The Curriculum Choice

Drawing Basics by Thomas Kinkade

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 4 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.

Living Books for Art

Art, Charlotte Mason, Living books 2 Responses »

Jul 212010

As a Charlotte Mason educator, some of our homeschool time is spent learning about artists and completing picture study. And, continuing in Charlotte Mason style, I try to only use living literature in our homeschool. Luckily, I’ve found several wonderful children’s books about artists including the Getting To Know the Great Artist Series and Smart About Art Series.

But my most favorite living art books are the Anholt Art Books for Children. Beautiful illustrations and lovely story lines tie the artist and his art into a fictional stories that are lighthearted, but captivating. I’m a huge fan of clever stories, and these are very clever!

The main character in the stories, other than the artist himself, is always based on a real person whom the artist knew. Even though the storyline is fictional, at the end of each book, you will find a non-fiction biography about the artist and how the main character of the book relates to him.

If you’re looking for a mostly factual selection, then one of the series mentioned in the first paragraph might interest you more. However, don’t push these aside before giving them a chance. At least see if your library has any of the titles – you and your children are sure to enjoy them!

There is no age range given on the publisher’s website, but I found them appropriate for children 5-12. I’m listing a few books below that I haven’t read, but I wanted to give you a complete list of the Anholt titles available. Note that not all of these are authored by Laurence Anholt, but all have a similar style.

Do you know of any living art literature that I haven’t mentioned? Please share!

-Written by Cindy, eclectically Charlotte Mason mom of 3. You can find her blogging at Our Journey Westward and find her nature studies at Shining Dawn Books.

Draw and Tell Bible and Saint Stories

Art, Elementary, Preschool 1 Response »

Jun 182010

I am not the world’s best artist. As a matter of fact, my idea of drawing people usually involves a whole lot of “stick” lines, and perhaps a set of triangles put together to make a bow, as well as some eyelashes, to indicate which of those stick figures is a girl.

Because of this deficit in the area of drawing, I was thrilled when I was in a religious book store one day and found these fabulous books – Bible Stories to Draw and Tell and Draw and Tell Saints.

For every story in the books, there is a step-by-step simple drawing for the reader to draw as they read. For instance, in a story about The Creation (from Genesis), it shows you that you read, “A long, long, long time ago there was nothing, nothing except GOD.” When you read this, it shows that you draw a single circle. The story progresses, and for each passage, it shows you what to draw next. At the end of each story, you are left with the drawing that you have worked on throughout and a question to ask the kids. For instance, with this story, you end up with a drawing of faces of a boy and a girl. And, at this point, the story has progressed to the point when God made people. So, the question to ask the kids is “What do you think God made?” (And the answer is people.)

Each book has a number of stories in them. The Bible Stories book includes 25 stories — starting with And It Was Good (A Creation Story) and ending with He is Risen, with all of your favorite Old and New Testament stories in between.

The Saints book includes 17 stories — Archangels, St. Blase, Blessed Damien of Molokai, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Joan of Arc, St. John the Baptist, St. Joseph, St. Juan Diego, St. Julie Billiart, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, St. Katharine Drexel, St. Mark, St. Nicholas, St. Patrick, St. Peter Claver, and St. Therese of Lisieux.

We really love these books, and have such a fun time drawing them up on our dry erase board. The kids enjoy hearing the stories in a unique way, and I enjoy feeling like I’m not a drawing flunkie. Another bonus of these books is that the drawings are simple enough that older siblings can do religion instruction with younger siblings through these stories as well.

Do you have any untraditional ways to teach religion to your kids?

-When Angie isn’t drawing eye lashes on stick figures, she can be found writing about faith, family, and household management at Many Little Blessings.

Artistic Pursuits

Art, Charlotte Mason, Elementary, Hands On 3 Responses »

Jun 162010

I am proud to introduce you to Artistic Pursuits. I will admit that teaching art was not my strong point. Mostly art classes in my home consisted of activities I looked up online or using my own imagination. While I came up with some creative and fun ideas, I was not teaching art but allowing my children to use different mediums to express themselves visually. I needed a curriculum that was solid, informative, taught concepts about art and was fun. I began to think what I was seeking did not exist until Artistic Pursuits. In fact, I would have to add that Artistic Pursuits is among my favorite curriculum I have discovered this year. I had the pleasure of reviewing Book 1 for Grades K-3.

What you will need:

The curriculum is simply one book containing 32 lessons with an associated art project. You will have to purchase your art supplies separately. The materials are easy to find and include common items like scissors, tissue paper, construction paper and drawing paper. You will also need to purchase an ebony pencil, oil pastels and watercolor pencils among a few other items. I found all my supplies at Micheals.

