online subscription which “unlocks” four lessons at a time for only $10 per month.

My children aren’t the most artistically gifted kids you’ll ever meet, but the lessons have really improved their skills. If you’re skeptical, try the first three lessons for free!

Pin It

Draw, Write, Now

Art, Elementary, Handwriting, Language Arts No Responses »

Jan 092012

Draw Write Now handwriting and art program helped my daughter develop her printing skills and have fun while doing it! The series consists of eight books, each with a different theme and all written at the same level. You can start with any of the eight books. I took my daughter to the nearby children’s book store and she chose Book 1 – On the Farm, Kids, Critters. It was full of her favorite animals to draw!

When we opened the book together, we saw that each lesson included a shape or animal to draw and a short story to copy. Each story included facts about the animal or shape, such as “Rabbits eat plants” or “Ducks have webbed feet.” My second grader enjoyed copying down these new facts, and of course, drawing her new animal!

My daughter’s favorites were the sheep and penguin.

Benefits:

This program is built on success! Each animal or shape is explained in step-by-step drawings.
Explanations are very easy to follow.
While drawing, my daughter was developing her fine motor skills! We placed special drawings into frames and, of course, posted on the frig!
Draw,Write Now was a good fit for my daughter because she knew how to form each letter but needed a lot of practice in her printing.
Drawing also helped my daughter practice following a sequence – which improved her reading skills!

Skill building: As we worked through three of these books, my daughter developed better control of her pencil. Then while copying the sentences, she began to think up her own stories! Soon she was writing down these stories and illustrating them. The following year, she wrote a story about a toucan and illustrated it for a story contest.

Draw Write Now is aimed at the first or second grade level.
Although we chose from the animal books, Draw Write Now also offers a number of science and social studies topics.
Each of the eight books has 64 pages and is non-consumable.
Draw, Write, Now also offers lined paper, books to draw in, pencil grips and grasp positioning guides and more on their site.

Below are the eight Draw, Write Now titles:

Book 1 On Farm, Kids, Critters
Book 2 Columbus, Autumn Harvest, Weather
Book 3 North America, Native Americans, Pilgrims
Book 4 Polar Regions, Arctic, Antarctic
Book 5 U.S, From Sea to Sea
Book 6 Animal Habitats, Land, Ponds, Ocean
Book 7 Animals of the World, Part 1, Tropical
Book 8 Animals, part 2, Savannas, Grasslands

In summary, I would recommend Draw, Write, Now to families with young children who know how to form letters – and want to improve printing skills in a fun and creative way!

For more information, please visit the Draw Write Now site. You might also like Shannon’s review of Draw, Write, Now.

~Written by Betsy, a veteran homeschooler who likes unit studies and offers Homeschool Consulting, as a volunteer, to new and experienced families. She can be reached on her Facebook, at Jane Sproger.

My Father’s World: 1st grade

Art, Bible, Charlotte Mason, Classical, Elementary, Geography, Grammar, Hands On, Language Arts, Living books, Music, Nature Study, Phonics, Reading, Science, Spelling, Unit study resources 3 Responses »

Aug 222011

What immediately drew me to My Father’s World is that the curriculum is the fact that it is fairly stand alone. You purchase either the basic set or their deluxe set, and you are ready to go! I adore this as our little library in this rural community really doesn’t have the variety or selection of books that we were used to in San Diego. This means filling in blanks or filling out a curriculum is a challenge now so a curriculum with most of the absolutely necessary books included was a huge plus to us.

However, like the true bibliophiles that we are, I wanted the option of having more, should we be able to find them. True to the Charlotte Mason element, the curriculum is surrounded by the “living books” concept so the usage of books is completely up to you. I love that they include this in every year.

About My Father’s World

My Father’s World isn’t just a Charlotte Mason style offering but rather a unique fusion of sorts, merging both “the best of Charlotte Mason, classical education, and unit studies with a Biblical worldview and international focus.”

My Father’s World offers grades K-2nd grade as a more independent, semi-stand alone element and then moves into a family 5 year cycle that works around a central theme. The 5 year cycle is specifically geared for multiple ages, for grades 2nd-8th so there is savings to be found as families with more than one child use the same program to teach all children in 2nd – 8th grade.

