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Monday, 5 November 2018

Create Your Own Starry Night Masterpiece {A Review}

By adminNovember 05, 2018Art, Art Appreciation, Crew ReviewNo comments

Would your child enjoy creating artwork inspired by a maser artist using simple tools and techniques?

Some links which follow are affiliate links.

Kidzaw.com makes creating such masterpieces easy with its Master Kitz The Starry Night.

My Daughter - the Test Artist

We ordered our Master Kitz The Starry Night for review with thanks to Kidzaw.com, and my daughter enjoyed testing it out.

After reading the packaging and playing with the fun magnet closure on the box, we laid all of the enclosed materials out, having to hold down the paper and stencil that wanted to keep rolling up.

Then, after putting brown paper on the table and taping the provided art paper down, my daughter got right to work, following the easy included instructions.

She placed removable adhesive star masks down on the top of her paper and, then, began rolling on blue acrylic paint with a special textured roller.

She, then, went, to layer on the white according to the instructions, but was not happy with how the paints blended to make a lighter blue, leaving no distinct white. So, she paused to let the blue paint dry a bit while I washed the roller. Then, she continued the project, painting on the white, before taking off the star masking stickers.

At that point, my daughter took another break before taping the flattened but rolling stencil onto her artwork and painting on the black paint using a foam roller.

During another extended pause to let things dry, we read the enclosed background information on Van Gogh with her little brother, chatting about what we read, looking at the images, and connecting to our past art studies.

Then, my daughter got to work with the included oil pastels.

She was not thrilled by the lack of colors among the pastels, but I asked her to work just with the ones that came with the kit.

After that, she asked if she could add a bit more color using our own oil pastels, and, of course, I said, "yes". For my daughter, as the artist, had every right to want to create her artwork to her liking, I felt, as long as she, first, honored the review by using only included materials - which she had.

So, my daughter added a bit more color and called the project done.

Her little brother then asked if could use the other art paper that came with the kit to make his own artwork another day. of course, my daughter and I said, he could. My daughter also said she wants to use the textured roller again herself. I have no doubt all my children will be using the roller and kit pieces again!

My Daughter's Thoughts

After my daughter completed her artwork, I asked her for her opinion of Master Kitz The Starry Night. She said:

This kit makes people feel like they can create great art simply.

The materials themselves are good and the packaging looks cool. I like how the box closes with a magnet, but when you take out the paper and the stencil, they are all rolled up and hard to work with. So, you have to tape everything down a lot and, then, your art's corners are white.

I also felt like I couldn't get the swirl in very well, so I probably will go over it with a paintbrush next time or explore with the roller tool more.

I would also like a teeny bit more colors with the pastels - like maybe red, so we would have all the primary colors - and I feel like the paper should be a light yellow like pictured on the box and in the directions.

Besides those little things, it was pretty good. I had fun trying it and will use the kit again.

There is another piece of paper and the rollers can be used over and over again. My favorite roller was the one that makes the squiggly lines in the sky. I want to use it to paint wrapping paper and skies.

I would recommend this kit to others. As it says on the package, 'ages 5-105'. That's true, but it may be a bit hard for a 105 year old depending on their shape.

I agree with my daughter: Master Kitz The Starry Night is simple to use and can be enjoyed by all ages! If you'd like an easy art project with reusable tools and a bi of art history included, too, Master Kitz could be for you!

Learn More

Find all the reviews!

Fifty Homeschool Review Crew families created personal masterpieces using Master Kitz The Starry Night. See all the reviews!

You can find Kidzaw.com on socal media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kidzaw-160167827376266/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kidzaw
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/kidzaw123?blend=1&ob=5

Art History from a Christian Perspective {A Review}

By adminJune 28, 2018Art Appreciation, Crew Review, Curriculum, History, ReviewsNo comments

{This post contains affiliate links to a vendor we have been enjoying:The Master and His Apprentices.}

Are you looking for a faith-connected homeschool art history curriculum?

The Master and His Apprentices: Art History from a Christian Perspective created by The Master and His Apprentices might be just what you are looking for.

The Master and His Apprentices: Art History from a Christian Perspective would work well for:

adults who want to read about art appreciation with a Biblical worldview.
parents who to better understand art history in order to teach their children about it, or who are looking for specifically Christian material to supplement other art, history, and faith studies.
high school students that desire a full credit art history course that can be used independently, with a co-op, or with a private school.
artists who desire to better understand what makes art great.

