Family, Faith, and Fridays: K-5th grade

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Home Art Studio- Review

I am going to be honest and just tell you up front I am not an Art person. I am not good at it, therefore I do not enjoy teaching it. I also may have a slight neat freak thing going on, so lots of random (and sparkly) art supplies make be break into a cold sweat.

For the sake of one of latest reviews, you will be happy to know that I put my fears aside and forged ahead. Of course it helped that the art program was taught by someone else. All I had to do was pop in the DVD and cheer from the sidelines. Yay me!

Yay Home Art Studio! Home Art Studio, taught by art teacher Mrs. Lindsey Volin, is all about teaching children to "problem solve, think creatively, and truly see the world around them." Mrs. Volin, a certified art teacher and mom to 2 boys, offers DVD instruction for Grades K-5th, each one focusing on a specific theme. She recommends doing one project per week to allow your students time to complete the task at their own rates. Lesson plans are included and can be printed out for easy reference. Though each lesson builds upon previous knowledge, they can be used as a stand alone lesson if you so desire. Art project instruction covers various mediums from paint, to chalk, to modeling clay. Mrs. Volin has conveniently teamed up with an art supplier that lists each of the supplies needed according to the grade you use, making it easy to obtain any art supplies you do not currently have.

Because I wanted to allow not only my rising 3rd grader to use the program, but also encourage his older brother to participate, we decided to review the 5th grade video. I knew the theme is A Journey Under the Sea would at least spark some interest in the boys, who miss the beach! I am also involved in a co op, and wanted to see if I felt we could use these videos for a class that has a broad age span of children. There are 13 lessons in A JOurney Under the Sea that cover over an hour and a half of instruction time.

Here's what we found and loved!

Mrs. Volin is fun! Her easy going attitude and her endless encouragement just make the class non threatening, even to those of us who are afraid of art! I loved that she encourages creativity and individuality. We have run into the problem in previous art instruction that if "our" project did not look exactly like the teachers, then "we" were frustrated. Mrs. Volin mentions this very early on, encouraging children that everyone's project will look different, and even encourages them to use different colors and such if they so desire.

The projects are fun and easy to follow! Directions are well presented and the projects vary enough to capture any child at some point. Even though we were working three grade levels above Colby, he was able to participate with very little help from me.

Lesson on shading from light to dark

The supplies needed are not obnoxious! Yes, I want my kids to have fun with art, but I will have to tell you, I do not have time to search for hard to find items. Many of the items needed we already have, and with the supply lists already out together by Jerry’s Artarama, it makes life so much easier.

This program can be used my multiple ages. My personal recommendation would be to buy a year in the middle of your ages group. So, if you buy 3rd grade and want to use it for multiple ages, use it for 2-4th. You CAN have younger students do projects at higher levels with some supervision, I just believe this is the best fit.

There are FREE lessons on the Home Art Studio website! Not sure you are ready to take my word for it? Go on line, choose a grade and try a project out.

The lessons are not too long. Each lesson is about 15 minutes long from start to finish. We did pause the video frequently to try out a technique or follow an instruction, but the shorter length helped my son not lose focus or get bored. This shorter length also lends itself well to co op classes where your class time is more limited.

Mrs. Volin takes you outside the Art Studio! Tucked within the actual art instruction are also great teaching moments of art history and fun as well. In A Journey Under the Sea, students get to visit an artist's studio as well as an aquarium!

While we have thoroughly enjoyed A Journey Under the Sea, we are now eager to go back and get the 3rd grade volume for our upcoming school year. With the theme, Be Creative, I think it will be right up Colby's alley!

In addition to the K-5th grade DVDs, Home Art Studio also carries a Holiday Arts and Crafts DVD. Now through September 15, if you purchase 2 videos, Mrs. Volin will give you the Holiday Arts and Crafts one for free!

*I received a free copy of A Journey Through the Sea in exchange for an honest review of the product. All opinions are mine!

Blessings,

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

GPALOVEMATH- Schoolhouse Crew Review

Recently we had the opportunity from GPA LEARN to review their program GPALOVEMATH, a web based Math program for kids grades Kindergarten through 5th grade. For an entire year's membership, we can explore any grade level we desire and see fits us best.

GPALOVEMATH follows an Instruction, Practice and Quiz format, covering over 10,000 practice problems per grade. That is over 150 lessons per grade! By using different animated characters as your child's "coach", GPA Learn makes learning math fun!

Adirehs, an island girl, is the coach for 2nd graders, which is where we have been currently working. Other characters include a penguin, a detective and a cool robot!

Each day your child can follow a recommended path of instruction or choose what they would like to learn. There are several colored "paths" to choose from (green, purple, or blue) and you must complete certain lessons to open other ones. This ensures that prerequisite skills are learned before moving on to higher skill levels. Once you choose the path you want to work on, you "test drive" that skill- by first receiving instruction on the new skill presented. After the instruction and a quick process review, you then working through practice problems with your coach. Once practice is completed you move to the quiz where you can earn points based on the number you get correct. If your child gets stuck on a practice problem, they have three lifelines they can use to get help.

To further help motivate your child, there are over 100 reward options the parent can choose to set into the program. The more options you choose, the more often they are rewarded to the child. These options range from things such as snuggle time and playing a game with your family to an extra movie privilege or later bedtime. There is also an option to make up your own prizes. In addition, the points your child earned can be redeemed for gift certificates to places like Toys R Us and Target!

Though this is not a game based system, there is a little adventure tied into the lessons and every few screens a little something extra is added in, giving the child a break for a moment. During our time using the program, it was discovering animals on the islands or finding what to feed them, learning about recycling, and choosing tools to hang a sign.

A private social network where parents and kids can communicate with those they know in the same program can also provide an extra level of fun to the program.

How did we use this program?
Since we do math daily, we put aside our current math and used this for several weeks, 5 days a week, though they suggest 3 days a week is sufficient. It is easily accessible and my 2nd grader often pulled it up on our laptop without me and got started before I could sit down. We began with 2nd grade, since that is his current grade and followed the recommended path.

What did we think?
Hmmm, I had to really think about that. While GPALOVEMATH did not knock our socks off, I did think it was a good solid program. After several weeks into the program, we had not really hit any "new to us" skills, but that seems reasonable since we are already 8 months into our current school year. We are planning to move up into the third grade level and see how he does. Some concepts were taught a little differently than we had experienced before. One of the things I did not like was counting on your fingers was encouraged several times, which I discourage in our home. While the lessons tended to take us on average about 30 minutes, CJ did skip through some of the screens when he already knew what to do.

In addition, GPALOVEMATH teaches the concept of S.P.O.T.- Study the problem, Plan it out, Operate and solve the problem, Test and confirm your answer. While I like the concept a lot, it is repeated and explained in every lesson and grew tiring to my second grader who began to skip it every time.

I do like that your child has a little freedom in what they choose to learn each day. For my strong willed child, getting to "pick" is a big thing for him and made his day. He also LOVED the rewards. Funny how the little things can matter. Before he started his lesson each day he would go to the rewards tab to see how far he was from earning a reward or how many points he needed for another certificate.

I also like that this is NOT a game based program. I like to make learning fun, but I think it is important to teach kids that life and learning are not all about games. GPALOVEMATH seems to have found a good balance in their program.

Special Introductory Price of $129 per child per year includes-