We are currently receiving excellent fine art lessons via the monthly plan from Creating A Masterpiece. Our family has been access to this online program in return for our honest review.
What Is Creating A Masterpiece.
C.A.M is an online subscription based fine arts program, that is suitable for students of all ages. We were provided access to the Monthly Plan option. The video lessons are presented by the artist herself, in an easy to follow step by step manner.
All the lessons are broken into appropriate levels so that you can easily assess the difficulty of which level would best suit the child.
In all there are six levels, plus an art history section, to choose from. Within each level are several art projects all using a wide variety of mediums.
This is not an arts and crafts or simplistic art projects program. This is a fine arts program designed for school age students.
How We Have Used The Program.
When we were first given our family access to C.A.M we immediately set out to explore the site. There is a large number of projects for the children to choose from. After a good look around in each level, watching a few video snippets and downloading the printable supply sheets for a couple of the projects, we settled on choosing an introductory level lesson.
Lessons In Watercolour: Floral Medley
This particular lesson was broken into three step by step videos and it required drying time before moving on to the next step in the video lessons.
Sharon, the artist, walks the students through every step of the process. At first we tried to keep up with her, only pausing the video when we needed. We quickly realised for us it was better to watch the video all the way through and to then go back and begin the lesson ourselves, referring back to the video when required.
From there we moved on to a lesson using oil pastels.
Lesson In Oil Pastel: Winter Cabin
This was a longer lesson with four videos in all, which the kids chose to complete over a couple of days. Each lesson also includes a section with hints and tips to assist you in getting the best out of the video lessons.
My teen decided to tackle one of the lessons with something a little more challenging for him. He does enjoy his art and seems to me to have a natural flair and this program is a good fit for him to be able to work quietly and independently.
Lesson In Soft Pastel: Country Rooster
As I type he is sitting across from me on the other computer browsing the lessons for his next choice.
What We Didn't Like
There's actually not a lot we didn't like about this program. If I had to pick something it would be that my youngest does not thrive in this type of video based art instruction. This is the third program of a similar nature that we have tried and I have come to realise that for now at least this type of art instruction is not for him.
He finds it all quite overwhelming, the watching, the doing, the remembering it all and then add in the fact that his piece never looks like the piece in the video and he simply doesn't enjoy it. My eldest two though are fine working with a video based instruction program, so you just need to really know your kids.
What We Did Like
The variety of what was on offer and the depth at which the student can go if they wish. Some of those upper level pieces are really quite involved, so even some of the most accomplished artists will not be bored here.
The fact that this is true art. It is not craft. It is not cookie cutter art either, that you often see in other programs.
Now that we have settled in to the program I love simply adding 'art' to the list of topics to be completed this week and my eldest two can get themselves online and choose their own project and complete it entirely on their own.
I also really like the variety of mediums on offer in the various lessons:
We were given access to Creating A Masterpiece for six months, in return for our honest review. It has absolutely found a staple place in our week and it will continue to be used here in our homeschool.
Further Details
I always love a true, 'try before you buy' and you can do this with Creating a Masterpiece, with their free sample project.
To view the various ways to subscribe to the Creating A Masterpiece website visit their subscription page.
As part of our co-op group our primary aged kids have been learning all about the Pop Art era, which exploded in the 1950's
The group talked about how Pop Art was often referred to as loud in its design, they looked at and discussed work by Lichtenstein and noted how he used layers to create his pieces.
They then proceeded to create their own Lichtenstein inspired art pieces.
The famous artist Andy Warhol was up next for discussion and inspiration. The group spent time discussing his design principles and his elements of repetition and colour.
The kids chose their own images in repetition to recreate their own Warhol inspired piece.
Keith Haring was the next artist in the line up for their fun with Pop art. Some of Keith's work is not for the faint of heart, please be aware of that before you send your child off googling!
The kids were intrigued to find out that Keith began as a graffiti artist and that under all of that his main message through all of his pieces is one of love.
