NEW! Unit Studies From See The Light Shine!

* This post contains affiliate links.  Clicking on them helps support our homeschooling efforts, and we appreciate your use of them!  You can read more about our affiliate and review policy on our full disclosure page found at the top.

I'm VERY excited today - because our favorite art-at-home company, See the Light, just released their first UNIT STUDY! 

We love unit studies, and most of the time I create them myself.  The other See the Light products that we've used have been of such high quality, though, that I can't wait to see this new resource for myself. 

So what is it?

Sunflowers.  

Since the first-ever piece of art that My Big Helper sold was a sunflower picture based on van Gogh's, this is big news for us.  Read on to find out what makes this study sound so cool!

SUNFLOWERS UNIT STUDY

A Dynamic Unit Study Built Around the SUNFLOWERS Art Projects DVD!

Contains everything the busy home educator needs to have a well-rounded, comprehensive plan for an entire month!

With SUNFLOWERS Art Project at the core, this unit study-guide provides integrated instruction in many disciplines for the student ages 10 and up -- and can be tailored with more challenging research assignments for the high-schooler.

Components of the SUNFLOWERS UNIT STUDY:

BIBLE

SCIENCE

LITERATURE

VOCABULARY

WRITING

SOCIAL STUDIES (History and Geography)

MATH

ART HISTORY / ART APPRECIATION

MUSIC

FOREIGN LANGUAGE

SUNFLOWERS UNIT STUDY also includes a "Week at a Glance Plan" as well as the daily plan. There are Internet links and suggested reading lists.

So - what are you waiting for?  You can purchase your own copy here.  :-)

And I'd love to see pics of your finished sunflower art.

A Dynamic Unit Study Built Around the SUNFLOWERS Art Projects DVD!

Contains everything the busy home educator needs to have a well-rounded, comprehensive plan for an entire month!

With SUNFLOWERS Art Project at the core, this unit study-guide provides integrated instruction in many disciplines for the student ages 10 and up -- and can be tailored with more challenging research assignments for the high-schooler.
Components of the SUNFLOWERS UNIT STUDY:
BIBLE
SCIENCE
LITERATURE
VOCABULARY
WRITING
SOCIAL STUDIES (History and Geography)
MATH
ART HISTORY / ART APPRECIATION
MUSIC
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
SUNFLOWERS UNIT STUDY also includes a "Week at a Glance Plan" as well as the daily plan. There are Internet links and suggested reading lists.
- See more at: http://www.seethelightshine.com/store/unit-studies/sunflowers-unit-study.html#sthash.HgyLK2PE.zyw4iRJL.dpuf

A Dynamic Unit Study Built Around the SUNFLOWERS Art Projects DVD!

Contains everything the busy home educator needs to have a well-rounded, comprehensive plan for an entire month!

With SUNFLOWERS Art Project at the core, this unit study-guide provides integrated instruction in many disciplines for the student ages 10 and up -- and can be tailored with more challenging research assignments for the high-schooler.
- See more at: http://www.seethelightshine.com/store/unit-studies/sunflowers-unit-study.html#sthash.HgyLK2PE.zyw4iRJL.dpuf

A Dynamic Unit Study Built Around the SUNFLOWERS Art Projects DVD!

Contains everything the busy home educator needs to have a well-rounded, comprehensive plan for an entire month!

With SUNFLOWERS Art Project at the core, this unit study-guide provides integrated instruction in many disciplines for the student ages 10 and up -- and can be tailored with more challenging research assignments for the high-schooler.
- See more at: http://www.seethelightshine.com/store/unit-studies/sunflowers-unit-study.html#sthash.HgyLK2PE.zyw4iRJL.dpuf

A Dynamic Unit Study Built Around the SUNFLOWERS Art Projects DVD!

Contains everything the busy home educator needs to have a well-rounded, comprehensive plan for an entire month!

With SUNFLOWERS Art Project at the core, this unit study-guide provides integrated instruction in many disciplines for the student ages 10 and up -- and can be tailored with more challenging research assignments for the high-schooler.
- See more at: http://www.seethelightshine.com/store/unit-studies/sunflowers-unit-study.html#sthash.HgyLK2PE.zyw4iRJL.dpuf

A Dynamic Unit Study Built Around the SUNFLOWERS Art Projects DVD!

