Creating a Masterpiece ~ Drawing Lessons ~ A Homeschool Coffee Break Review

We've always enjoyed the experience of reviewing art programs, and one of our favorites was Creating A Masterpiece. Recently, we got another opportunity to review for Creating A Masterpiece - this time we used their new Drawing Program. This time when I say "we" I really do mean I used it as well!

Master Artist and teacher Sharon Hofer is the creator and instructor of Creating A Masterpiece. Students are invited into her art studio via the internet to learn fine art skills so they can produce their own high quality masterpiece artwork. There are sets of Core Lessons from Beginner through Level 5, and each level offers projects in ink, mixed media, pastels, and other media. There is also a section of Styles of Art in History, some Historically Themed Projects, and a Capstone Program. We previously reviewed the Core Levels, with Kennady completing several of the projects. (See our previous review here: Creating A Masterpiece - A Homeschool Coffee Break Review)

The newest addition to the instruction offerings is the Drawing Program. In this series of lessons, Sharon Hofer focuses on drawing skills using pencils, colored pencils, and charcoal. The video instruction guides students step by step through the process of planning and creating their own fine art drawings, and along the way they learn about values, shading, and perspective. Sharon believes the drawing is a skill anyone can learn, and I decided to put that theory to the test by attempting a couple of projects myself!

How did we use it?  We received a one-year subscription to all levels of the Drawing Program. We already owned most of the supplies (pencils, erasers, colored pencils, various kinds of paper) so one quick trip to the art supply store for some willow charcoal and a couple other items set us up with everything we needed except the time to sit down and get started. I asked Kennady to choose what she wanted to start with, and hoped she would choose something in the Beginning Drawing level that I thought I might be able to do as well! I was thinking that cute cartoon style giraffe, because it appeared to be the simplest; but she decided she really wanted to the one titled Moonstruck. It's a cat silhouetted against a window with a huge moon in the night sky. I worried. I'd said I would try the drawing as well, but I was sure I would embarrass myself with my lack of artistic ability. So is drawing a skill anyone can learn? Take a look at our work and see what you think:

Moonstruck sample from Creating A Masterpiece

Highlight frames from the video lessons provided for students to reference

our works in progress

Moonstruck by Kym, September 2019

Moonstruck by Kat, September 2019

You can see that our finished pieces vary a little from the sample Sharon drew and are a little different from each other. These are not trace and color pieces - Kennady and I each drew our own window, cat, moon, and tree, and although we followed the same instructional video, we each had our own take on it. This particular lesson has six videos, each between five and ten minutes long. The videos were easy to hear, see, and understand, and could be paused at any time to see or hear something again or to give the artist a bit of time to catch up. And because they were separated into six videos, it was easy to take a break and come back an hour or a day later if needed. I finished my Moonstruck project in one sitting of just under two hours or so. Kennady took a break and put the final touches on hers the next day.

Let's take a look at Kennady's next project, also done with colored pencils. She jumped to Drawing Level 2 because she wanted an Orbiting Saturn. This one also uses vellum paper, which is a little more expensive, but it's recommended that you cut it into smaller pieces since that's easier to work with. So this Saturn drawing would be on a piece about one fourth of a whole page. 

video, part 1

video, part 2

video, part 3

video, part 4

And in perhaps an hour at the most, Kennady had her completed Saturn.

The final project I'll show as part of this review is Field of Daisies, and Beginning Level drawing using charcoal. I love daisies, so I was interested in this project, but I don't know anything about drawing with charcoal. I reminded myself that it was a beginner level project and that the cat had actually turned out well, so surely I could handle this! Turns out you don't actually draw much with the charcoal. You scribble with the flat of it and then create the drawing by erasing it!

Field of Daisies project highlights and finished sample

Again, the videos were easy to follow, and I felt free to pause whenever I needed a bit more time. In the end, I spent about an hour creating my very first charcoal project. (My photo of it is a little blurry, and I'm not sure why) By the way, Kennady acted like she was impressed, so I am encouraged!

Field of Daisies by Kym, October 2019

I want to try a few more projects at least! I love Simplicity and Antique Lantern in those levels, and in Levels 1 and 3, I'm most interested in First Thanksgiving, Alaskan Wilderness,  and Snowed In. Kennady often enjoys artwork as a stress reliever, and I seem to remember her being particularly interested in the Arctic Seal, Penguin Family, and the Tabby Cat. 