My daughter particularly enjoyed this style and went on to emulate several other pieces from Kieth Haring during the week after her art class.
Finally it was time for the artist, Jasper Johns and how he chose to hide numbers within his work. The kids proceeded to create their own piece using words.
Can you see what word they've used in this one? . . . . . It's 'Explode', kind of tricky to see all of the letter isn't it!
Another fabulous term of art. I love how during these lessons the group also covers art appreciation without them even knowing it.
Have you looked more closely at the Pop Art era with your children?
Want more art ideas? I have over 200 ideas saved on my art pinterest board. Check it out!
Our home school art group have a current focus on landscapes. This particular week they have worked on Triorama's. A trinagular diorama, aren't they just super cute.
B seems to have a thing for Sydney and in particular the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, he has used these icons in the past for art inspiration.
K, of course created the cutest the little fairy habitat, that I am sure any fairy would be willing to move into.
The kids have been working on various versions of Triorama's since they took this class. It is such a simple concept that they can complete independently from beginning to end. I guess that's why love it and the fact that it is such a flexible activity that will fit into any theme you choose.
I thought I'd show you how to make one. I bet your kids love them too. :-)
To begin you need a sheet of A3 Sketch Pad Paper, the heavier the better,
You need a square, so fold one corner over to the opposite edge, so you have a triangle on the top folded piece, as pictured above.
Cut off the excess rectangular piece that sits along the edge of the triangle.
Open it out and you have a square piece of paper, folded so it is showing two triangles.
You need to see four triangles so fold the large square corner to corner the other way,
So that when it opens you now can clearly see four triangles.
(please read right to the end before going any further with this)
Choose one of those folds (doesn't matter which one) and cut along it, stopping when you get to the centre.
When you have finished cutting, slide those triangles over each other, this will become the
base of the Triorama.
Those two triangles need to be glued together, to form the base. Use enough glue to hold them but not too much or the bottom will buckle. As you can see has happened in the Fairy Triorama above.
And that's it. Simple.
However be sure to stop prior to cutting and plan your Triorama's layout. You will need draw/colour/paint your background first. Once the background is complete you can then move ahead with the assembly of the triorama.
When creating the little 3D pieces, such as the Sydney Opera House or the Toadstool, leave a flap across the bottom of the piece when cutting it out. Fold that flap backwards and glue it to the triorama so that it 'pops' out.
Idea's for these are endless. Glue four back to back together to create a scence or a mobile. B thought he could continue with his Australiana theme. It could work well with seasons, one triorama for each, or anything you can come up with really.
We have a multicultural theme happening with our Art Classes currently, it's fabulous!
There are so many wonderful ideas and variations within the art experience, just by looking further afield.
So much to be learnt through a simple piece of art.
This week it was China and Chinese Dragons.
The artwork chosen to complete varies depending on the age group of the class so B and K's are very different, but both inspiring.
Upper primary: 8 - 12 years, hand drew theirs, outline with oil pastels and finished off with water colour.
Lower primary group created Chinese Dragon Egg Carton puppets. So simple but they look great and the kids can run around flying them through the air, like the dragons they have seen at during Chinese New Year celebrations.
Click on the image to enlarge and you should be able to figure it out if you wish to recreate. But basically it is half an egg carton, you place your hands in the cut open end for the puppet. The dragon's eyes are two egg holders cut from the carton and attached towards the back of the puppet.
His nose and flames/beard are hand drawn and cut from construction paper. In the example the flames were attached so they were flowing backwards but K wanted hers to head up.
The dragons' tale is simply a piece of tissue paper, cut to size and rounded at the end. With Oil Pastels draw scales and glue to the back of the carton. You place your hand under the tail and into the carton to use the puppet.
Once again, we are in for another great year of LHEN Art Classes.
Don't these just look absolutely fabulous. The kids completed these as part of our Home School Networks Art Class and the best part about them is that most children can successfully do this art activity.
