Thinking Like an Architect

One of the things I am quickly seeing as my children grow up and head to college, is that there is no lack for things they could do or be when they "grow up".  Unfortunately, I am also seeing that sometimes our knowledge of those actual things is what is really lacking.

 

In a determination to level the playing field a bit, I have begun to try to help expose my almost 16 year old to as many different things that I can via school courses.  My recent endeavor lined up easily in the form of a review from Innovators Tribe and their Thinking Like an Architect program.  Not only did I know my son would be semi interested in the program, I figured I might also get him to make a house plan for me in the process.  A win win situation, don't you think?  Since we received a two year subscription good for the whole family, we have plenty of time to work through the program and go back and review when we need to.

 
Thinking Like an Architect is a self paced, online course taught by Mr. Wayne Kroeplin. Recommended for grades 6-12th, each online lesson is fairly short and therefore easy to watch.  Mr. K, as he refers to himself to the students, walks you through numerous slides, most often with him in the side bar actually talking to you.  At the end of most lessons there is a project of some sort to help solidify the lesson being taught, including things like researching types of architecture and making a power point presentation with the information gather, to of course, creating blue prints of a house.

Luckily for you, when you register for the class Thinking Like an Architect you will also be given access to the 3D software program to help you with that process.

Lessons include-
Lesson 1- What is Architecture?
Lesson 2- History of Architect
Lesson 3- Form and Function
Lesson 4- What's an Architect?
Lesson 5- Tools of an Architect
Lesson 6- Architecture and Math
Lesson 7- How to Read and Architect Scale
Lesson 8- Drawing, Sketching and Blueprints
Lesson 9- How to Create a Simple Blueprint
Lesson 10- Create a Home Blueprint
Lesson 11- Floor Plans
Lesson 12- C.A.D.
Lesson 13- Learn "Home Designer" Tutorials
Activity- Design your dream house
Activity- Dream house (model)
Conclusion



Once a lesson is completed it will show a green check mark next to it for easy reference.

How we used this program-

Salem, currently a sophomore, did this program one to two times a week, depending on our schedule and the extra activity assigned.  If a presentation was assigned, he would work on that an additional day or two.  Each lesson can take anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour, also depending on the assignment for that day.  I admit I watched often, because it is a a subject I am interested in and as we get closer to the design process I have asked that he include me when he watches the lessons.  I need to tell him my design desires for my dream house, after all. ;)

Things we loved-

• Customer Support- Let me just tell you Wayne is a gem!  I had a snafu with receiving the architect software, my issue, not theirs, and Wayne patiently worked with me until I got it and was able to download it.  A company that responds right away and in a polite fashion wins me over every time.

• Fun without being silly- In the world that we live in today, we often seem to want to hold kids' attention by silly entertainment.  I love that though this program does have fun and is light hearted, talking directly to the student, it is not dumbed down.

• Included software- What a bonus!  The program just wouldn't be the same without the chance to try your new skills in a real life program.  WE haven't gotten quite that far yet, but we can't wait to try.

•  Video links- I love that when additional things were explained or shown, like "how well do you have to draw to be an architect", direct links were included for the student to access.  It makes it easier as well as safer use of the internet to have those links.

•  Because each course requires at least 30 hours of work total, you can use it to fulfill a 1/4 credit hour on your child's transcript.  If you use the projects for each lesson as a jumping point, I have no doubt you could expand those hours and create a semester credit.  We will!

• Extra Activities- Well, these I loved more than Salem, of course.  I especially loved that a few required a power point presentation, a media tool that Salem has not used before.  While that took a bit more time to learn, it was a skill worth learning!

• Also included is unit journal to print off that has a few questions to answer for each lesson.  If your student is doing this program entirely on their own this a quick and easy way to make sure they are getting the basic ideas down.
  

What Salem had to say- "Despite my initial reservations, I am really enjoying this program so far.  I like that it is more detailed than just 'what is an architect' and that it teaches you how to design a building."


Do we like Thinking Like an Architect?  Yes, we do!  And would highly recommend it to you and your 6th-12th graders!  It is a fun way to learn about a new career possibility and stretch your designing creativity.  Can't wait to show you my dream house some day!