Is it worth high school credit? I usually try to answer this question for curriculum that could be used by high schoolers, because often we feel that it's not worth our time and money if it's not worthy of mentioning on the transcript. Final answer? This would be dependent on how much time the student put into these projects and how often. A student that completed a good portion of these projects and kept track of the time spent on it would earn a well-deserved Fine Arts credit in my homeschool.

What we liked best:

• so easy to follow along with the instruction, and since the video lessons are in sections of 10 minutes or less, it's easy to break the project down into smaller time blocks if needed.
• a shorter and less expensive project supply list than the rest of the program
• truly suitable for all ages. Elementary school age children could complete these projects, yet as an adult, I didn't feel that it was childish or "too young" for me at all. Sharon's presentation and manner of speaking is subtly geared towards younger students in places, but never in such a way that was obvious or patronizing.

What I need to mention:

• while the videos played beautifully and without stutters or interruptions on our laptop computers, they tended to be a bit jumpy on my desktop. I would guess that's because the desktop is the oldest of the three, but I mention it because if it doesn't work smoothly on one device it may work just fine on another.

Our bottom line: As with the rest of the Creating a Masterpiece program, this is an impressive art instruction program that helps students produce beautiful high quality art. It's enjoyable and personally rewarding, which makes it even easier for me to give it my warm recommendation. Take a look at the free Sample Project and see what you think! 

Would you like to draw your own masterpieces? Here's what you need to know:

Visit the website:  CreatingaMasterpiece.com
Visit the Drawing Program page for more information.

Pricing: A one-year subscription to the Drawing Program is available for $199. 

Age recommendations: Suitable for all ages, from Kindergarten or Grade 1 up.

Read our previous review of Creating A Masterpiece: Creating A Masterpiece - A Homeschool Coffee Break Review

  

You can follow Creating A Masterpiece on Facebook.

Visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog for more information and to read other reviews.

 ©2006-2019 Homeschool Coffee Break. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://kympossibleblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

I have done my best to provide accurate pricing and links at the time this post originally appeared. Please be aware that these may change.

Getting Ready to Write at the College Level (A Homeschool Coffee Break Review)

We are a week into the new school year, and for my daughter that means college and an English 101 College Writing class. Several weeks ago we had the opportunity to start reviewing the College-Ready Writing Essentials™ course from BetterRhetor and despite our very busy schedule, I hoped it would prove to be good timing as we headed towards the school year.

The mission of BetterRhetor is to help more students to succeed in college. They cite statistics on their website showing that a large majority of students entering college really are not ready for college level work. That means that fewer students go to college, more students need remedial help when they do go to college, and many don't graduate. I would guess that there's a lot of frustration and stress for the students that do stay in college but don't feel like they know what they are doing! BetterRhetor provides instruction and assessment that help teachers (and homeschool parents) get students prepped for college academics, specifically in the area of college-ready writing.

Their College-Ready Writing Essentials™ course teaches that very important skill of academic writing, and bridges that gap between high school or pre-college writing and the mastery of college-level writing skills. College-Ready Writing Essentials™  or CRWE is available as a Full Package with complete curriculum and worksheets, and as a Premium package which has additional exercises and includes personalized feedback from the course developer, Dr. William Bryant, PhD.

How did we use it?  We received the Full Package for our review. Kennady is a confident writer and in a co-op class last year she worked on polishing her non-fiction writing skills. She just graduated high school and has just started community college. Overall we thought she would manage quite well with college writing, and of course she must take the standard writing course anyway, but none of us have experience with this college or the coursework she would be doing, so it only made sense to take advantage of an opportunity to prepare using this course. Our huge concern going in was making enough time to get through the course, because we had to work in and around our vacations. So we squeezed in some work on the course whenever we could.

CRWE provides detailed instruction on the process of writing a research-based persuasive essay, guiding a student through every step of planning, researching, and writing a college-level essay about three to five pages long. From choosing a topic and defining the issue to be addressed to making a reasonable, evidence-based argument to defend and support your opinion, this course explains it all thoroughly. There are a total of twenty-five lessons in four units plus the introduction:

• Overview - Lesson One 
• Planning - Lessons Two through Eleven discuss topic selection, reading and researching, taking a position, and outlining.
• Drafting - Lessons Twelve through Nineteen are about rhetorical appeals, explaining and supporting your position, addressing counter-arguments, and what to expect in peer reviews.
• Revising - Lessons Twenty through Twenty-three guide the student through reviewing, evaluating, and improving the essay.
• Finalizing - Lessons Twenty-four and Twenty-five wrap up the whole process with an emphasis on correct formatting and presentation.