These were completed over a period of two weeks. The first week they painted their background area, keeping in mind that they would be building a tree on top of the painting. K chose an afternoon sunset and B decided to do a night sky.
Once the paint was dry they used some pva on a brush (or their finger) and drew a tree shape (trunk and branches) with the pva. This would make the adhering of the toilet paper easier.
Then they dipped a few wads of toilet paper into watered down pva, kind of like paper mache but with toilet paper, and proceeded to build their trees on top of the now dry pva painted tree.
These were left for a week to ensure that the toilet paper was thoroughly dry. The following week they painted the trunk and branches, added tissue paper amd/or cellophane leaves and used oil pastels to finish off the background image.
Three classes in total completed these and to see them altogether was fantastic, it definitely inspired us to consider an art show for the kids, that's for sure.
This simeple, but very effective idea really lends itself to many varied options. Just imagine the textured creations you and your children could come up with!
Gee it really is amazing what having a near full nights sleep (on a regular ongoing basis) can do for you. C1 has been sleeping through (well apart from stirring at around 5am) since Christmas and this school year has been so much more productive. Not that we've actually turned out more work (although I do think we have somewhat) but just in the time we are spending together, the things we are doing together and my overall positive attitude, simply because I am not sleep deprived!
I think we still have a ways to go before we are where I would like us to be but I am happy and content with our flow at the moment. We are home 3 - 4 days of the week, which is allowing us plenty of time to be together to do things.
I am somewhat disappointed that we have only managed one Nature Walk/Outing so far this school year, which was the first week back. The second week I was sick and this week we had 2 play dates (more than I would prefer to schedule in a week but they were fun none the less), 1 of which was out of the house and the other was here at home.
Our circle time/morning gathering has been going well, with quite a bit of singing, reading and general discussion, plus we have started to play a short game (either board or card depending on what I choose) during that time also. There's no way I could go through everything we read during that 1 hour each morning but I have included below a group shot of some of what we read this week.
This absolutely fabulous find was yet another charity store $1 buy (or was it $1.50, oh well does it really matter!) C is absolutely in love with this book. We sit and look at it and discuss all of the wonderful images at least 5 times a day if not more. He truly can't enough of it. The pages are very busy but he is enjoying that and loves finding new things on the pages each time we sit with the book.
He had his first muffin tin lunch this week. Actually it was on Valentines day. I have been wanting to try adding these into our week for ages and just haven't gotten around to doing it. This was a spur of the moment decision so not very exciting, chips, ham, homemade trail mix, cucumber sticks, hommus and celery sticks. He did enjoy this and B and K were rather intrigued so I do need to get myself organised and start joining in with Muffin Tin Monday'.
C continues to be a great little helper around the house. Water spillages are a disaster for him on our very shiny floors, he slips over nearly every single time, so I have been reminding him to grab a towel and clean up his spills. Oh and lets not forget the little lipstick adventure he had this week! He enjoyed a few firsts this week. His first time using Dot Markers, truth be told he was much happier running his fingers over the sponge tip and covering them in ink but he had fun none the less.
Isn't it the experience that is more important than the end product anyway. This is something that I always try to remind myself of and one of the reasons why I keep things simple for him. I could have spent ages organising some kind of craft to use the dot markers with but he couldn't care less if we actually made something, he is just happy using the markers. We have plenty time to think about end products.
We actually had a pretty decent storm one afternoon this week and lost power because of it. So I blew up a few balloons to play with. C decided that balloon soccer was the order of the day.
He also had his first playdough experience this week. I really felt that this would be one of those times where the set up and clean away is longer than actual experience, however I was wrong and very pleasantly surprised.
He was extrememly focused on the playdough for well over half an hour. At first just pulling it into tiny little bits but he soon progressed to trying to push it into everything he could find in the playdough tub. This is little L2, C's cousin, he spent a nice couple of hours playing with everyone. He ejoyed the playdough, C's Sensory Tub (he loved that alot) and also our Fisher Price Little People Play Sets.