Year One	Geography: Exploring Countries and Cultures
Year Two	History: Creation to the Greeks
Year Three	History: Rome to the Reformation
Year Four	U.S./World History: Exploration to 1850
Year Five	U.S./World History: 1850 to Modern Times

They also offer a bridge year called Adventures in My Father’s World, which is geared for families 2nd or 3rd graders who have no siblings in 4th – 8th grade.(We will be doing this program next year as I have a 4year old and a 7 year old.)

Our Adventure

Currently we are working our way though My Father’s World, 1st grade. I adore this program as it is laid out in an easy to follow, daily workbook fashion. It’s easy for me to combine the integrated social studies, science, art and Bible elements with both kids, while focusing independently on the phonics and math. My boys love that they are learning together, doing the same things, despite their age and grade differences.

The curriculum does include a 1st grade phonics-based reading program that focuses on the Bible and more fun, hands-on math activities. We include our own K4 phonics and and additional math program (Math U See) for both boys as I found their math not as intensive as I think it needs to be for the grade.

One major element we always seemed to miss with our previous years curriculum was the arts; we simply didn’t always make time for them.

With My Father’s World, art, music, crafts,hands-on learning is a major part of the curriculum. Everything is planned out and outlined for you to see the day before so you can prep easily, using common household items most of the time. My boys have enjoyed this more consistent addition to our learning and I have found they have better attitudes and have better lesson retention.

The only cons that I have experience thus far is that the 1st grade teachers book is only formatted with a daily lesson plan. It lacks the easy, one glace, weekly grid that their latter versions offer. I also felt the math that is included is a bit weak for the age group so we needed to supplement an additional math program. Ultimately, minor things that we easily rectified.

For a full curriculum, It’s fairly affordable, especially when you compare it to larger, more known companies. For the 1st grade curriculum, you can elect to get their basic package for only $136.oo or their deluxe package for $239.00. As the years grow in complexity, so does the number of books included which will contribute to a steady raise in the overall costs. However, remaining competitive and within reach for most families.

Overall, My Father’s World, or MFW, has been a blessing to our household. It’s affordable, fun, engaging and the children really do learn.

Artistic Pursuits for the Junior High Student

Art, Middle School No Responses »

Jun 262011

I previously introduced you to Artistic Pursuits for the K-3rd crowd. Now I would like to introduce you to Artistic Pursuits for the Junior High crowd. Artistic Pursuits will be highly appreciated by those who teach from a Charlotte Mason or Classical method. However, this art curriculum will enhance any homeschool.

The focus in Book One is on World Art. The student will gain an understanding of how different cultures impacted the world in different ways through their art. The book places equal emphasis on art history, art appreciation and techniques making this a complete art course for your junior high student. The lessons will cover one full year of Art. The course can also credit the student with Art Appreciation and Art History as each lesson focuses on these aspects. The student will gain a full understanding of how cultures interpreted art, what mediums were used, and how art was influenced by history and cultural aspects. Students will learn the techniques of the lesson before completing the art project to ensure proper reinforcement and understanding.

If you are concerned with your ability to teach art or you have too much on your plate to add in an involved art curriculum, do not turn away from Artistic Pursuits. This book is written to the student and no teacher preparation is needed. A list of materials is given in the beginning of the book and can be easily found at your local craft or art store. Once your student is equipped with the textbook, supplies and time, he can successfully complete this course. If you enjoy art and want to share the experience with your child this book will be a delight to your homeschool.

Artistic Pursuits is my favorite art curriculum based on its emphasis on art appreciation and art history. This is not a book full of projects with no purpose or a perfunctory glance at the roots of a technique. Artistic Pursuits is a course that your student will appreciate regardless of his talent, skill level, or interest in creating projects. This course will reinforce your history lessons by giving them a flavor of the people of the time.

Disclosure: This book provided by the publisher/creator for the purpose of review. Thoughts expressed are solely my own and from my experience.

Richele is a homeschooling mom to four reflections of God’s love whose greatest accomplishment thus far was teaching physics, folding laundry, and playing Candyland simultaneously. Find her blogging at Under the Golden Apple Tree.

Art with A Purpose

Art, Elementary, Hands On 1 Response »

May 262011

I love art and even considered making it my career. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on which child I’m talking to), I never seem to get around to teaching art as a hands-on, let’s-get-creative-and-make-a-mess activity. I don’t know why; it’s just one of those things.