We found that CRWE gave very clear instructions and explanations about every aspect of college writing, and not just the "how to" but the importance of the skills demonstrated in competent writing. At this level, students need to show that they are knowledgeable about the topics they address, that they can think critically and contribute something meaningful to the discussion of the topic, and that they can communicate clearly and effectively. And why a persuasive essay? Because it's the kind of essay that students will be asked to write in all kinds of classes, from English to Business to Political Science and everything in between. It's also the kind of writing that demonstrates clear thinking and reasoning, strong communication skills, and solid research.

Examples of student work in the planning stages and completed essays are given throughout so you can see what the process looks like. Because peer review is a component of college writing that is different from what most high school students have done, there's plenty of explanation and guidance in what to expect during peer review and how to offer useful feedback as well.

The lessons include detailed step-by-step instruction, along with downloadable worksheets to help organize thoughts. Although the worksheets are there for you to practice the skills, they aren't disjointed example topics, but you are working on your own essay from start to finish. The initial worksheets help you generate possible ideas, distill those into possible issues that could be debated, and questions or problems that could be addressed. From there, you choose your specific topic and then go on to the next lessons and worksheets guiding you in gathering research, formulating arguments, and analyzing the opinions and perspectives on the topic before establishing your own position and an outline for presenting your reasoning.

Some of the lessons require quite a bit of reading, not just the lesson material, but also the example essays. Other lessons are considerably shorter, explaining what needs to be done next and why, or what to expect during peer reviews, for example. The instructions for the assignments are summarized clearly and concisely. 

Formatting, Work Cited pages, and appropriate titles are discussed in the Finalization lessons. 

What we liked best:

• very thorough explanations, and although it's a serious course, the lessons are presented in a conversational and easy-to-understand style.
• I especially appreciated that the purpose of academic expectations is addressed throughout
• Kennady said that the examples given were very helpful
• Kennady liked that the exercises and instructions were easy to follow, and that it was very helpful to her for organizing her ideas.

What I need to mention:

• Some of those very long lessons with a lot of reading were troublesome for Kennady as she was reading on a screen. She would have liked more visual breaks on some of them. 
• There are downloadable worksheets provided, but they are at the very bottom of each lesson. So Kennady got frustrated with having to scroll all the way down from the top third of a lesson where the worksheet was assigned to find the download; and then scroll all the way back up to find her place again. She would have liked the download link to be right where the assignment was given.
• Plan on using this course as a writing intensive, and focusing on it over several weeks rather than trying to do a bit, take a break, and then a bit more. We knew it going in, but having vacation days break up Kennady's progress in the course slowed her down a lot. 

Our bottom line: This is an excellent intensive course that would be very suitable for a high school senior, a motivated high school junior, or for a summer preparation course for a high school graduate. It is not light or casual, but takes a serious approach to building the necessary thinking and writing skills for students who want to be well prepared for college academics.

Would you like to prep for college level writing? Here's what you need to know:

Visit the website: www.Better-Rhetor.com 
Find our more about the College-Ready Writing Essentials courses at: www.BetterRhetor1.teachable.com/courses

Pricing: The Full Package course is available for $49, and the Premium Package course is available for $99. You can try out the FREE mini-package to get an idea of what the courses are like: www.Betterrhetor1.teachable.com/p/free-mini-course

Age recommendations: high school students (especially juniors and seniors) and up.

You can follow Vendor on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog for more information and to read other reviews.

 ©2006-2019 Homeschool Coffee Break. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://kympossibleblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

I have done my best to provide accurate pricing and links at the time this post originally appeared. Please be aware that these may change.

Britfield & the Lost Crown (A Homeschool Coffee Break Book Review)

Since my youngest student graduated, I'm not really in need of curriculum any more, but I'm always on the lookout for good books! Even good books that are really for younger readers. So the Homeschool Review Crew indulged me with an opportunity to review the novel Britfield & the Lost Crown by C.R. Stewart. 

Author C.R. Stewart has been writing fiction, non-fiction, and screenplays for over twenty years. He is also a producer, consultant, and speaker; and he's a creativity specialist and avid supporter of education and the arts. Stewart's novel for middle grade through young adult readers is an adventure story but can also serve as a creative introduction to history, geography, architecture, and culture. And it promotes the positive values of friendship, loyalty, and courage.

The idea for the Britfield & the Lost Crown story came from a drawing Stewart had made of a young boy and girl in a hot air balloon. He liked the concepts of exploration, adventure, and freedom as the characters saw their country, made friends, and enjoyed new experiences.