Whilst we played Hi Ho Cherry O, C got his own tub of cherries to play with. They are so tiny, taking them in out of the little pot was a fantastic fine motor activity and kept him entertained the entire time we played the game. This will be a fabulous first board game for him when he is at the beginning counting stage.
I introduced the Pink Tower to C this week. Certainly not planned, very much a spur of the minute decision. B & K were playing a game and he was interrupting them, it was right there next to us, so I grabbed it and showed him what to do with it. He had fun, was completely oblivious to his errors and actually thought that the whole thing was pretty funny. He did want to knock it over each time so I had stay near by to ensure that did not happen.
I certainly don't mind the children creating their own extensions to the work but mistreating the materials I do not allow, even at 18 months.
Another new activity from the shelves is this little lock box. I so love having a toddler in the house, everything is so new and exciting and they want to do and try everything, nothing is boring, nothing is not interesting at all. It is oh so refreshing.....please someone tell me how I keep that interest in everything alive!!
That brings me to the end of C's Tot School and our last one for his 18 month, he turns 19 months next week.
Ok ok I see a pattern happening, this is yet another charity store buy. I do love them, honestly I do. I have to admit I'm not big clothes and that sort of thing, I can't seem to get past the smell, but for books and games they are a treasure trove.
Browsing the other day I spotted Hi Ho Cherry O. I have never seen this game and had only heard about it so I really had no idea what it was all about. For $1.00 I grabbed it! What a great little game, definitely far too young for K as it practices counting up to 4 only but both of my kids enjoyed having a round or two this week. They even continued to play with each other whilst I did a bit of Tot School with C.
Lots of little cherries to take from the cherry baskets and place on the cherry tree, but watch out if you land on the spill your basket label you are right back where you started. First to fill their tree is the winner.
This will be fabulous for C in in the future.
We played the Number Memory Game that I posted about here >>>
We spent a great deal of time this week talking about 'Time' concentrating on o'clock times. Brindle Bear Telling Time is, you guessed it, another charity store $1 find. It is actually nice little story. We have a few time books and really aren't stories at all but this one is and even has Brindle forgetting to do something he had agreed to do at a certain time because he was off having fun and not keeping an eye on the time.
We used this Magnetic Time Teacher, but really just clock face. We did discuss analogue and digital times as we have both here in the house but focused more on analogue this week.
I have no Montessori Time Work at the moment so we had to use what I have on hand and even though it isn't perfect it still allowed us plenty of discussion on time. This Hi 5 3 part puzzles were ok, especially since they are also a charity store buy and cost me next to nothing. K had to match the analogue and digital times and then find the fun face in the centre. There are quite a few cards in this set and she did tire of it towards the end.
We are also trying to get our days of the week down pat and have spent some time during our morning circle time talking about the days of the week. We've been singing this song from You Tube to help us along. I seem to have trouble embedding You Tube video's anyone got any pointers on that?
In her Earlybird Preschool Maths the focus was on ordinal numbers this week.
Language Arts
We did a small focus on the Letter A and the sort vowel sound. K did really well finding both the uppercase and lowercase A's in this story.
She made this Dot Marker A to add to her alphabet scrapbook. I downloaded the letter template from here >>> K also did a handwriting sheet of lower and uppercase A's and I dug out my copy of Ordinary Parents Guide To Teaching Reading this week. I used this with B when he came home from school at around the same age as K so I am going to see how we go with that over the next few weeks.
The Arts
They still have a focus of colour in our home school network art classes and this week the junior class made Colour Wheel Clowns. So easy and oh so cute! Make the colour wheel, discuss colours, warm - cool and colour mixing. Make a clown face with a few different cut outs of coloured paper. Glude them on and decorate.
Give a girl some playdough and what will she make? An ice cream of course!
We also did some painting on canvas this week, but I will post seperately about those. These paintings came after that when we had paint left over.