How much time will you spend:

This book is not a collection of art projects but art lessons with an associated art project to reinforce the lesson and allow for creative interaction. It is best to take about about fifteen minutes to read through the lesson and art project thoroughly before beginning with your child. You may also want to take a few extra minutes to prep the lesson to make your time run smoothly. The lesson can be as short as five minutes with a ten minute art project or you can extend the learning time for a full thirty minute class. This will depend on how much time you want to spend on the lesson.

How is the book divided?

The book contains 32 lessons with art projects. Within the book you will have three sections:

What Artists Do
What Artists See
Exploring Ancient Art

Most lessons will provide a picture of a work of art and a picture from the student gallery. The works of art shown on the lessons can be easily adapted into art study or narration for Charlotte Mason style teachers.

The Ancient Art section is wonderful! We had a great time exploring ancient art since we had just studied ancient history the year before. The lessons were through yet not overwhelming for the age range. I did allow my two older children to partake in the lessons and projects in this section since this was a wonderful reinforcement of ancient history.

Artistic Pursuits will take your child on an journey from color mixing to brush work, to pottery, to murals to bookbinding and more! Along the way your child will learn how artists imagine, how art is crafted and ancient art history. I highly recommend Artistic Pursuits for your child’s creative pursuits in education. You can find books from preschool through high school.

Get Your Hands on Learning!

Art, Charlotte Mason, Elementary, Geography, Hands On, History, Language Arts, Unit study resources, Unschooling, Writing 2 Responses »

May 272010

I have recently had the pleasure to read the first e-book by Kris, the widely read author of the blog Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. The book, in true WUSH fashion, features games, projects, learning centers, and presentations all with a focus on hands on learning.

Get Your Hands on Learning! has four main sections, as well as an appendix full of even more information. The sections include:

Projects: Papier-mache Model, Salt Dough Map, Cookie Dough Map, Ongoing Studies
Games: Bingo, Memory/Matching, Go Fish, Board Games
Learning Centers: Writing Center, Preschool Learning Centers, Mini-Offices
Presentations: Around the World Day, Night at the Museum Party, The Castle Presentation Board, Knights Shields and Swords
Appendix: Helpful Websites, Basic Papier-mache Paste Recipe, Basic Salt Dough Recipe, Fifty State Friday Resources, Blank Bingo Card, Reading Bingo Card, Learning Center Resources, Hands-on Activities to Enhance Any Study, Narration, Paper Bag Report

What I Liked:

Great Variety – There is a great variety of activities in this e-book, which can appeal to both the families that don’t mind mess, as well as the families that avoid it like the plague. It’s a nice reminder that hand-on doesn’t have to mean messy, but it can.
Step-by-Step Directions – Things like the word “papier-mache” give me hives. However, with Kris’ easy to understand, step-by-step instructions, it makes me a little less nervous. The layout, in general, makes it easy to read and follow.
Lots of Full Color Photographs – Because I am a visual learning, the combination of photographs with the step-by-step directions are exactly what I would need to execute these projects. It’s also always nice to see what a finished project should look like.
Length of Book – At 50 pages, this is a book that I felt comfortable sitting down and reading in one sitting. Not that I can’t read a book that will take me many sessions over several days (because of other commitments), but it’s nice when I can sit down and just finish a book.
Well Organized – I enjoyed that the activities are each in their own section, so that when I want to implement an idea, I don’t have to skim back through the whole book to find what I was looking for.
Reasonably Priced – At only $7.95 for an immediate download, this e-book is competitively priced compared to other e-books that I have purchased.

What I Would Change:

It’s Just What I Was Looking For – This e-book was exactly what I anticipated it would be, so I couldn’t really think of anything that I would have changed.

Get Your Hands on Learning! is available for immediate download for $7.95 at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Disclosures: I received this e-book for free in order to review it, although I had planned to buy it before receiving it for free. Although I have been a fan of Kris’ blog for several years, in interest of full disclosure — I am the founder/editor of The Homeschool Classroom where Kris is a writer.

Angie is a university trained elementary and special ed teacher turned eclectic homeschooler. She can be found working at Many Little Blessings, The Homeschool Classroom, and Catholic Mothers Online . It is also very likely that if you find her, she will be tired.

Usborne Art Treasury

Art, Charlotte Mason, Elementary, Hands On 2 Responses »

Jan 152010

After many years of homeschooling, seven to be exact, I finally made an effort to include art appreciation in our school day. I decided to use The Usborne Art Treasury as our “spine”. The book introduces artists of many genres – from African masks to Vincent van Gogh to Georgia O’Keefe. Each artist is covered on four pages. The first two pages introduce one piece of art and a short biography about the artist. The next two pages offer step-by-step instructions to create an art project based on the artists piece of art.