What is the story about?  Tom and Sarah are two of the fifty-six children living and working in an orphanage called Weatherly. The orphans have a very hard life, because Mr and Mrs Grevious, who own the orphanage, are cruel and selfish. So are the staff. But the orphans have developed strong and loyal friendships with each other, so when Tom and Sarah face some especially harsh punishment and decide to try escaping the grounds, the others are glad to help. Mr Grevious taunted Tom with information that his parents may still be alive, and while skeptical, Tom believes he needs to take the chance and see if he can find out the truth. The only piece of information he has is a word another orphan was able to copy from Tom's files: Britfield. What does it mean?

Tom and Sarah manage to get out of Weatherly, but the Greviouses have hired the renowned Detective Gowerstone to track them down. So begins an epic chase across England, with Tom and Sarah making a desperate bid for freedom in a hot air balloon, with several very narrow escapes. They crash land at Oxford, where they find a friend and ally in Professor Hainsworth, who accompanies them as they elude Gowerstone and head for London. Another unplanned stop takes them to Windsor Castle, but Gowerstone's forces and local law enforcement soon close them in there as well, and they must make another daring escape.

 Their arrival in London means yet another crash landing, this time in Richmond. And with Gowerstone's men and so many other policemen in close pursuit, it feels like their luck may soon run out. Next stop is King's College, where Hainsworth believes a friend can help them get to the bottom of the Britfield mystery. The chase then continues into the heart of London, and finally to Canterbury while Tom puts together the pieces of information gathered to try and discover the truth about his past.

Will they continue to stay ahead of the people pursuing them and find safety? Will they be able to send help for the orphans still at Weatherly? What does Tom find out about his background and his family? There is a happy ending to this book, but it's also a bit of a cliffhanger because there are four more novels still to come in the series!

With all the history and culture and geography touched on in this book, it's expected that young readers will be curious and want to know more. In fact, that's the hope Stewart had in writing the series. So there's also a study guide available to go with the book - perfect for homeschool families who may want to use the book to spark further study. We didn't use the study guide, but I was curious and had a look through it.

The 8-week Study Guide is an 83 page pdf resource made available for free to teachers and homeschoolers. There are vocabulary quizzes, comprehension questions, discussion questions, and research suggestions to accompany the book. Students are encouraged to learn more about the authors mentioned in the story, expand their vocabulary, think about how they would have responded to the various crises in the story, delve into history, and explore maps and geography. There is also a section for literary study, going over concepts like plot, characters, and themes.  Overall, this study guide is a fun way to take advantage of an interesting story to aid learning and imagination. 

What we liked best:

• fast paced story that appeals to readers of all ages, and to both boys and girls.
• for the most part, the factoids and teaching moments sprinkled throughout are seamlessly woven into the story.

What I need to mention:

• I noticed a number of places where the descriptive words didn't seem quite right somehow. For instance, someone shrieking while being described as 'crestfallen' or glaring while they are panic-stricken. Those descriptors don't work together. There are phrases that are just plain awkward. None were so bad as to ruin my enjoyment of the story, but they stood out in contrast to the smoother flow of the majority of the writing.

Our bottom line: Britfield & the Lost Crown is an exciting blend of history and imagination, fantasy and facts. I think it has very broad appeal, as I enjoyed it, and when my 18-year-old daughter started it, she was quickly drawn in. And of course, I think it would be perfect for the middle school age group that is the primary target audience. It has something for everyone, with positive family-friendly themes and honorable protagonists. 

Would you like to explore the world of Britfield? Here's what you need to know:

Visit the website: www.Britfield.com

Pricing: The 394-page softcover book we received is available for $16.99. Other formats available are the 394-page hardcover for $24.99, the audiobook for $17.46, and the e-Book for $9.99. Visit the Britfield store page for more information.

Age recommendations:  Intended audience would be middle grades through young adult, but is suitable for all ages. 

You can follow Britfield on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog for more information and to read other reviews.

 ©2006-2019 Homeschool Coffee Break. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://kympossibleblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

I have done my best to provide accurate pricing and links at the time this post originally appeared. Please be aware that these may change.

A Source for Homeschool Resources (A Homeschool Coffee Break Review)

It is a truth universally acknowledged that homeschoolers love books. So we tend to be on the lookout for places to acquire books at a good price. We got to choose a stack of books and resources from Library and Educational Services LLC for this review of this distributor that offers just that - good books at good prices! We received a book from the Who Was . . . ? biography series, a CD from the Lifehouse Theater CD series, and our choices from their extensive selection of Reinforced Hardcover Library Binding Nonfiction books.