So what do my children do for art? Well, we do Charlotte Mason style picture study every few weeks, and each of my children works through the entire Art with A Purpose curriculum, doing about one lesson a week for eight years.

Art With a Purpose is an easy-to-teach curriculum that covers everything from coloring and pasting in the younger grades to lettering, color combining, perspective, and pen and ink drawings in the older grades. It does not, however, teach art history or appreciation at all. (Hence the picture study lessons.)

Each year’s Artpac contains 36 simple, step-by-step art lessons. Materials are usually simple to obtain. In fact, the only ones we’ve had trouble finding are the brass fasteners needed to allow movement in a monkey’s limbs and the hands of a clock.

Using this curriculum, moms have little teaching to do in the younger grades and even less as the children get older because the instructions are clear and easy to follow. Although classroom teachers are encouraged to work through each Artpac to provide their students with examples, this was not necessary for us at home.

Rod and Staff breaks down each year’s skills as follows:

Artpac 1 Simple coloring skills, color-by-number, cutting and pasting.
Artpac 2 Simple coloring skills, cutting, pasting, simple perspective drawing.
Artpac 3 Coloring, shading with crayons, simple grid drawing and painting.
Artpac 4 Coloring, shading with crayons, drawing stick figures, simple grid drawing, and perspective drawing.
Artpac 5 Shading with colored pencils, drawing faces, painting and paint mixing, lettering, and grid work.
Artpac 6 Shading with colored pencils, drawing faces, lettering, grid work, freehand and perspective drawing.
Artpac 7 Advanced shading with soft lead colored pencils, grid drawing, calligraphy, paint mixing and painting, and sketching.
Artpac 8 Shading with pen and ink.

View detailed outlines of each course, with samples.

Most weeks my children spend between 30 minutes and two hours on their Artpacs, depending on the effort they are willing to expend. They are usually pleased with their work, and often give the cards, pictures, or crafts as gifts. Many of them also adorn the bedroom doors.

We’ve encountered very few problems over the years. Some lessons in the early years are much too difficult and take too long. We don’t skip those, but I allowed the child to work on them for a long time, pointing out that it was a lesson in perseverance as well as in art. I also allowed children who struggled with motor skills to progress slowly, with the beneficial result that they were able to do a better job at the upper levels as well.

Published by Rod and Staff, the Artpacs feature a few pictures that are obviously Mennonite. Wording, where there is any, is inspiring and often Christian. Although the Artpacs have no projects about Halloween, Easter bunnies, Santa Claus, or baby Jesus, I have received several wonderful Mothers’ Day cards.

Each year’s worth of lessons is well under $10. This is a very good deal, especially for the grade 8 Artpac’s pen and ink pages that would retail for several hundred dollars at my local art supply store.

If you’re not the kind of person who thrives on doing hands-on crafts with your children, but you still want them to learn the basics of art, it’s worth checking out Art with A Purpose. It’s thorough, easy to use, Christian, and inexpensive.

Written by Annie Kate, a Christian homeschooling mom of five, who reviews and blogs at Tea Time with Annie Kate.

Disclosure: Having used Artpacs for a dozen years, I love telling people about them. I receive no compensation for this review.

Art Murals for Kids

Art, Elementary, Middle School, Unit study resources 4 Responses »

May 232011

Last February my family spent several days creating murals to hang in their bedrooms. Coordinating several children to produce something beautiful to hang on the wall can be challenging. We used inexpensive downloads from Art Murals for Kids as our guide for several reasons:

They’re easy – even my 2 year old can color.
They’re printable – which meant if a piece got messed up and bothered the children they could just print again and redo it.
They make beautiful final products.

My sons chose to use Oil Pastels to color their version of Van Gogh’s Starry Night. They decided to try following the original for their colors. This came from the Mini Impressionist Mural Set, which is only $5.00. In this set the murals are small – our Starry Night printout was 6 pages, measuring 23″x 19″. It was just right for a family to do together instead of a classroom. There is a larger version of Starry Night available for download that is 24 pages and measures 48″x 36″. I really like how the colors of the oil pastels are bold. The only drawback to oil pastels is they are a bit smudgy – mostly on children’s hands!