Contains everything the busy home educator needs to have a well-rounded, comprehensive plan for an entire month!

With SUNFLOWERS Art Project at the core, this unit study-guide provides integrated instruction in many disciplines for the student ages 10 and up -- and can be tailored with more challenging research assignments for the high-schooler.
- See more at: http://www.seethelightshine.com/store/unit-studies/sunflowers-unit-study.html#sthash.HgyLK2PE.zyw4iRJL.dpuf

A Dynamic Unit Study Built Around the SUNFLOWERS Art Projects DVD!

Contains everything the busy home educator needs to have a well-rounded, comprehensive plan for an entire month!

With SUNFLOWERS Art Project at the core, this unit study-guide provides integrated instruction in many disciplines for the student ages 10 and up -- and can be tailored with more challenging research assignments for the high-schooler.
Components of the SUNFLOWERS UNIT STUDY:
BIBLE
SCIENCE
LITERATURE
VOCABULARY
WRITING
SOCIAL STUDIES (History and Geography)
MATH
ART HISTORY / ART APPRECIATION
MUSIC
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
SUNFLOWERS UNIT STUDY also includes a "Week at a Glance Plan" as well as the daily plan. There are Internet links and suggested reading lists.
- See more at: http://www.seethelightshine.com/store/unit-studies/sunflowers-unit-study.html#sthash.HgyLK2PE.zyw4iRJL.dpuf

A Dynamic Unit Study Built Around the SUNFLOWERS Art Projects DVD!

Contains everything the busy home educator needs to have a well-rounded, comprehensive plan for an entire month!

With SUNFLOWERS Art Project at the core, this unit study-guide provides integrated instruction in many disciplines for the student ages 10 and up -- and can be tailored with more challenging research assignments for the high-schooler.
Components of the SUNFLOWERS UNIT STUDY:
BIBLE
SCIENCE
LITERATURE
VOCABULARY
WRITING
SOCIAL STUDIES (History and Geography)
MATH
ART HISTORY / ART APPRECIATION
MUSIC
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
SUNFLOWERS UNIT STUDY also includes a "Week at a Glance Plan" as well as the daily plan. There are Internet links and suggested reading lists.
- See more at: http://www.seethelightshine.com/store/unit-studies/sunflowers-unit-study.html#sthash.HgyLK2PE.zyw4iRJL.dpuf

See the Light Special!

Have you checked out February and March’s See the Light special yet?

The CROSSMAKER ULTIMATE GIFT SET is one of our most popular gift sets! It’s perfect for the children to enjoy in celebration of Resurrection Day.

Included:

• DVD w/ 150 minutes of content, CD w/ music and story,
• black light
• fluorescent pencils
• fluorescent chalk

During the month of February and March the Crossmaker Ultimate Gift Set is only $25.00 which includes FREE SHIPPING for US residents.

Coupon Code:  STL

See the Light wants (1) family to have their very own Crossmaker Ultimate Gift Set. We will be picking a random winner on February 17th at 12a. All entries will be verified.

 NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/NmVjZGNjMDRjMmEwNjcyZmQ0NTA3OTRlZmQ1NzRlOjE0NQ==/

This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. You understand that you are providing your information to the owner of this Facebook page and not to Facebook.

Share!

** This post contains affiliate links.  For more information about these links, which help to support our family's homeschooling efforts, please read my Full Disclosure Policy located on the page of the same name.

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See The Light Black Friday Special!

** This post includes affiliate links that support our homeschooling efforts.  Thanks for using them!  For more information, read our Full Disclosure policy.

At our house, we love the See the Light art DVDs.  The lessons are easy to understand but taught by art masters, and each one includes a devotion.  I can see my kids using what they learn from these lessons each time they draw!

See the Light is having a great special on Friday.  More information is detailed below.  If you're in the market for some great art instruction, look no further.

Check out See the Light's November Special - with FREEBIES!

*This post contains affiliate links which support our homeschooling efforts.  Thank you for using them!

