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Showing posts with label learning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label learning. Show all posts

Monday, November 4, 2013

See The Light - Tiffany Window - A Mosaic Review

Have you wanting to incorporate Art into your homeschool?  Maybe you already do Art and you are looking for something new, easier to understand, better, or Biblical?  See The Light may be just what you need!  As part of the Mosaic Reviews team, I was asked to try and review See The Light - an Art class & project option that is just what our homeschool needed.  I chose to try Tiffany Window in the style of Louis Comfort Tiffany.  The project is on one DVD and is broken up into 4 lessons with  Pat Holt teaching the class.


I loved that we could play each lesson and pause it along the way as needed.  I would say each lesson took us about 30 minutes or so to watch.  After watching the lesson - we would do as instructed.  It took is a bit longer to do the artwork and that was OK with me!  We really did take our time.  With each lesson,  Pat Holt would tie in a Bible scripture and not only read aloud the passage, but also explain what it had to do with what we were learning (I say we, because I followed right along with my children and loved it).

So we started with Lesson 1 (of course):  Planning your composition,  Drawing & sketching our flowers

Ready with our supplies!
Beginning to sketch
First part of final sketch

We started with a rose and ended up drawing another bunch of flowers because, I'll admit, we had a very hard time with the rose.  I do NOT suggest learning to draw a rose as your first attempt at drawing. 

Previously, it has been very hard to get my youngest son interested in anything having to do with art, while my daughter loves ALL things art.  See The Light did a great job at bringing my son's interest level up and letting him see that he could do this.

We followed through with Lesson 2 which was learning all about the Rule of Thirds (new concept to us all).  Not many pictures from Lesson 2 because we felt like we did a good job with our sketches and didn't make many changes.

Lesson 3:  Color Theory with marker techniques on flower, stem and background shapes (the really fun part!)

Just beginning to color and learn color techniques

A work in progress

See how much our flowers changed?  But, that was OK!

My daughter working intently!


Lesson 3 took us the longest to complete.  We spent quite a bit of time getting our colors as we wanted them and making sure everything was done correctly.  My children added their own touches which was great to see.  We had fun with this lesson!

Lesson 4:  Completed Masterpiece - The stained glass window effect

All colored in

Finishing coloring

Beginning of Lesson 4

Adding our stained glass window style

Almost complete!

The dog wanted to help

Completed Masterpieces and their Artists!


What fun!  Not only did we create this art together - we learned so much in the process!  My mother was an artist and taught me a lot about art, but I still learned quite a bit from this See The Light Art Project.  My son learned that he CAN draw and enjoy it.  My daughter learned a number of things she didn't know and loved the completed project SO much that she posted it on her Instagram and sent it to all of her friends.  I would say this was a complete success.

If you are looking for an Art Class or Art Projects for you or your children - I certainly recommend See The Light. 

There are many purchasing options for the Art Projects -
You can also buy the Art Projects separately for $14.99 each -
  • Tiffany Window
  • Repeated Sweets
  • Paper Jungle
  • Pointillism Fruit
  • Poppy Collage
  • Dreams of Joseph
  • Horsing Around
  • Peaceful Seas
  • Sunflowers
  • Cartooning
Another option is to buy the Art Class (many different options) or Bible Stories.  Head on over to the pages to see all of your choices!

If you would like to contact the company you can do so on their  Contact page.  You can also email them at:  See the Light Information.

Would you like to read other Mosaic Reviews?


Friday, April 26, 2013

Spanish For You! Curriculum - Review

As a member of Mosaic Reviews I was asked to use & review the Spanish for You! curriculum by Debbie Annett.  I was really excited to try this out as I've been looking for a way to start teaching Spanish in our home school.  Spanish for You! is intended for grades 3 - 8.  The price is very affordable and the lessons are easily followed and very flexible!

We received the Estaciones (Seasons) pack to try. 