This is a wonderful way to introduce your children to various artists and their artwork. In creating the art projects, your child will have the opportunity to explore various art medium – from oil pastels to watercolor paints to chalk pastels. They will also learn about different techniques used in art – from creating collages in the style of Picasso, creating African masks, or making sculptures in the style of Giacometti.

Emma's art based on Van Gogh's Starry Night

What do my kids think?

My daughter (my budding artist) loves the book! She loves being able to explore the different genres of art and to try to recreate art by the “real” artists. My son (who has no desire to do “art) tolerates it. He doesn’t complain, and has created some really nice art work based on the art in this book.

My experience with this book has been fabulous. I highly recommend it. This is a gentle introduction to art and artists.

Issac's art based on Van Gogh's Starry Night

Written by Tara, homeschooling two with a little bit of everything. You can visit her at her blog, Mom Teaches 2.

Atelier Art

Art, Hands On 3 Responses »

Dec 302009

I have been homeschooling for almost 7 years now and for most of those years, I felt guilty about the lack of a structured art program within our homeschool. Now, we did lots of art projects and the children took art classes outside our home but I always wanted a structured art program that we could do at home on a regular basis. I wanted an art program that would be easy for a non-artist to teach (me) and I could use with all three of my children together (13, 11, and 8). I also wanted a program that would not require me to scour the edges of the art supply store every week to find the obscure materials needed for that week’s lesson. Finally, I wanted integration of art appreciation within the art program.

Last year at the Cincinnati Homeschool Convention, I found exactly what I was looking for with Atelier Art, The Video-Based Art Program. We have been using Level 5 in this program since August and absolutely love it!

After talking with the representative at the company extensively at the conference, I decided to purchase Level 5 for my children. There is a very helpful chart to help determine which level would be most appropriate for the age span of the children you are teaching on their website. Having used the program for several months, I would agree that Level 5 was a good choice. My youngest child (8) has only struggled with one of the projects which was a drawing project. So, while all three of my children are working to their individual abilities, they have been able to complete all of the projects at a level that was satisfactory to them.

I purchased the complete kit for Level 5 which includes the DVDs for all three Level 5 modules (A, B, and C), the Parents’ Manual (one time purchase), the lesson plans for all three Level 5 modules, and GA-M1 Art Print Guides and Art Prints. I did not purchase the art supplies kit as I already had the majority of the art supplies that were included in the kit.

One of the things I love about Atelier Art is that even though a wide variety of art media are used, most of the supplies are items that I already had purchased. The Parents’ Manual includes a full list of all of the art supplies required for each level and module. I always preview the DVD lesson the week before to make sure that we have everything we need – usually we do.

The Parents’ Manual contains a wealth of information including the art concepts taught in Atelier Art (line, color, shape/form, pattern, texture, space, and composition), artists studied, how to visit an art museum, a complete scope and sequence for all 8 levels, how to teach the program, how to use the art appreciation program, how to evaluate art projects, how to give an art show, lesson objectives for every lesson in every level, and a glossary of terms. The Parents’ Manual is a one-time purchase as it is used for every level.

The lesson plans for each module are quite detailed and correspond exactly with the DVD lesson. I especially like the DVD portion of the lessons. At the beginning, the teacher goes over exactly what art supplies will be needed for the lesson. After that, she teaches the lesson in a slow, clear manner. Then, various children of different ages are shown working on the art project. Finally, the teacher highlights a few of the completed art projects. We usually watch the entire video before starting our own art projects. The videos usually run about 15 minutes. I particularly appreciate seeing a wide variety of completed art projects of various abilities.

Each module has 6 lessons but some of the lessons are quite long and are completed over a two to three week period. So, the first module in Level 5 took us 8 weeks to complete. All of the children have been particularly pleased with the art projects they have completed thus far. To end this review, I will share examples of each of the projects my children completed from Level 5, Module A. The very first lesson hooked us all with a focus on Line. My boys enjoyed the lesson so much they completed several more projects on their own time!

We have completed lessons on Composition with Cat Contour Drawings…

Lessons on Color with Horizon Line and Expressionism…

Lessons on Composition with Still Life paintings…

Lessons on Color Value with a fabulous Wild Things Collage…If you would like to see detailed pictures of this art project, go here.

And Self-Expression with a My Happiest Memory painting…

The Atelier Art website contains a treasure trove of information with lots of examples of children’s art from all of the different levels. If you are interested in learning more about Atelier Art, I would encourage you to spend some time on their website. For us, the program has been a great fit – I just wish I had discovered Atelier Art 7 years ago!

Samantha has homeschooled her three children (13, 11, and since her oldest was in first grade. She is an eclectic homeschooler and loves to use unit studies, lapbooking, and hands-on-projects. She blogs about family life and homeschooling at http://tobebusyathome.blogspot.com.