My daughters used crayons with this mural for their bedroom. They chose this one for the animals. Their file was also $5.00and included two sizes to use: a 36-page version measuring 45″x 45″ and a 9-page mini version measuring 22.5″ x 22.5″. I think the crayons looks all right, it just does not stand out as much as the oil pastels. We may try painting a mural sometime for a change.

There are quite a few other mural possibilities to choose from at Art Murals for Kids. She even offers coloring books of famous paintings that would be a fun addition to an artist study. Be sure to check out her companion site, Art Projects for Kids for tons of art project ideas to use with your children. I’ve found some real gems as I’ve explored the archives!

Tristan is a happily homeschooling LDS mother to 6 blessings age 9, 6, 5, 3, 2, and 5 months old. You can drop in and visit anytime over at her blog, Our Busy Homeschool. Read her other Curriculum Choice posts here.

{Disclaimer: I purchased these products on my own. This is not a sponsored post in any way. And yes, we hope to purchase more murals in the future!}

Drawing Basics by Thomas Kinkade

Art, Bible 3 Responses »

Apr 182011

I count it a benefit of homeschooling when one of the masters can step in and teach my children. Thomas Kinkade has led my children in Drawing Basics several times already. That is with the Alpha Omega DVD Lifepac. An Alpha Omega Lifepac is a full subject of study “built upon the principle of mastery learning.” Drawing Basics is an elective Lifepac.

Our two eldest children went through all the lessons with the accompanying workbooks. We just added drawing tablets, pencils and erasers. Drawing Basics is truly the basics. The study begins with line and shape and leads all the way to art history.

The five units each include three sections. Thomas Kinkade teaches the concept at the beginning of each section, encouraging students to sketch along in their drawing tablets.

Next the student is directed to pause the DVD and to “return to your workbook” for practice in the concept.

Also included:

18 weeks of study
extra enrichment activities
review questions
tests
teacher guide
5 unit workbooks
instructional DVD

Unit workbooks and instructional DVD can be purchased separately. Alpha Omega Publications offers the DVD for purchase by itself for $13.95 here.

Intended for:

Grades 3 to 5 but can be adapted for up to grade 8. (Guess what? My 5-year-old, 3^rd grader and two middle schoolers all enjoy it).

Plus:

Thomas Kinkade teaches from a Biblical worldview and includes a Bible lesson in each section.

This resource is great to use as an elective, a unit study and/or to compliment history studies. Plus when you’ve already enjoyed his lessons several times, the DVD is so nice to pull out on a sick day. There is always something new we didn’t notice before. And that day, not long ago, when I was on the couch, it was sure fun to tell my fellow homeschoolers, “Oh Thomas Kinkade taught school today!”

For more information on all Alpha Omega Lifepac Curriculum, visit their site.

View a video sample on the AOP website by creating an account here.

How about you? Wouldn’t you like the ‘Painter of Light’ to teach your children?

~Tricia faces a daily dose of chaos homeschooling five children. She contributes a blend of writing at parenting and homeschool sites as well as her own daily Hodgepodge.

365 Days of Celebration and Praise

Art, Bible, Encouragement, Hands On 3 Responses »

Jan 032011

It’s easy.

It’s done for you.

Those two criteria really appeal to me as a homeschool mother.

Julie Lavender has done all the work. Pull out her 365 Days of Celebration and Praise to start the day. It’s appropriate for all ages. A full year of family devotionals.

We all need an easy, stress-free way to add some fun to our homeschool day. We sometimes start with these Daily Devotions and Activities written by a homeschooler for homeschooling families. Or maybe we read it together at lunch time. Other times children pull it out on their own.

We celebrate birthdays, holidays. Why not every day? Included for each day:

Questions to discuss
Related activity – a craft, recipe or other simple, hands-on project
Curriculum Connection – suggested activity related to a school subject (e.g., for National Backyard Games Week – “What interjections did you use when you played your game outside? What is an interjection? Can you think of more interjections?”)
Verse to memorize
Prayer suggestion

Did you know March 1 is National Pig Day? Read Luke 15: 11-32 and discuss why you think the younger son took all he had and left… Who forgave the young man? Then make a pig bookmark if you like. All the instructions are included. Next, see how many baby animal names you know. Memorize Colossians 3:13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Pray, asking God to help you forgive. Thank God for his forgiveness of sins.