The Master and His Apprentices: Art History from a Christian Perspective is particularly wonderful for Christian families because it eliminates some of the problems of secular art history curricula which present materials from a humanistic perspective, failing to view God as the original, ultimate Creator, make no connections between art, artists, and Biblical timelines, and do not present Jesus' life, death, and resurrection as truth, but rather as a myth. In other words, The Master and His Apprentices: Art History from a Christian Perspective focuses on what is true and beautiful, leaving out what is questionable!

What Is Included in This Homeschool Art History Curriculum

The Master and His Apprentices: Art History from a Christian Perspective is a 380-page textbook course with a teacher guide that was written by a former homeschool student, Gena Ferguson, who has been teaching art, English, history and the Bible for over 12 years. Gena used her experience to create a comprehensive Art History course aimed at Christian highschoolers that provides a full credit of Art History when used with the materials from the teacher guide.

Of course, Gena also made the book friendly for whole families that want to browse beautiful art or learn more about how art fits in with faith and history, ince she specifically designed The Master and His Apprentices: Art History from a Christian Perspective as a resource:

that contains no nudity nor material that may be objectionable to most Christian families.
helps readers create a "visual" timeline of Biblical and world events.
includes beautiful images.
has helpful materials to help families talk about art and know where to find specific art pieces.

The curriculum covers art all the way from Mesopotamia to today and contains over 600 photos, detailed timelines, and a plethora of information about major time periods, artists, styles, mediums, and techniques.

Sculpture, painting, architecture, and more are included.

The text helps students "see" history by connecting art, history, and the Bible while it dives into such periods as:

Ancient Cultures: Ancient Near East, Egyptian and Aegean

Classical Antiquity: Early Greek, Etruscan and Roman

Middle Ages: Medieval & Islamic, Early Christian & Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic

Renaissance: Proto-Renaissance, Early and High Italian Renaissance and Northern Renaissance

Baroque and Beyond: Baroque, Rococo to Today (modern art) and Global Highlights (non-Western art)

The book covers all periods of art.

Each chapter of the text typically begins with an introduction that gives important background information about a period. Then, you are introduces to art and artists from the period through text, inviting images, helpful timelines, etc.

Throughout the book you will learn about a variety of mediums from painting, to sculpture, to architecture, and, of course, will be able to make connections between these works, the periods of history they were created in, and the influence of faith on it all.

In the teacher guide you will find:

weekly worksheets for self study

discussion questions for classroom settings

4 exams

instructions for 4 papers

a grading chart

answer keys

a syllabus

I browsed these and used some mentally for my own learning and look forward to using them "as intended" with my children when they are a bit older and ready to take the credit course.

I can definitely see how the text provides plenty of "meat" and engagement and the materials in the teacher guide provide the tools for "chewing" on the meat, learning independently with minimal planning or guidance from a parent-teacher or, if preferred, learning through dynamic parent-child or classroom discussions. That makes The Master and His Apprentices: Art History from a Christian Perspective flexible to different homeschool styles: independent learners can use the materials as written, families and co-ops can mix and match written and oral work alongside reading and viewing the text, and those that prefer to dip into curriculum as a resource rather than a start-to-finish thing can easily do.

How We've Been Using This Homeschool Art History Resource

When I was offered the chance to review this Christian art history program I was excited. As anyone who has been following our family's homeschool journey for any length of time knows, we are history lovers who also like art and enjoy integrating faith into our studies and fun. Thus, I thought The Master and His Apprentices: Art History from a Christian Perspective might be an ideal resource for my children and I to read together as well as a lovely book to browse and use in connection to our eclectic studies.

Unfortunately, I was wrong about the The Master and His Apprentices: Art History from a Christian Perspective working for us a read aloud. For, when I sat down to read a digital copy of the book with my children (who are between seven and twelve years of age), it just did not hold their attention. They found it too difficult to all enjoy the pictures together on our small laptop screen and felt that the text, although well-written, was just not quite right for snuggly reading time. Thus, we decided to read our digital copy of the text individually when they get a bit older and, instead of reading it together now as a consecutive read together study, to have me use it as a resource for prepping our current lessons and clubs and for learning myself.

This portion of the book was helpful when I was preparing recent club activities.

This decided, The Master and His Apprentices: Art History from a Christian Perspective has worked well for us as a ready resource for preparing the art portion of future Art, Music, and Poetry club lessons as well as for me to learn more about art history. The kids have also enjoyed clicking through its pages on our computer to see the beautiful artwork they include.

