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Creating A Masterpiece ~ review and giveaway!!

Written by Joy
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Creating A Masterpiece ~ review and giveaway!!

 

**UPDATE: Congrats to Rebecca Tice winning the Level 1 Art DVD!!

Sharon Hofer, a professional artist, noticed a need  when her art classes at Hidden Acres Art School‘s waiting list kept growing and growing.  She had parents asking her how they could help their children in art, while waiting for a space to open up in a class.  By this growing need, she started Creating a Masterpiece.  Creating A Masterpiece is a DVD art curriculum for kids of all ages.  She teaches them in realism and impressionistic styles.  What I love most though, is that Sharon first goal is to help others create art that glorifies God.  I don’t think you could ask for anything better than that.

Lessons in Pencil: Sunflower and Lessons in Pencil/Charcoal: Stork.

The first DVD that we received to review was the Level 1 Lessons in Pencil: Sunflower.  In this lesson, Sharon teaches about the basic lines that you will draw with, straight and curved.  She also shares how to draw with texture as well as the importance of shading.  The materials that you use are the basic drawing materials.  You will need a #2 pencil, a #6b pencil, drawing paper, a stiff bristled brush and and a tortillon (a roll of paper used to blend).  The art DVD is divided into 7 chapters with her going over the different steps until you get the final picture that you are looking for.

Sarah’s final Sunflower picture.

The next DVD that we reviewed was the Lessons in Pencil and Charcoal: Stork.  This is a Level 3 DVD. In this lesson, Sharon takes you through the steps of sketching and then shading the stork with charcoal.  She also teaches you the different values in the bird, as well as how to blend with a kneaded eraser. The materials needed for this project are: a stick of charcoal, a #2b pencil, a kneading eraser and paper.  Sharon has divided this lesson up into 4 chapters.  By the time this lesson is over, you will have a beautiful picture of a stork.

Sarah’s final Stork picture.

As you saw, we did a Level 1 and a Level 3  lesson.  Creating a Masterpiece has 5 different levels, teaching is these different mediums; pencil, charcoal, acrylic, ink, pastels, Copper tooling, sculpture, silk painting and water colors. The lessons, are well laid out and she explains everything in detail to where you can understand and follow along without any trouble.  The materials that are needed you can find at your local art store.

Our overall experience with Creating a Masterpiece was very nice.  We enjoyed the lessons a lot.  Sharon has a wonderful way of explaining in detail, that the kids can understand and enjoy.  You can tell that she truly has a love of art and enjoys teaching it to others.

Creating a Masterpiece  has just added a coupon that you can get the same discount for a year’s curriculum (6 DVD’s) but allows you to choose which 6 DVD’s that you want.  All you have to do is enter the discount code “setof6”.

Creating a Masterpiece has also offered to give away to one of my readers a DVD.  I have chosen the Level 1 DVD “Sunflower“.  All you have to do is enter the correct information into the rafflecopter widget below!  I will choose a winner on April 5th.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

disclaimer: This was a compensated review. All opinions expressed are my own.

2013, homeschooling, review, , , , ,

We Choose Virtues ~ review

Written by Joy
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We Choose Virtues ~ review

We Choose Virtues is a program that you use to teach 12 virtues to your children and to build character in your children.  I think for most any parent, instilling good character into your children is high on the list when you are raising our children.  We Choose Virtues can also be used as a reminder for parents as well.  Children pick up a lot by just watching their parents and how they act or treat others.

We Choose Virtues comes with all the material that you need to start teaching your children about the virtues and good character.  The first thing that you do is use the Family Character Assessment.  You sit down with each child and if you want, even yourself and your spouse.  You go over the assessment to see where you feel like you stand on each virtue.  From there, you can choose with which virtue you think needs to be covered first.

Our family decided to start with Obedience.  I think it is important for children to listen to their parents.  The first thing we did was read the card.  We talked about the scripture and even other scripture in the bible that talks about not only obeying your parents, but obeying God.  I printed out the coloring books for my kids and they each colored the Obedient page.

Obedient, our first Virtue we are learning.

Everyday, for a week, we would go over the Obedient card and read the scripture.  Several times throughout the days, I would ask if they were being obedient and ask them to give me the ways that they were.  If at any time, when I had asked them to do something and they wanted to fuss or not listen, I would remind them of the word Obedient and they knew what I was talking about.

This was also a great reminder for me.  I thought to myself, how often do I not listen or obey God?  There were several times, that I often has to repent.  Yes, I even told the kids that even moms and dads don’t obey and we have to suffer the consequences of not obeying as well.  I think it helped them to know that even mom and dad do have trouble  obeying at times as well.

Coloring our Obedient pages.

Overall, We Choose Virtues is an excellent program, not only for children, but for parents as well.  We Choose Virtues comes in several different kits, for whether you are homeschooling, in a school setting or church setting.  They have posters, charts, coloring books and other materials that you can even make your own kit from.  They also have different versions of the bible that you can choose from as well.  The colors are very vibrant and colorful giving it a fun kid look.