This month’s special is our most popular The Gift of Love Deluxe Set for 25.00 + FREE SHIPPING.  You save 33%. This incudes:

• The Gift of Love DVD (143 mins)
• A pocket Size – 6 inch See the Light Black Light (batteries included)
• Extreme Colored Pencils
• Fluorescent Chalk

Use Coupon Code: NOVEMBER

Offer is good thru November 30, 2013. These art lessons make wonderful keepsakes and special homemade gifts that your children can give to their loved ones.

Be sure to download your FREE Luke 2 Copywork to go along with the November’s special, The Gift of Love Deluxe Set.

Now for the Giveaway!

See the Light will be giving away THE GIFT OF LOVE DELUXE SET. We will be picking a random winners November  15th at 11:59p. Winners will be contacted via email and must respond within 48 hours or another winner will be chosen. All entries will be verified.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Plus, for four lessons that you can download for free, click here.

Pointillism Fruit Review with See the Light

*This post contains affiliate links for See The Light, a Christian art education company.  Clicking on these links can help my family but in no way does this association affect the opinions that you will read below.  See the Light provided me with DVDs for reviewing purposes and is giving another set away to one of you.

When we were offered the opportunity to review See the Light's Pointillism Fruit Art Project, I jumped at it.  We've loved our See the Light Art Class DVDs, and I had high hopes for the lessons in the Art Project series.  To see our review of Art Class 1 & 2, click here.

We were not disappointed.

This DVD features the work of George Seurat, a French painter who developed the pointillism technique.  It contains four lessons, all of which are more than twenty minutes long and instruct in history, science, technique, and a devotion.  Who knew a few simple art lessons could do so much?

The first lesson begins with a biography of George Seurat.  It contains information about his life and the science that makes pointillism work.  Four of us viewed each of these lessons together: My Little Man, a six-year-old boy; My Big Helper, an eight-year-old girl; our friend A, who's ten, and me, a grown-up of undetermined years.  ;-)

The kids were a bit impatient with this first lesson - mostly because they couldn't wait to start painting.  They wanted to get messy!  The information contained in the lesson was fascinating to me, though, and I think it would be perfect for older students.  I loved how easy Pat's - the master artist's - presentation was and friendly she appeared.  This lesson alone would make it possible for this DVD to be used with a unit study about France, George Seurat, pointillism, color, or optic science!

In the second lesson the paints come out.  Over the course of the next three lessons the viewer is taught how to  create a still life using the pointillism technique.  The kids liked this part the best.  Demos continued throughout the lessons, although the kids' attention varied during this part.  They tended to watch just a bit to get a feel for Pat's technique and then to charge ahead on their own.  

Each child listened to the directions, though, and tried to follow them.  This little guy wouldn't draw big fruit for anything, but being willing to draw a certain thing is new for him.  I didn't push it, and it turned out that the smaller size of his drawing, although it prevented the pointillism technique from working out perfectly, matched his attention span for making the dots.  Since this lesson is geared for kids ages ten and up, he did well.

My Big Helper was excited to see the color wheel throughout the lessons and excitedly shared what she remembered from former art lessons.  This definitely activated prior knowledge for her and was a point of interest.  I appreciated Pat's depth  and the way that she continually referred to the color wheel to explain her color choice throughout the lessons.

Even when we thought there was nothing else we could do to make our pictures any better, Pat would break out the color wheel again and show us how to add even more detail to our work.  The girls each got a bit tired of this by the end, but I loved it.  It was very detailed information and fun to learn.  Again, if the girls were just a bit older OR hadn't done all of the lessons in sequence, they probably would have used this information a bit more.  As it was, they followed Pat's directions and added more detail for each step.

Our completed work demonstrates how specific and detailed the lessons are, as well as the ability of each child to follow the directions.  For this Little Man, following any kind of specific art lesson is a new thing.  He enjoyed the lessons and is very proud of how identifiable his fruit is.  Since he has frequently complained about his lack of artistic ability in the past, I'm happy to see him enjoying art.

My Big Helper is also very proud of her work.  

A said that she enjoyed completing the lessons.  She worked diligently and did a great job with her fruit.