ALL Spanish for You! packages come complete with:
  • Soft cover book or e-book (currently only on trial packages.)
  • 24-30 week lesson guide for the grades you need (24 weeks for G5-6 & 7-8, 30 weeks for G3-4) (PDF download)
  • Audio files of entire book (includes bonus audio of native speaker of entire book) (MP3 download)
  • Flashcard/activity pictures (PDF download)  
We started out by preparing some flash cards. Both my children, actually, enjoyed helping with this & even learned some things along the way. It was kind of it's own little lesson. We used the flash cards all along the way through the program.


 Seasonal 
Phrases


 Months of the year


 Days of the week


My son is still working on his handwriting and didn't want me to show those last two pictures - but, I think he did a great job, especially since he didn't know much Spanish at all before this.  (Maybe there's a good program we can review out there to better practice his handwriting!)
I had to do a bit of preparing for each lesson - but, it worked out really well since this is a "move at your own pace" curriculum.  It's very forgiving should you need to lapse a day or two (or three, or four .....  ).  
I must also say that the author, Debbie Annett, is very helpful.  She knows the curriculum & keeps you up to date (mainly through emails) on anything informative or that you may need to know.  I LOVE that!

I liked that the worksheets focused on the lessons and that they weren't confusing.  I was able to just give the kiddos their worksheets & they were able to do everything they were supposed to do.  Of course, sometimes they needed some extra direction or just couldn't remember how to word something (or write something) - but, we could always go back to the audio files (oh - Thank GOODNESS for these audio files!  You don't want to hear me try to pronounce some of these words) & listen again.  It was very user friendly in my opinion.
Above is one of the first worksheets the kids did together.  My daughter is 13 and my son is 10 and they both were able to follow the lessons & answer the questions fairly well.  I love that we can use this with both children at the same time.

I'm not going to do my "normal" pros & cons for Spanish for You!  Why?  I really don't have any cons to list - really!  I do, however, have plenty of pros .... so, I'll list those:
  • The curriculum is highly affordable (read below for pricing)
  • There are worksheets & lesson guides for different grade levels (all can be used with the same book helping to add to the programs affordability).
  • Many opportunities to read & write the Spanish language.  I LOVE this!  It really enables my daughter (age 13) to work independently while I help my son (10 years old). 
  • The flashcards are a huge hit!  The focus on vocabulary, verbs, and grammar show that it's a well rounded curriculum - but, without being overwhelming.  You can work at your own pace and take time where you need to most.  This really gives you an advantage over other programs that don't give you the same flexibility.
  • Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied - but, we were very satisfied!
We have not finished our lessons, yet.  We still have some to go.  We had to slow down a bit near the end of the third lesson to use our new grammar.  I think we'll be moving ahead next week and we'll definitely finish the book!   You know what's even better?  I'm even learning some Spanish that I didn't know before we started this program.  How great is that?

The details:
  • Can be used for yourself, your family, in a home school setting, or even in a classroom!
  • Intended for grades 3 - 8.
  • Parent / teacher does not need to know Spanish, but some guidance from a parent or teacher is certainly necessary throughout the lessons.  Some lessons / activities may be okay for older students to work on independently. 
  • Make sure you use the lesson guide for the grade(s) you are working with.  The lesson guides are essential to getting the MOST out of this program.
The Author:
  • Debbie Annett  - Click on the link to learn more about the author!
The Cost:

  • Viajes (Travels) - 4 Week Trial for Grades 5-8 - $9.99
  • Viajes (Travels) - 6 Week Trial for Grades 3-4 - $12.99
  • Fiestas (Celebrations) - Grades 3-8 package - $64.95
                                  Grades 3-4 package - $39.95
                                  Grades 5-6 package - $39.95
                                  Grades 7-8 package - $39.95
                                  Extra Books - $12.95 / each
  • Estaciones (Seasons) - Grades 3-8 package - $64.95
                                 Grades 3-4 package - $39.95
                                 Grades 5-6 package - $39.95
                                 Grades 7-8 package - $39.95
                                 Extra Books - $12.95 / each


I hope, if you try Spanish for You!, that you find it as enjoyable as we did and - if you do - why not thank Debbie Annett, for creating this fabulous program!