If you are interested, We Choose Virtues is offering 20% off for the month of April on any kit that you order.  The code for the 20% is Home20.  Heather, the owner is also offering a 15% discount on any order.  Be sure to use the code Virtue15.

 

2013, homeschooling, review, ,

The Ecology Book ~ review

Written by Joy
The Ecology Book ~ review

The Ecology Book is the newest book in the Wonders Creation series and is written by Tom Hennigan and Jean Lightner.

 What is ecology?  Ecology is the study of intricate relationships between living communities and their nonliving enviroments and I love how the authors have explained it in this amazing book.  The books has 3 different types of levels that you can teach from.  Level 1 is for 5th and 6th graders.  It is the basic level that covers the Who, What, When, Where and How questions and the Building Memories part.  The Level 2 part is for the 7th and 8th graders and delves a little deeper into the ecological issues and also has Words to Know and ways you can apply what yu have learned.  The last level is the high school level.  It covers concepts and theories on all subject matters that is inlcuded in the book.  It also covers interesting information in the Dig Deeper sections.

Sarah reading from the Ecology book.

I have three children that are 7, 8 and 15.  While the book suggests that it is for 5th grade and up, my younger children and I still sat down and read some of the sections in the book.  They also loved the colorful pictures that are included in the book.  It made the book so much more interesting to them, getting to see all of the beautiful pictures.  While they didn’t understand everything, they did pick up a lot of the information that we read.  As you can tell from the picture above, my oldest daughter really enjoyed the book.  She loved the Building Memories section, that gave us ideas of things that we could do together as a family.  Sarah also enjoyed the sections they had that told us about the different Ecologists.

2013, homeschooling, review, , , , ,

FamilyMint ~ review

Written by Joy
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FamilyMint ~ review

When I first saw that we had a chance to review FamilyMint, I must say, I got a little excited.  In today’s society, it is a “want it now” environment.  Everywhere you turn, commericals, ads and billboards  are enticing you to go and buy.  As much as I am trying to teach my kids that money doesn’t grow on trees, they think all you have to do is whip out your debit card.  When you explain to them that you have to have money in the bank to be able to use the debit card, they will say, well just charge it.  What they don’t understand is that if you do charge it, you will have to pay it back, with interest.  FamilyMint is an excellent program to help you teach your children how to manage your money.

The Money Management Certification program was developed by two dads, out of their own need of wanting to teach their children better momeny management.  Not just to open their piggy banks to spend money, but to teach them how to invest and give money as well.  FamilyMint gives you all the tools you need to help teach your children how to manage and control the money on their own.  It is a two month program that you really only need to spend a few minutes a day on.  You have a workbook that you can work through, as well as online software that can be used.   The book that you will get has a lot of great forms that you can use with your children; general savings, goals, net worth, checks and deposit slips.  However, all of this info is on their online program and you can keep track of it all electronically.  By the time you finish this program, your kids will be able to keep track of their money, make a budget and create goals.

Sarah making a deposit in her book.

The program is written for kids in grades 5th-8th, however I think kids as young as 6 or 7 can understand the concepts that are being taught, with maybe the exception of interest.  I had originally gotten it for my 15 year old daughter who is in 9th grade.  I figured it would be a great refresher course and I was right!  We have worked through the book and set up her an account online.  While we haven’t used the online account as much (I wanted her to work things out on paper), she is able to make a deposit, see it in her account and then see when money comes out.  I love how she is also able to make goals and a savings plan.  My oldest daughter and I have enjoyed this so much, that my younger two children have asked for me to set them up an account.  This has turned out to be a great program for all of my children.

 

 

 

 

2013, homeschooling, review, , , , , , , ,

Wednesday’s Around the World ~ on hold for a couple of weeks

Written by Joy
4 Comments
Wednesday’s Around the World ~ on hold for a couple of weeks

Hi everyone! As you noticed, I didn’t get up a post for Wednesday’s Around the World last week and I won’t be getting one up this week or next either.  For the last couple of weeks, I have had some major dental issues.  Last week, they began a root canal on one tooth and then 3 days later noticed I had an infection in another tooth.  I went on an antibiotic and then went back to the dentist on Monday for them to begin a root canal on the tooth that had an infection.  That tooth ended up having more than the root canal done on it and I have been in a lot of pain since.  They even changed me to a stronger antibiotic because they think I still might have an infection in it.

We have been doing school, just on a more relaxed basis.  We have still been reading our lessons, I just haven’t been able to do any projects or activities with the kids.  The kids have been great about helping me out.

I am also behind in writing and doing reviews for books and curriculum, so I will be trying to catch up on those as well.

With saying all of that, I am putting Wednesday’s Around the World on hold until April 3rd.  I plan on having a giveaway on that day as well.  So be sure to be working on your history and geography lessons, so you can link-up and enter the giveaway!

Have a blessed week!

 

2013, homeschooling, Wednesdays Around The World, , ,