Art in Your Homeschool {Not Back to School Blog Hop 2019}

Welcome to day one of the annual Homeschool Review Crew Not Back to School Blog Hop.  Today's topic is A = Art in Your Homeschool.  I have a confession to make.  I have a love hate relationship with art in our homeschool.  Today I would like to share a list of books, web resources and Art Curriculum that we have used over the last two decades to teach art in our homeschool.

During my time with the Homeschool Review Crew we have been introduced to some amazing products which have made adding Art to our Homeschool so much easier. Here are a few we have enjoyed over the years and are well worth investing in:

•  ArtAchieve - There are five year levels available.  You are able to purchase single lessons of any project you would like to use in your homeschool.  The lessons are presented in different formats (PowerPoint or video) by John Hofland.  Every lesson has a comprehensive lesson plan available covering many aspects on the topic at hand. Be sure to try a FREE lesson with ArtAchieve: FREE Level I-Art Lesson I-2: The Czech Cat "There is no right or wrong way to draw. One drawing is not better than another.  It's just different - because the people who are drawing are different "- John (ArtAchieve)
• See The Light -  We have loved using the video based lessons.  Each video contains three step by step lessons.  Lessons are in a step by step format and available as downloads or DVD.  You can request your free lesson from here. We have really enjoyed the Art Projects series and learnt so many great things from pop art (Repeated Sweets - Wayne Thiebaud Artist Study) to pointillism fruit.
• Last year we did a series of art pieces via the on line art lessons using Creating a Masterpiece. I really liked the way each lesson is broken up into shorter step by step lessons making it easy to accomplish really complex pieces over a number of days or weeks. You can try a free lesson over here.
• We have also done numerous different art projects and show cased them here on the blog along with links to the source tutorials via the Virtual Fridge. 
• SchoolhouseTeachers.com has some  fabulous Art Classes for your homeschool. These lessons are specifically designed to be used in your home.

The Master and His Apprentices: Art History from a Christian Perspective is an amazing text to use to teach art history.

If you have students that are interested in learning Natural History Illustration be sure to check out the FREE edX course: Drawing Nature, Science and Cultrue: Natural History Illustration 101.

Mondrian Inspired Art

Over the years we have completed a few Artist Unit Studies:

• Claude Monet - Artist / Art
• Wayne Thiebaud - Artist / Art
• Piet Mondrian - Artist / Art

Art Resources on line

•  Artist Studies
• Watercolours and notebooks Articles, Tips & Advice
• watercolour charts 
• Chalk Pastel Tutorials
• Harrington Harmonies Art Lessons
• Dry Brush Watercolour Painting  
• Water Colour Dry Brush 
• Oils
• Drawing For Young Children
• What Do You See? A Child's First Introduction To Art 
• Ken Harris Art School
• Want to Learn Art?  A list for Elementary, Middle and High School

 Beautiful Books on Studying Artists
(Libraries are an excellent resource to teach for FREE)

• The Usborne ART Treasury
• Finger Print Drawing Book
• Global Art
• The Usborne Book of Famous Paintings 
• Katie and the Waterlily Pond  
• Katie and the Mona Lisa
• The Children's Book of ART 
• A Year in Art A Painting a Day
• The Children's Book of Art by Rosie Dickins

On Pinterest

• Artists Study
• 
• Art
• Art - Kids Craft Ideas 
• Art - Egg boxes
• Art - Ice cream sticks 
• Art - up cycled toilet rolls 
• Art - Paper Bag adventures 
• Art - Paper Plate

Picture Study Resources

• Charlotte Mason Picture Study over at the Art Class Curator.
• How to bring picture study into your homeschool over at Homeschool On.
• A Charlotte Mason Picture Study Lesson over at nourished Children.
• Ambleside Online Artist Rotation Schedule
• How to Teach Picture Study the Charlotte Mason Way over at Joy in the Home.
• FREE Charlotte Mason Picture Study Aides over at A Humble Place
• Picture Study Portfolios over at Simply Charlotte Mason.