National Fragrance Week? Clergy Appreciation Day? National Dessert Month? Basketball Season? Holy Humor Month? Golden Rule Week? Epiphany? Drinking Straw Day?

So take a bit of advice from December 30, Make-Up-Your-Mind Day, check out Julie Lavender’s resource. It’s available for $16.99 here. Learn, discuss, memorize and pray together as a family this year.

May God bless you as you make each day a holiday! ~ Julie Lavender

~Tricia faces a daily dose of chaos homeschooling five children. She contributes a blend of writing at parenting and homeschool sites as well as her own daily Hodgepodge.

Dover Coloring Books

Art, History, Science, Unit study resources 4 Responses »

Nov 102010

We have many, many Dover coloring books, and they have changed the life of at least one of our children. Miss 12 spends hours carefully coloring fashions of the past. She has learned so much history simply from studying the pictures and reading the captions. In fact, when she looks at paintings she can date them accurately, just by what the people are wearing! She’s also learned a lot about color, realism, different media, and shading from the historical fashion coloring books.

Of course, not all Dover coloring books are about historical fashions. We have books about military planes, cowboys, dogs, birds of prey, weeds, butterflies, and more. Many of these books have small full-color examples of each coloring page, and all of them have informative captions for each picture. Other coloring book titles include castles, farm animals, and ABC’s . You can see them all here.

Note that these are not your typical scribble-in-when-you-are-four-years-old coloring books. The pictures are detailed and accurate and would be a pleasant challenge even for an adult. The paper is high quality, and we’ve even used markers on them, although pencil crayons and gel-pens work better.

For children who love to do something with their hands while mom reads aloud or while chatting with friends, there is no better Christmas gift or add-on to a school subject. Of course these books will not work for all children, but since they are relatively inexpensive it’s worth a try. If the kids don’t like them, you can always color them yourself. In fact, I’m regularly tempted to order some of the great artists books for myself, but right now my days are too full to add a project like that.

To try out actual coloring pages, you can sign up for free weekly samples at the Dover web site.

Caution: Occasionally the outfits in the fashion coloring books are indecent. Some of the other books, such as those about art, may need a similar warning, but I have not seen them.

Disclosure

This review is based on the many Dover coloring books we have bought over the years. I do not receive any compensation for it.

-Written by Annie Kate, a Christian homeschooling mom of five great children, who blogs at Tea Time With Annie Kate.

Doodle Books for Creativity

Art, Unschooling 2 Responses »

Oct 272010

Though I never did well in art in school, I like to encourage lots of different types of art activities with my children. I want them to feel like art has many different forms and it can be fun. Although we do artist studies, Artistic Pursuits, and lots of free art time, we also really enjoy doodle books.

What is a doodle book?

There are a variety of doodle book available. Each of my children have their own copy of Do You Doodle? by Nikalas Catlow, which they all enjoy reading through and figuring out exactly what they might draw. In a doodle book, there is typically the beginning of a picture and a caption to help the children know what to draw. For instance, there might be a page with a genie lamp at the bottom and the description at the top “Make the Genie Appear.” The child can then choose how to finish drawing the scene.

Do You Doodle? is a doodle book that has a variety of picture starters and is perfect for boys and girls alike. There are also doodle books that are specifically made for boys (such as a starter for an alien invasion) or for girls (such as a starter with drawing in shoes in a boutique-style shoe store). While I realize that may sound stereotypical, I know that my kids would actually really enjoy the gender specific ones (probably even more than the general ones, to be honest).

What we enjoy about Do You Doodle?

I like that this book not only encourages children (or adults!) to use their drawing skills, but even more so, it inspires their creativity and problem solving skills. It is fun to watch what they come up with. In fact, it often makes me wish that I could steal a book away from one of them and make my own creations.

Not only is Do You Doodle? a great art activity, but it can be picked up for under $10 (at Amazon, though the actual retail price is $12.95) and can make an excellent gift.

If you’re a creative type, however, I will have to warn you about one thing: You just might want to buy an extra copy for yourself so you can join in with your children while they are drawing.

Angie is a former domestic flunkie who records her attempts at domesticity, and everything else that happens in between all of those loads of laundry that keep piling up, at Many Little Blessings. She is also the founder of The Homeschool Classroom and Catholic Mothers Online.