I had fun, too.  I love being able to get lots in the mixing of colors.  I would've been happy to hang out at the table, making more and more dots, but the kids were calling .... sigh.  It's easy to see how engrossed Seurat became in his pointillism - though I don't think I could do work on a single piece for three years at a time.  I'd really like to be able to see his work after learning about it, though.

I would definitely recommend Pointillism Fruit with George Seurat.  These art lessons were well planned, detailed, and complete in that they pulled in the art history and science along with the actual technique.  The kids were thrilled with the 'professional' looking art that they made - and I think I need a house with more wall space to house it all!

Pros to Using Pointillism Fruit, in random order:

• easy-to-understand techniques
• a devotion in each lesson
• short, child-friendly lessons
• interdisciplinary lessons - included art history, science, geography, and biography, as well as art technique and extension ideas
• uses common household supplies - no special materials needed
• affordable price
• meets content standards for Visual Arts
• they're fun!

Cons to Using Pointillism Fruit, in random order:

• Truly, I can't think of any.

There's more good stuff to know about See the Light, though, and it's really important.  See the Light exceeds the National Visual Arts Standards.  They can be used as Fine Arts credit for any state in the US, and completing the video instruction alone - with all of their DVDs - satisfies 1/2 of a credit according to the Home School Legal Defense Association.  

What makes it even better is that See the Light will provide you with the information that you need to turn that half credit into a whole credit easily.  How great is it that they'll provide the plans necessary to get you all the way to a whole credit?

All in all, we loved these pointillism lessons, and I can't recommend them highly enough.

Have you tried See the Light yet?

I received a free copy of Pointillism Fruit from See the Light as part of the Mosaics Review Program in exchange for an honest review.

GratiTuesday - Setting Giant-Sized Goals

*This post contains affiliate links for a company whose products I have used and loved.  I recommend them because they are high quality.  If you choose to click on these links, you'll be supporting our homeschooling efforts - and we thank you.

Over the past few months I've gotten to work with the elementary-aged youth at our church.  We used the fabulous curriculum that came with Tales of the Not Forgotten  by Beth Guckenberger.  (You can read my review of that book here.)

The conversations that we had sparked something in my Big Helper - something new and special.  She decided to raise money for the Hands and Feet Project's orphans' home in Haiti - and then, upon learning that it was possible to go there on mission, she set that as her goal.

Now, I think this is a wonderful thing.  As hard as it will be to let her go, and even harder if she's heading off to our continental American shores, she's only eight.

Fortunately for me, Hands and Feet requires that you be thirteen years old before going there to do mission work, but my Big Helper is not letting that stop her.

Last month she decided that it was time to plan her annual lemonade stand, and about a week before setting up, her face lit up.  She looked at me and announced, "Mommy, this year I want the money to go towards my Haiti trip!"

I wasn't sure what to say to that.  Does she realize that this trip is five years away - minimum?  Does she realize how much it's going to cost to get her - and her daddy - and the four other people they require all the way there?

No, she doesn't.  She wasn't counting the cost - she was just stepping out in faith.

And then she decided to expand upon last year's lemonade stand and sell orangeades - and art.

She was so pleased with her debut piece of oil pastel artwork that she decided to add art to her lemonade stand.

As word spread about what she was trying to do, the demand for her artwork far surpassed what she was able to create in the few days' time prior to her sale.  In fact, she's still trying to catch up.

But she's happy.  

Her lemonade stand efforts went so well - and people were so generous when they learned what she wants to do - that she raised many times over what she's ever made before.

So much so that a few days later we visited the bank, where she opened a new account to keep her Haiti money safe.

Life has slowed down since her lemonade stand supplies were packed up for this year, but her dreams haven't.  She's dreaming as big as ever - with a giant-sized goal heaped upon lots of faith and sweetened with lemonade and sugar.

If you came by My Big Helper's lemonade stand and supported her efforts to go to Haiti, we thank you.  If you're one of the people waiting in line for her original artwork, we thank you, too - you're both increasing her faith and her confidence.  To Beth Guckenberger and the See the Light Crew - only God could have mashed together my Big Helper, oily sunflowers, and Haitian orphans with your outstanding lessons to get a goal this beautiful.  Thank you.

For more GratiTuesday, visit Heavenly Homemakers.

Want to know more about how she began her own "art business?"  Check it out here!