I asked some homeschool friends what they would recommend and they said:

•  You Are an Artist Chalk Art Pastel Lessons
• ARTistic Pursuits
• How Great Thou Art
• Let There Be Art
• ArtHub for Kids
• Art Achieve
• SchoolhouseTeachers.com

I would love to hear what YOU have used to teach art in your homeschool.

Blessings
Chareen

• CREW @ Homeschool Review Crew - 2019 Annual Not Back to School Homeschool Blog Hop 
• Dawn @ Schoolin' Swag - Adding Fun to Your Homeschool Day
• Erin @ For Him and My Family - Large Family Homeschooling
• Lori @ At Home Where Life Happens - Learning Life Skills
• Monique @ Mountain of Grace Homeschooling - Homeschooling the High School Years
• Monique D. @ Early Learning Mom - Homeschooling With Autism 
• Yvie @ Homeschool On the Range - 5 Days of Upper Grades Homeschooling

There are over thirty home educating mom's participating in this years Not back to School Blog Hop.  Grab a cup of tea and take a look through the linky below for some homeschool Encouragement today.

ABC of Homechooling {Not Back to School Blog Hop}

I have had the most wonderful few weeks.  For my birthday my family gifted me a very precious week with my homeschool and life friend Jenny in New Zealand.  One of the most amazing and unplanned happenings was meeting up with three other ladies who were all home educating with me two decades ago!  Between us we have over a century of homeschooling experience.  I was so blessed by each and everyone of these woman!

When we began home educating there was very little on the Internet, no computer programs to homeschool with, we had curriculum catalogues and each others experience.  Today we have the world at our finger tips courtesy of the www.

I have been privileged over the past few years to work alongside incredible home educating families who have a passion to share their homeschool experiences with the homeschooling community over at the Homeschool Review Crew.

Each year these wonderful woman gather together to encourage the home educating community and this year they are busy preparing to share and encourage you during the week of the 12th of August in the Annual Not Back to Homeschool Blog Hop.

Here is a sneak peak at some of the topics being shared during the week:

• Year-Round Homeschooling
• Eclectic Homeschooling
• ABC of Homeschooling
• Adding Fun to Your Homeschooling
• Large Family Homeschooling
• A Quest for a Great Homeschool Year
• Looking Back on Homeschooling High School
• Homeschool Life Skills
• Homeschooling with Autism
• Homeschool High School
• Favourite Homeschool Things
• Relaxed Homeschooling
• Upper Grade Homeschooling

 I am looking forward to hearing from my fellow Crew members.  Over the past few years I have participated in a few 5 Days of ... blog hops and really enjoyed the experience.

This year I will be writing about the ABC of Homeschooling

• A = Art in your homeschool
• B = Books about homeschooling
• C = Charlotte Mason
• D =Don't Change a Thing
• E =Encouragement for the Year Ahead

Mark your calendar and be sure to pop on over daily for some home school encouragement and equipping.

Blessings
Chareen
PS if you are on Pinterest be sure to follow the 2019 Annual Not Back to School Homeschool Blog Hop Board for homeschool encouragement and inspiration.

Give Yourself the Gift of Music with Piano Online {Review}

I grew up with the sound of my mother playing the piano and it's an instrument I've always wanted to learn to play.  Fifteen years ago we bought an upright piano and my oldest two and I enrolled in piano lessons.  A few months into lessons I developed severe morning sickness and could not continue with my lessons.  Recently the Homeschool Review Crew were presented the opportunity to review the Music & Creativity - Foundation Course by Simply Music sparked the desire to learn to play the piano again.

The Music & Creativity Course is an on line course presented by Neil Moore the Founder and Executive Director of Simply Music.  Neil developed the Simply Music program and has been teaching music for over twenty seven years. Simply Music uses a playing based education to teach playing the piano.

What we received
Enrolment into the Music & Creativity Program Level One.  This level is FREE for anyone to enrol and use.  Simply Music have made this in celebration of all the students that have learnt to play the piano with them.

It included:

• Reference Books
• Practise PDF
• All backing Soundtracks - these can be downloaded or streamed for use as you practise and learn.
• Music and the Art of Long-Term Relationships

Enrolling in the Music & Creativity Program is so easy.  I didn't need to enter any payment details.  All they asked for were my name, email address and password.  Within minutes I received my welcome email and immediate access to the program.

