C’s Blogging- Talk, Talk, Talk

Talk.  C is talking.  B said, “See Momma go down and up.”  C said, “See Daddy go.”  B said, “Look.  Oh.  Oh.  See Daddy fall.  Funny, funny Daddy.  Go, go, go.”

The end.

B’s Blogging- Teddy

Teddy is one foot tall.  Teddy weighs 7.6 ounces.  He has a heart on the front of him.  On the heart it says, “Kiss me.”  He has a big blue nose.  He has golden fur and a big blue bow.  I love Teddy.  I will tell you tale about Teddy.

On Valentine’s Day 2010, Teddy appeared on my chair.  He was from Momma and Daddy.  C also has a teddy like mine.  Mine has his arm separated from the heart.  I have also left him outside  .

The End.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!  I hope you are having a wonderful day celebrating the life Jesus has given us.  Enjoy the time with your families and I am looking forward to write more to you later!

See the Light

Product:  See the Light

Vendor Contact Information:

www.seethelightshine.com

e-mail- info@seethelightshine.com

92 Saddlebow Rd.

Bell Canyon, CA 91307-1136

Age Appeal: Age 6 and up or grade 1 and up, could be used for middle school age if a child has had no drawing lessons

Format:  DVD

Price: $99 for 9 volumes, 36 lessons (1 year)

 

 

If it difficult to get your children to drawing lessons, then bring the teacher to you with the DVD Art Class series produced by See The Light. 

• You will find the basic supplies around your house.
• There are short lessons.
• Art history and Bible knowledge are included.
• Each lesson will build on the ones before; Volume 1- The Basics, Volume 2- Shape and Space, Volume 3- Value & Color, Volume 4- Color Blending Techniques, Volume 5- Proportions for Composition, Volume 6- Texture & Form, Volume 7- Perspective for the Landscape, Volume 8- Balance & Foreshortening, Volume 9- The Portrait

Our Experience: 

We were given Volume 1 (art lessons 1-4).  This DVD was all about the basics:

• Lesson 1- Tools Of The Trade
• Lesson 2- It All Starts With A Line
• Lesson 3- Contours & Composition
• Lesson 4- Draw What You See
• Bonus!- Chalk-It-Easy Chalk Art Lesson 

B and C were really excited about having drawing lessons, because art is one of their favorite subjects.  We made a special trip to the store to buy them their own special drawing tools and then got to work learning the lessons.

The children had fun watching the lessons and learning how to draw lines on the paper.  Next they learned contour drawing with apples.  They had to draw at least ten apples, before they started.  When they drew two apples together they were able to use pencil, charcoal and black marker.  In their own sections you can see how their contour charcoal drawings of apples turned out.

The lesson that proved to be the most difficult was Lesson 4, because it was very hard for B and C to do contour drawings of a shoe.  They became very frustrated and we needed to stop doing it.

We have also done the bonus chalk art lesson.  The kids had a lot of fun using the chalk.  The benefit of using chalk was that perfection was not required.  The pictures they did of Cross Hill are below.  It did take us two hours to do it, so plan on lots of time when you do this lesson.

What I liked: 

• I never took drawing lessons, so it was great to have step by step lessons.
• The kids were really interested in learning more.
• They liked being able to draw with different tools.

What I Disliked:

• Lesson 4 was about drawing the contours of a shoe and was too difficult for B and C.

What B (boy, age seven officially in first grade) Liked and Disliked:  It was tricky to learn how to draw an apple, but I learned how to do it.  There was only one thing I disliked.  In Lesson 4, I had to draw a shoe.  And drawing a shoe was very tricky.  I liked the bonus chalk lesson of drawing Cross Hill.  It is a beautiful picture.  I think See the Light is great for kids my age!   

       

 

What C (girl, age five working on kindergarten) Liked and Disliked:  I loved the art lessons!  I did all the lessons.  The Chalk Art picture was fun.  And smudging the charcoal was fun.  It was good for kids my age.

         

 

What Dad Thought: "See the Light" art program had some ups and downs. I liked that in the first lesson they taught you to draw what you see not what you know. For example, you now that a coffee mug has a handle but if you turn it just right you won't see it. If you don't see it, even thought you know it's there, don't draw it. The chalk lesson was presented exceptionally well so that B & C picked up on the ideas to create a chalk picture. Adding scripture relevancy to the art was a nice touch.

What I didn't like was in the 2nd part of the fourth lesson was the drawing of the shoe. It seemed a bit complex for a 5 & 7 year old. I remember beginning with basic shapes and shading. Going directly to a shoe was a big step. Also, the concept of learning to draw was nullified as the presenter was drawing a shoe that had already been traced out on the piece of paper. My kids already know how to trace. It should have been a new, free-hand drawing to really be a teaching tool.