History/Science
We read Percy The Peaceful Platypus, which I posted about here >>> We also read From Lava To Life, the 2nd book in the Universe Series >>> Watched a couple of Magic School bus DVD's, Dinosaurs & Reptiles and Body Basics. Had a discussion about Living and Non Living things and completed a sort of various cards into the two categories. Our current chpater book read aloud is George's Key To The Universe (more on that later).
Sensorial
K is loving the knobless cylinders and has spent quite a bit of time with them this week. She also enjoys the knobbed cylinders and works with them several times a week also.
Physical Activity
K had her gymnastics class with the home school network, plenty of playground play, loads of scooter riding on our new deck and
a spot of balloon volleyball whilst we were experiencing a power outage.
Other
Ok I know, I don't know where we have been living but before this week we had never visited the PBS Kids site, wow what a whole bunch of games they have. Consequently K spent quite a bit of tiem ont here this week.
That brings me to the end of K's Preschool Corner.
He graciously played along with Hi Ho Cherry O this week and I think really he even enjoyed it. He also played the Number Memory Game with us and I am going to make up a version for him as it is so simple, quick and fun.
In his Targeting Maths he worked on Following Directions, Grids, Quarters, Calendar, Volume, Number Facts - Equivalence.
We are also going back over his Addition Number Facts to make sure that they are rolling off his tongue. Although the most important part is to understand what he is doing I also believe that you still need to have a quick recall, so this week we went through the 5 Facts daily.
Language Arts
He is powering along with his lessons in language this year. I think my choice to slow down last year and just let the first level of reading really sink in was a good one, for B at least anyway. He would have missed so much if we just moved ahead and steamed through the lessons (thank goodness we homeschool).
He completed a full Fitzroy Lesson and an Explode The Code Lesson. I also went through a lesson at his level in the OPGTTR with him and although we won't do this daily (he does more than enough in this area) I will try and pull it out once a week just to review. I do like that it is completely oral and gives that extra bit of reading aloud practice.
We have started to keep our first Book Journal. I saw this idea somewhere around the blogosphere but now have no idea where. The journal will go along with our reading of George's Secret Key To The Universe. For each chapter he completes a sketch and narrates something about that chapter which he then rewrites onto the page. I will post about this when we are finished I think.
There is a fine line between the Book journal being enoyable and making it a chore. He is also doing History narrations this year and too be honest doesn't particularly enjoy them. I really want to continue though as I know it will help in so many areas. So this is the only narration work I will ask of him, history and to have 1 book journal happening at a time. Anything else he does will be of his own doing.
B actually chose the Metal Insets this week, which was nice to see as he could still use a little help with his handwriting.
The Arts
This weeks' home school network art class still had a focus on colour but also on proportion, shape, patterns and lines.
He whipped up these little playdough numbers too. Oh he also did a painting on canvas, post to come.
History/Science
We progressed to the second book in the Universe Story Series this week, with the same grand plans as our last experience. Going in with grand plans I should of known we were doomed for failure! In fact we have only half finished this book and will try and get back to it this week. I have to admit that it was a lot to digest, all the talk about bacteria, DNA, Eukaryotes and Mitochondria., I think it was all a bit much and we have no narration at all. The remainder of the story introduces dinosaurs and birds so we'll see how we go with it.
We read Percy The Peaceful Platypus, which I posted about here >>> Watched a couple of Magic School bus DVD's, Dinosaurs & Reptiles and Body Basics.
Kez recommended this book to us and we have been enjoying it this week. (thanks Kez) I'll try to do a seperate review when we are finished.
Sensorial
B is also really enjoying the knobless cylinders and also used the knobbed cylinders this week.
Sport
He had his Mixed Sports class with the home school network with a focus on AFL Auskick this week. Also his Gymnastics lesson and playground play. Not forgetting loads of scooter riding as well.
Other
Plenty of Lego this week, I think he is currently working on some of the scenes from Star Wars. I'll try to remember to take some photo's this time.
He also used PBS kids a little but he is really too old for most of what is on there.