How It Works
While using Simply Music approach the pieces of music are from a variety of genre's such as contemporary, classical, gospel, blues, improvisation, accompaniment.  You learn from the beginning to play with both hands.

 Upon logging in you are taken to the Music and Creativity Program home page.  Here you can see at a glance which course you are currently enrolled in and how far you have progressed through the program as well as available courses to purchase in order to continue your piano music education.

At present there are two courses available: Foundation Course and Foundation Enhancement.  There are four Development levels and four Special Courses (Accompaniment, Composition & Improvisation, Arrangements and  Blues & Improvisation) being developed.

The course home page contains the option of downloading the PDF practise and reference books as well as a ZIP file containing the Soundtracks.  Below that you can see the Course Content.

 There are 19 lessons and a Quick start lesson. Upon completing a lesson you mark it complete and the system will auto track the where you are.  A no entry sign indicates that the lesson is not unlocked due to the previous lesson remaining incomplete.

Once you click through to your lesson you are taken to a page with an embedded video lesson where Neil teaches the lesson and takes you step by step through different pieces of music.  He does a great job of explaining step by step the notes, your hands and how to play the piece of music and how you are to practise.

You then practise what you have learnt using the sound track for that weeks lessons.  You can re-watch the lesson as many times as you would like. Once you have reached a level that you are happy and comfortable with you manually mark the lesson complete.  The system will then unlock the next lesson for you to begin and take you there.

You can watch the lessons on any Internet connected device.  I have watched them on my computer, a tablet and my phone.

This is my favourite piece of advice from Neil.  He is an encouraging teacher and puts no pressure on you the student.  He recognises that some learn slower and others learn faster and the most important thing is to learn at your OWN UNIQUE pace.

He explains to the students that every single time you sit down to practise you are learning and if you rush and practise wrong you will have to unlearn the mistake and relearn correctly and it is therefore prudent to SLOW down and teach yourself correctly the first time.

Simply Music Methodology

Neil explains - "The usual entry into learning piano is a 'reading-based' approach. In other words, students are first required to learn how to read music as the means of learning how to play. Although some students succeed with this approach, for the vast majority the reading process can feel unnatural and slow and end with the feeling that "music is not for me" or, "it's hard" or, "It takes a long time" or, "I don't have any musical talent or ability" etc.

Our 'playing-based' approach is based on a different premise. We say that everybody, without exception, is profoundly musical. Pretty much everything that we all do, on a moment-by-moment, day-to-day basis, is underscored by our musicality - this includes the rhythm of our heartbeat and our breathing, the perfectly smooth and even rhythm of our walking, as well as our ability to talk. In fact, conversation consists of spoken sentences and phrases of astonishing musical complexity, yet speaking comes easily and naturally to us all. In fact, it's our innate connection to musicality that gives us the ability to talk.

The Simply Music Method draws on and nurtures the natural sense of music we all possess; it teaches students to play the piano by immersing them in the actual process of playing. In the early stages of learning with Simply Music, music-reading is delayed. "

Important Notes/Format

This is an on line product, including video-based instruction, down loadable soundtracks, and three pdf documents.

Connect on Social Media

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram | YouTube

 If you would prefer face to face lessons with a teacher Simply Music has many trained teachers in 12 different countries around the world using their system of teaching music.  Find a teacher near you via the Simply Music Educator Location page.

Neil recently shared that Simply Music currently has students enrolled from a 100 countries around the world.

Overall

This program is very different from any program I have ever tried.  Neil is both the developer and the presenter of the program.  He is encouraging and clearly communicates each step of the course and helps you to understand the how and why of what he is doing.  You can learn more about the philosophy and the beginnings of Simply Music on their site as well as meet the staff who are working to support you on line.

I am looking forward to continuing my lessons and have encouraged Paul to begin lessons with Neil.

To find out what my fellow home educating Mom's and their families thought be sure to take a look at more reviews  at the Homeschool Review Crew.

PS:  Did you know the piano contains over 12,000 parts?