Art

I just love it when the courier arrives at my front door with an envelope or box full of new books for us to use ! I was surfing The Book Depository having a look at the new Usborne books available when I stumbled across this one:  Usborne The Children's Book of ART.

The Children's Book of ART

This hardcover treasure has 64 pages introducing 32 works of art covering a period of around 500 years.  It has a neat uncluttered layout with enough information to introduce the young in your home to art, the reasons and the how's to the types of art are also explained.  The book is part of the internet linked series available from Usborne. The best part of this bargain is I sourced it for under AU$15 postage included !
A word of caution: there are two famous paintings of semi naked people in this book, if you find this offensive you could easily glue the pages together and still have access to a really great resource.

I am looking forward to reading this book to Mr N as we start official school together this week.

Practical art at home ....

I have all these beautiful artistic  books on things to do but somehow in the busyness of time I never seem to take them out, so this year I have linked in with some homeschool mom's and have been attending two different art co-ops with Mr N where we are using the following:  Artistic Pursuits and  Drawing Textbook by Bruce McIntyre. Each co-op is on a fortnightly basis which means we can do a different type of art each week.

Artistic Pursuits Book 1
Mr N has done three lessons so far and seems to be enjoying the different things he has tried.  In week one he did some watercolour painting. (I tried to scan this but it was too faint on the page.)

This is his second week.  

Here Mr N used water colours to paint his castle and king.  He then cut out some 'gold leaf' enhancements.

In week three he learned about etching.

I tried a few different techniques to do this.  First I tried colouring in with wax crayons then painting black Clag paint over the top and when dry tried to do the etching but that did not work.

Secondly I tried using  Colorix Silky Crayon and did the back ground colouring, then used the black Colorix over the top.  We then used a wooden kebab stick to etch.  This worked very well providing we did the etching straight after we had layered the black over the colours.  I found that once I had done the black if we left it, it seemed to "set" and was no longer willing to be etched.  If you want to do this project over two days then colour in the back round on day one.  Colour the black over the top two min before you want to do the etching.

To store these works of art I have recently purchased an A3 Visual arts diary and we will be gluing his pictures in there.  On the opposite page I am aiming to get him to narrate what technique he has used and a little about the artist whom he has heard about for the week.

Drawing textbook by Bruce McIntyre

I managed to pick up this treasure about ten years ago.  It's a small A5 sized yellow paper covered book.  I have found this little book valuable in the way that it equips the student and the teacher with clear, concise instructions for each picture you draw.  From very basic line drawings in lesson one to three dimensional drawings in lesson thirty-seven.  Each lesson consists of six drawings.

I have bought Mr N an A4 spiral bound art diary in which I have divided each page into six squares. Each lesson is presented on a white board step by step.
The first three lessons we did a full page of six drawings each.  From lesson four we have only tackled two drawings a lesson as the jump in required ability for a six year old was a little too much.  So instead of quitting we have slowed down.  After all we do have a few years ahead of us ☺

This is Mr N's first lesson. 

I am in search of great books introducing art and great paintings to Mr N.  Do you have any suggestions ?

Till next time.....
Chareen ♥

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It's Official

It's official my baby rose Mr N turned six yesterday.  I so enjoyed watching him build his LEGO sets, share time with family and celebrate his special day.

Here in Victoria Australia from the age of six all students need to be registered at either a government school, a private school or as a homeschool student.  We filled in the  official form last week and mailed it to Victorian Registrations & Qualifications Authority.

The act of sending off this form has had me re-reading long lost treasures on my bookshelf and re-evaluating my how's, and why's to what I want to be doing this year.

I have been looking over my Sonlight Curriculum PDF catalogue (55 MB) refreshing my memory of the treasures lurking on my bookshelves that I used 12 years ago with Rose One and Two when I started out and generally trying to organize my thoughts and plans for the year ahead.

I thought I would share one of the books I treasure:

Things We Wish We'd Known 
Compiled & Edited by Bill & Diana Waring

This book is like having a private cup of tea with one of 50 veteran homeschoolers. 

The book is divided into six parts: 

• The Concepts
• The Basics
• The Priorities
• God's Involvement
• Christian Character
• The Blessings 

The back of the book is fully indexed containing a list of the contributors, their email addresses, websites and a short write up about each company / homeschool family.  


It's a real treasure trove of encouragement, tried and true words of wisdom from pioneering homeschool families from around the globe.
You can find this book at Diana Waring Presents and if you would like to read Diana's introduction you can go here
For a look at the contents page you can go to Table of Contents and for a sneak peak you can go to Featured excerpt from Things we wish we'd known

Till next time
Officially beginning our journey for the THIRD time

10 Days of ....

I was busy poking around in Confessions of a Home Schooler when I stumbled upon her 10 Days of Homeschool Enrichment.  What a wonderful idea :)  After a little more poking around I found the following and just had to share it with you.

10 days of socialization for mom | The Homeschool Chick
10 days of classical education | Milk & Cookies
10 days of large families | Chocolate on My Cranium
10 days of special needs | Special Needs Homeschooling
10 days of struggling learners | Homeschooling the Chaotic Family
10 days of homeschooling girls | Homegrown Mom
10 days of homeschool enrichment | Confessions of a Homeschooler
10 days of building a spiritual legacy | Mommy Missions
10 days of frugal homeschooling |The Happy Housewife
10 days of Charlotte Mason | Our JourneyWestward
10 days of unschooling | Homeschooling Belle
10 days of organization | Confessions of an Organized Homeschool Mom
10 days of getting started | Blog, She Wrote
10 days of homeschooling boys | The Tie That Binds Us
10 days of homeschooling Montessori |  Fruit in Season
10 days of preschool |  Delightful Learning

I have tried to link these directly to where the relevant posts are.  The 10 Days Journey happened in February 2011 if the link does not work search this time frame in each blog for the information you are after.




Happy surfing .....


Please note:  I do not necessarily agree with or adhere to any or all of the above posts.  These links have been posted for your interest only.  Take what ever you need to grow your homeschool and leave the rest.