Library and Educational Services LLC is a family business that sells as a wholesale distributor to churches, libraries, schools, homeschools, specialty stores, missionaries, daycare centers, and more. They carefully choose the CDs, DVDs, and books they carry to make sure they are not contradictory to Biblical values. A quick look through their 28-page catalog shows an amazing selection of CDs, DVDs, and books - so many books!! - at wholesale prices. That's thirty to seventy percent off the list prices. 

Members of the Homeschool Review Crew were asked to choose products from a couple of categories to feature in our reviews of the service and selection at Library and Ed - one title from the Who Was . . . ? biography series; one CD from the Lifehouse Theater CD series; and about $60 worth of the hard cover library binding non fiction books. Just wait until you see how many hard cover books I got for $60!!

I chose Who Was Edgar Allan Poe? by Jim Gigliotti from the best selling biography series. This 106-page paperback book geared to Grades 2 - 6 would retail for around six dollars, but is available here for about half that price (currently on sale for $2.89). This great series of biographies for kids tells the background stories of authors, artists, athletes, historical figures, architects, inventors, explorers, and more. We don't have kids in this age group in our family, but all the same we enjoyed this quick read and its interesting illustrations just because we enjoy Poe's stories and poems and we see a lot of references to him and his work since we live near Baltimore. This little book tells the story of Poe's life and how he devoted his life to writing especially after the tragic death of his wife when they were quite young. Did you know he is considered the inventor of detective fiction? Or about the many ways his writing continues to be influential in American popular culture?

I had an easy time choosing from the Lifehouse Theater CD series - I wanted Pride and Prejudice! There are seven in the series available through Library and Ed. I listened to this abridged version of Jane Austen's beloved novel and was very impressed with how well the story was told in radio theater style. Faithful to the original novel, but some of the action summarized so that the story could be told in just over 70 minutes. 

Then I was asked to "spend" $60 on books of my choice from their selection of reinforced library binding hardcover nonfiction books. If you have an idea of the price of hardcover books from retail stores, this should impress you. I managed to get three full sets of children's books - a total of nineteen hardcover books for that price! Now I have a pretty decent library of beautifully illustrated books for when my little granddaughter is here to visit!

Community of Counting set of ten books - each book focuses on a number and has cute, colorful illustrations showing animals or objects in sets of that number. Perfect for little ones learning the concept of numbers and how to count.

Hide-and-Seek set of five books - clothes, food, kids, pets, and toys playing hide and seek. The Pets book is adorable! "Where is the dog?" and a photo of a dog mostly hidden behind a tree trunk, and then on the next page, the photo shows the dog coming out from behind the tree. 

Cute and Cuddly Baby Animals set of four books - how can you go wrong with cute photos of baby animals?

 All those hardcover nonfiction books are searchable by subject and by grade level as you shop on the website, and there are a lot to choose from!

Library and Ed also has a large selection of Bibles, educational DVDs, puzzles and games, and Christian fiction. I couldn't resist purchasing at least one paperback to my order so that I could add to my stack of Christian historical fiction. There are pages and pages of Christian fiction to choose from, all at significant discounts, but I finally settled on The Girl in the Gatehouse by Julie Klassen and my price was 41% off the retail price. So there's plenty to choose from for your leisure reading as well.

For those of you keeping score at home, this boxful of books has a list price of well over four hundred dollars. At Library and Educational Services LLC, the total is about eighty dollars. I'm not kidding. And shipping is very reasonable as well.

My book and CD haul

There are a lot of homeschooling curriculum and resources in their catalog, including titles from the Master Books series (Exploring the World of Astronomy, and Introduction to Logic, for example); resources from Answers in Genesis; books from the Writing Strands series; and many other DVDs and textbooks in many subject areas.

Our bottom line: If you're searching for curriculum, for educational reading, or even Christian fiction, it's worthwhile to browse the Library and Educational Services LLC website or catalog and see how much you can save by purchasing through them. It's easy and free to set up an account as a home educator (no credit card info needed to set up the account and shop) and I think you'll be impressed - as I was! - by the selection and affordability.

Would you like to shop the Library and Ed catalog? Here's what you need to know:

Visit the website:  www.LibraryandEd.com  You will need to set up an account in order to shop the website, but it's fast and free to do so.

Pricing: All items are 30% to 70% off the list prices.

Age recommendations: Library and Educational Services carries books and materials for all ages.

Visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog for more information and to read other reviews.

 ©2006-2019 Homeschool Coffee Break. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://kympossibleblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

I have done my best to provide accurate pricing and links at the time this post originally appeared. Please be aware that these may change.