Oh, and can I just say, I appreciate so much the way The Master and His Apprentices: Art History from a Christian Perspective presents timelines that make placing art in history - including Biblical history - easy!

Further, I love the fact that it includes:

a list of the Pieces by Location (which tells where each piece pictured in the book can be viewed around the world)

explanations of terms to describe art (which are so helpful for this art appreciating mama that leads Art, Poetry, and Music club but lacks a formal background in art myself)

and, a full listing of Consulted Resources that tells where each photograph, drawing, and map in the book came from.

Such lists make the book even more user-friendly!

Timelines throughout the book help us place art, history, and the Bible together.

So, obviously, we are happy to have received The Master and His Apprentices: Art History from a Christian Perspective and have been finding it interesting and helpful.

We all agree that, as a family resource, The Master and His Apprentices: Art History from a Christian Perspective would be better to own in a printed and bound version that would allow us to cuddle up together and pour over. However, we also have noted how well the digital version we have works as a resource for self-study, research, and review, especially since we can quickly search terms, artist names, artist periods, etc. and ge right to the sections of the book which include them!

Learn More

If you'd like to learn more about The Master and His Apprentices: Art History from a Christian Perspective, click on over to see what seventy Homeschool Review Crew families thought of the curriculum.

You can also find The Master and His Apprentices on social media on Facebook and Pinterest.

The Master and His Apprentices: Art History from a Christian Perspective textbook is available in hardcover for $149.99, digitally for $34.99. A softcover teacher guide is available for $24.99 or digitally for $19.99 with photocopy or print right available at a $2 per additional student rate.

We'd love to hear how The Master and His Apprentices works for you and yours if you choose to use it!

Create (and Study!) Art Based with Inspiration from the Italian Renaissance! {A Review}

By adminJune 13, 2018Art, Art Appreciation, Crew Review, ReviewsNo comments

Our family had never heard of ARTistic Pursuits Inc. until we were offered a chance to review one of their fantastic homeschool art curriculum books a few years ago, whereupon we became big fans of how author Brenda Ellis presents art for children and have since recommended ARTistic Pursuits Inc. to many folks in person and online. Thus, we were delighted with an opportunity to review one of the books in ARTistic Pursuits Inc. new series: ARTistic Pursuits Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray: Volume 4: Artists that Shaped the Italian Renaissance.

What is Artists that Shaped the Italian Renaissance?

Artists that Shaped the Italian Renaissance is Volume 4 of a grades K-3 art curriculum that comes as a beautiful 64-page, hardcover book with two pockets in the inside front cover to house a DVD and a Blu-Ray disc with video lessons on them.

The book contains 18 projects that feature master works in 12 text lessons and 6 video lessons. It also includes:

a list of all materials you will need for included projects (all of which many homschoolers already have at home or can easily get at an arts-n-crafts store)
some words about "Teaching Simply", which this book truly allows parents - even parents without an art background - to do
a brief introduction of the Italian Renaissance
clearly written objectives for each lesson
a bibliograpy and art credits for those who would like to dig deeper

Artists featured in the book are:

Cimabue

Giotti

Limbourg

Van Eyck

Ghirlandaio

Leonardo da Vinci

Botticelli

Michelangelo

Raphael

Sofonisba

Bachiacca

Parmigianino

Art skills practiced include:

handling a watercolor brush and paint

using elements of gold in paintings

featuring physical gestures in art

communicating through symbols

using wash and lift techniques

using of foreground and background

making resists with oil pastels and watercolor washes

creating an a fresco painting

using the rubbing technique to explore textures

creating collagraphs

making scratch art

creating portraits and landscapes

engraving

Throughout Artists that Shaped the Italian Renaissance, teacher Brenda Ellis guides children (and parents!) in both text and video lessons to handle art media, study art masters and their artworks, and get creative making original artworks.

In the video lessons, Ariel Holcomb, an engaging video host, helps draw students into projects, while Brenda Ellis' hands are shown demonstrating how to create art.

Together, the text and video serve as a complete art curriculum which includes:

art history
picture study
colorful illutations
artworks by great Italian Masters
visual instruction for projects - either on the DVD/Blue-Ray discs or with text and images in the book
and, best of all, ease and engagement!

Seriously, I am not art-gifted and this curriculum makes teaching and learning art alongside my children so easy!

How We Used Artists that Shaped the Italian Renaissance

Because the format of Artists that Shaped the Italian Renaissance is so inviting, before I even presented any of the lessons in it to my children, I found them paging through the beautiful hardcover book, browsing illustrations and artwork in it, doing informal picture studies, and even "reading ahead". This became one of the ways we continued to use the book - as pleasure reading and informal study - a perfect dovetail to prior history lessons and invitation to focus on beauty!