Overall, the program seemed advanced for B & C with the exception of the noted things I liked previously mentioned. Using a traced outline to teach free-hand drawing is contrary to what they were trying to teach and therefore I do not recommend this product.

Other Products Available:  $10/month for online access of 4 lessons per month, The Crossmaker DVD, The Gift of Love DVD, books for parents and kids, and more

I would recommend See the Light art classes for learning how to draw. For more reviews go to The Homeschool Crew review page.

Disclaimer: I received this product for free for review purposes through The Homeschool Crew. All links were current when posted.

Kinderbach

Product: Kinderbach

Vendor Contact Information:

www.kinderbach.com

Kinderbach LLC

P.O. Box 181

Le Claire, Iowa 52753

e-mail- info@kinderbach.com

phone- 1-563-332-0587

Age Appeal: ages 3 to 7

Format: Online videos and PDF downloads

Price:  30 day free trial, $19.99 per month or $95.88 (one time annual payment, savings over 60%), credit card only

This video does a wonderful job of describing the program!

Karri Gregor is the founder of Kinderbach.  She began developing the program when her daughter was born, so her children could have a solid music foundation as she had as a young child.

Dodi the Donkey, Frisco, Carla the Caterpillar, Edward the Eagle, Felicity the Frog, Gracie the Gorilla, Alan the Alligator and Bob the Bear are the characters that help the children learn the keys on the staff and keyboard. 

Each week has an introduction and four lessons.  Each lesson takes five to ten minutes and they all build on each other, so the child learns the material.

There are six areas of music development that will be learned in different lessons: ear or listening skills, sight or note reading, rhythm, hand position or technique, singing and composition.

Currently there are six levels with a total of 60 lessons.  Level Seven will be out in August of 2011 with more fun lessons!

Our Experience:  We were very excited to be able to review this program, because we have a piano and the children have been wanting to learn how to play.

I watched a couple of the lessons and decided that we could do one week per day as the daily lessons did not take much time and there was so much repetition.  This method has worked very well so far, but I know that soon it will change, because the daily lessons are getting longer.

The kids had fun finding their rhythm instruments at the beginning of each lesson and then banging to the beat during the songs.  Coloring sheets were also a lot of fun for C, but B was not as interested in coloring them.  They both had fun playing on the piano with the new songs they were learning.

What I Liked:

• It was nice that there were PDF downloads for each of the lessons so I could print off as many copies as I needed.
• The kids were excited each time we did a lesson.
• I liked the list of curriculum, so I knew what each level contained.

What I Disliked:

• I thought there was too much repetition.  I didn’t think that 14 weeks of lessons were necessary to learn where the D key was located.
• It was difficult for us in the beginning to play the songs with the background music, because we could not hear the beat.
• The audio was not level.  Some parts were very loud and some were so quiet that we needed external speakers for my laptop.

What B (boy, age seven, officially in first Grade) Likes and Dislikes:   I like Kinderbach.  You learn how to play the piano.  Right now we are working on Carla, Dodi and Edward, notes C, D and E.  It is really fun learning the piano.  There are coloring pages and other fun pages like, making your own song!  I think this program is very good for kids my age. 

Below is one of my favorite parts of the lesson!    

What C (girl, age five, working on Kindergarten) Liked and Disliked:  I liked Kinderbach!  I liked the Finger Number Polka, because it was fun country singers and gluing them on the paper hands.  And then possibly cut the hands out and stick them on our own hands.  I playing the songs on the piano.  Jake was a funny dog.  There were crazy voices.  It is good for kids my age! 

What Dad Said:  What I liked about Kinderbach is that they focus on building a strong foundation in the basics of music. While it is primarily applied to the piano it can be carried over to other instruments. B & C enjoy the lessons and variety that Kinderbach provides.

What I disliked was that the lessons seemed to move slowly while building the basic foundation. As an adult I do expect information and results to come at a faster pace. However, B & C really enjoy this program and are showing tremendous progress. The program works despite my impatience. 

Overall, if your child (or children) really like Kinderbach and show progress, stick with it.

Other Products Available:  DVD’s of the program along with CD’s with copies of the PDF’s and activities are available.  Songbooks are also available.

I would recommend Kinderbach to families with young children, so they can have a solid foundation for music.  For more reviews go to The Homeschool Crew review page.

Disclaimer: I received this product for free for review purposes through The Homeschool Crew. All links were current when posted.