The second way we used the curriculum, of course, as as intended: by gathering together to read, watch the DVD, complete readings and picture studies, and create art.

As we have an existing Art-Music-Poetry club, we also invited friends to join us in doing some of the introductory projects since my children asked if they could tart the book with friends, and these projects became our favorites - because, of course, everything is better with friends (in my children's minds, at least.)

Our friends told me they enjoyed the lessons they did with us, too, and, after talking about them with another local homeschool mom, I saw her Facebook post online about her curriculum for next year and guess what is included? ARTistic Pursuits! People that I know who have used or just seen the ARTistic Pursuits curriculum agree it is of high quality!

What My Children Thought

My daughter, at almost 11, is above the intended age group for Artists that Shaped the Italian Renaissance, still quite enjoys it. She said:

I like how big the picture study pictures are, because you can really get a feel for the art work in them. I also like how the author tells a story before asking questions. It helps me understand the pictures better.

I also liked the video lessons. They are not too long, but not too short. They give you tips.

I also like the projects. They are not too similar, but not too different. Each one helps me focus on specific skill.
I would recommend this book for family classes.

I agree with everything my daughter said and would like to highlight how wonderful the picture studies in this book are. Prior curricula we've reviewed for ARTistic Pursuits Inc. had wonderful picture study, too, but, the format of these books makes picture study even better - the large reproductions are so inviting!

My youngest son, at almost 8 and "ideal age" for this K-3 curriculum, is not as much of an art lover as his sister and I am, but still likes Artists that Shaped the Italian Renaissance. He said:

We have been using Artists that Shaped the Italian Renaissance. We have not done the fresco yet, but I like the picture of the plane on page 38 and want to do it.

I also like the picture study on page 47. It is of St. George killing the dragon.

So far, I liked the "gold leaf" project the best. I liked using the metallic colors in my artwork. It was easy to do.

I remember that the artist tilted head in the picture study to make the figures look more lifelike.

I would recommend this book to young artists!

I just love how Artists that Shaped the Italian Renaissance has invited him in with engaging picture studies and illustrations and has him looking forward to more projects!

My oldest, at 12, is obviously "old" for Artists that Shaped the Italian Renaissance, but still happily joined us in lessons. He said:

I liked this book and video lesson set, especially when we used it with our friends at our Art, Music, and Poetry club. The book includes art projects, stories about Renaissance artists, and examples of fine art and children's projects. The DVD contains video art lessons, but not of every project.

My favorite project so far was the "gold leaf" one. I liked how the artwork came out - especially my sister's!
During the first lesson, I practiced taking off color when painting with water colors. That was interesting.

I also like the picture studies on pages 31, 32, and 34. They look realistic.

I would recommend this book to people who want to learn about the Italian Renaissance artwork.

Obviously, all three of my children and I like Artists that Shaped the Italian Renaissance quite well. So far, in using the book and video lessons I have had no complaints save one: The way the plastic disc pockets on the inside cover are designed, we often find when we are carrying the book from one place to another, the top disc falls out. Worried that the falling disc would be ruined, we finally just made sure the top disc is the Blu-ray one since we have no way to play that, keeping our DVD disc safe and sound for use!

Overall, we are quite pleased with Artists that Shaped the Italian Renaissance and have and will continue to recommend it to others as a stand-alone art curriculum or as an excellent, hands-on supplement to history studies!

We would also love to see the rest of this 8 volume ARTistic Pursuits Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray which includes four volumes that were reviewed by 60 Homeschool Crew Review families:

Find all the reviews!

Learn More

You can learn more about:
Art for Children, Building a Visual Vocabulary
Art of the Ancients
Art of the Middle Ages
Artists that Shaped the Italian Renaissance

in the Crew’s reviews and follow ARTistic Pursuits Inc. on Facebook.

You might also enjoy our prior reviews:

An Open-and-Go Art Curriculum We're Thoroughly Enjoying {A Review}

One Resource that Will Help You Enjoy Art Anywhere {A Review}

Sculpture Made Easy

Art, History, and More A La Carte from Home School in the Woods {A Review}

By adminMarch 20, 2018Art Appreciation, Crew Review, History, Reviews, WritingNo comments

Don't you love when a good thing gets even better? I do, and, that is why I am excited about Á La Carte products from Home School in the Woods.

Home School in the Woods Á La Carte products

My family has enjoyed reviewing Home School in the Woods product before, but, honestly, sometimes we just don't have the time to dig into deep unit studies, so would like to nibble on quality without a large commitment. That is just what Á La Carte projects offer - the same wonderful design as all-in Home School in the Woods products but in small,fit-into-life sized bites.

Games, newspapers, timelines, and more - depending on which Á La Carte projects you pick, you can discover fun, learning, or review for an hour, an afternoon, a week, or even longer.

We selected two products for review: The Art Gallery File Folder Game and the A Young Country Newspaper Collection. Both came as e-files that were easy to download, print, and use.

Art Gallery came with different options for printing color or black and white art cards (depending on your printer/ink situation) and clear directions about how to print and assemble the game.

Directions for play were easy, too. Basically, four players move about the Art Gallery board as they answer questions about who painted artworks, what the artworks names are, and what mediums the artworks were done in.

Since my children are not familiar with all of the art within the game, we adapted the directions to be: If you can name the artist, artwork name, or medium, you can automatically move a space. If you cannot, but can use enough "art speak" to describe what you see in the artwork that other players give you a thumbs up, you can move on a space. Playing this way allowed my children to review what they have previously learned about art appreciation -things like describing composition, noticing warm and cool color palettes, commenting on tone, describing how many central figures there are, naming if something is a portrait, landscape, or still life, etc.

We had quite a few laughs as we put on "art tour" voices and described the paintings. We also began to better notice similarities and differences in styles, picking out "another one by (fill in the blank artist)!"

We enjoyed the game enough that we opted to play it with friends at our Art, Music, and Poetry club, too, introducing them to Home School in the Woods wonderful products. Our friends enjoyed the game, too!

When I asked my children for their quick feedback about Art Gallery, they said:

"I liked the selection of artwork. There were many different styles. I had fun playing with my friends."

"I liked the artwork because they have so many different types of artwork and a good variety of artists. I like guessing who the paintings were by. The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci was so easy! A lot of the others, I didn't know who the artist was, but I liked them."

"I like how the board looks, and I like how there was not hundreds of teeny tiny pieces. Instead of just having the artist's name, the board had illustrations.

I like artwork that was picked for the cards. It was many, many different styles. It made it fun to not know what was coming up next.

We played it differently than you are meant to. We decided to use big "art language" to talk about the artworks, because we did not know a lot about some of the art.

Leonardo DaVinci, Michelangelo, and Beatrix Potter were easy to figure out, because we have studied their styles before. The others were not all familiar, but we began to notice more about their styles.

It is a fun game!"

For us, the game is a keeper we will enjoy again. If you're looking for a fun way to introduce picture study or review prior art appreciation learning, I'd recommend it!

The game is meant for grades 3 and up, but my second grader played along just fine and we even had a two year old buddy teaming up with a preteen to play and enjoy!

The A Young Country Newspaper Collection was also a hit here.

Meant for children in grades three to twelve, the collection includes 10+ pages of templates for creating a newspaper called the Daily Bugle and another called the Westward Weekly, thereby reviewing early U.S. history studies while practicing creative writing skills at the same time.

Headlines for articles and advertisements encourage writers to report on specific topics, yet allow them freedom to decide which facts and ideas they wish to include. Blank templates allow complete freedom of choice.

I found my children truly enjoyed using their own ideas and words to create their newspapers - and I enjoyed how doing so acted as a catalyst for them to do some independent or team research, work on beautiful handwriting, and seek how to spell words correctly. I also loved that it was print and go - no research, prep work, nor fussing about trying to design something for Mom.

My children said:

"I really like how you can write what you like and don't have to write something specific. The headlines and pictures give ideas, and, then, you can write about anything in the topic. The newspaper style makes it fun to write all my facts about history."

"I like writing the newspaper! I find it really fun to do. I like how you kind of have free range about it, but you don't completely. They give you a topic and you write what you know. It also encouraged me to figure out what some of the stuff was that I didn't know about. I want to do more newspapers! I like their style!"

"I chose to write about my own thing and used beautiful handwriting. I researched the Pony Express."

The newspapers proved a great way to engage my children in learning and narrating history while exercising creativity and writing skills. Not only that, but they encouraged my developing reader to happily practice reading, too! I love that and would therefore recommend A Young Country Newspaper Collection to others studying early American history that have creative kids who enjoy telling stories.

Learn More

Home School in the Woods offers many Á La Carte products to choose from, ranging n price from jut under $2 to about $13. Click through the images below to learn more about specific projects.