Review: ArtAchieve

Imagine this... You have a child who is good at art, but is reaching that stage where he wants to try new things, but has a mother who isn't quite up different ways to do art and doesn't have the inspiration for it either?   Enter in The Entire Level I course of ArtAchieve... it has been a blessing to a lad and his mother.  :)

ArtAchieve: What is it?

• Inspired by art from all around the world
• help people like me teach art to my lad
• includes helpful links to make the art lesson broader, covering social studies, science and language arts
  
• it is an online art drawing program from children from kindergarten age up through to adults of any age.
  
• Lessons are presented in video and power-presentation formats
  

What is included in the Entire Level I course?

• Shading Rounded Objects (this is also a free lesson)
  
• The hungarian Insects
  
• The Haitian Gecko
  
• The dragonfly from Ecuador
  
• The Chinese Dragon
  
• The Owl from Bali
  
• The Kitenge Tree Wall Hanging from Tanzania
  
• The Plate from Nepal
  
• Four Suns with Four Faces
  
• The Sheep from Wales

Each Lesson has four sections to it.

   I really appreciated the layout of this on-line art curriculum, I loved that we could go as fast or as slowly as we wanted to.

We started out each lesson watching the video lesson.  This gave us an opportunity to just see what we were going to do and get the ideas into our heads.  We would talk about the new techniques we would be learning and make sure we had the needed supplies.

We'd research the topic of the lesson... geckos, suns in art, and dragonflies.   Seeing how people have used them in art and observing them in the wild (via video in the case of geckos).   We did science (studying geckos and dragonflies), Geography (learning about where the art inspiration came from, seeing where that was in the world), art (seeing how the sun has been used in various art forms) and more.  Art, interwoven into so many subject areas.  I can totally see this being used in a co-op situation if you have a screen big enough for all the children to view.

We worked out way slowly through each of the lessons using the power point presentation.   We really liked how we could go slide by slide, skip ahead, go back and double check what we are doing.   Using out touch screen laptop was very beneficial in this, helping us flip through the slides quickly.

And to be honest, I have to admit that I really liked that ability to slow down and go at our own pace, it fit into how we do school and life.  :)

Working on the four suns project was a great way to show my lad how two people can approach the same project with the same instructions and come out with a completely different project.  It taught him a bit about planning ahead, and when that doesn't pan out the way you thought it would, how to regroup and figure out how to make it work.   I LOVE the vibrancy in my son's four suns work (he didn't want me to show the finished work).  He is SO detail oriented... I think the final result turned out splendidly but all he sees is the bobble he made on the cool side...  In my eye the colours on his just pop out and say HEY, look at me!!

My four suns. Completed.

The lad's four suns, a work in progress. He is more exact in his work than his mom is.

I have to admit, that there were areas that my son struggled with. This provided us with an opportunity to talk to John and discover that he's a very helpful and friendly fellow.

Rules for drawing stymied my lad:
Silence?   Playing Music?   MOM!!!!
Some of you don't know me or my boy well enough to know that we are chatterers.   We like to talk about all sorts of things while working, and most often it's not connected with the task at hand.   So the idea of playing music or working in silence was an anathema to us.   So we asked John why this was a recommendation. 
His words: Maybe a story is a helpful way to answer this. When I learned to play tennis, I was constantly saying things like, “Oh, no!” and “Come on! That was terrible!” as I swatted at the ball. A friend advised me to hum while I played, and for me that humming ushered in a big step of progress in my playing. Why? Because while I hummed (while I was caught up in the tune) I wasn’t able to engage in all the negative talk. The negative talk got in the way of being playful, thinking visually/spatially, and being aware of how the game was going. The negative talk turned play into work, and made me a poor player. Humming made me more playful; it made the game almost like a dance. As the game became more fun and playful, my skills advanced rapidly.
       Playing music during art can work in a similar fashion, if we let it. It also helps us make that mind shift from verbal/analytical thought to spatial thought. If it helps to hum along with the music, do so. If you prefer to simply hum, like I did in tennis, skip playing music, and simply hum.
My son couldn't work his head around humming and doing art, so we gave up on that idea, and has been learning that silence sometimes helps with concentration, but we still chatter.. it's part of who we are.  :)   

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As you go through the lessons, John makes them as helpful as he can.  Providing lists of supplies needed, practice sheets for drawing and basic instructions for what to do with your paint is too thin, not the right shade and such like.   Many different techniques are included into each art work, from learning the cool and warm colours, shading, blending and much more.

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Our most recent project, the dragonflies, we haven't finished yet.   My son is not convinced that adding water colours to the oil pastels will work well, so he's been testing it out on "bad drawings".   What colours he wants to use, how much, in what patterns and will it affect his dragonfly?   He's worked hard on it and isn't convinced it "isn't perfect" but is starting to think it "might be okay".   It's hard sometimes when you are a perfectionist and you're engaged in a medium for the first time.   It's been a great project for him though, as he's seeing how science and art go hand in hand... from learning about the object we're drawing, to finding ways to draw circles in decreasing sizes, mixing colours, figuring out thickness of paint and water and how to combine the two, and through it all...needing to breathe out his frustration and relax.

The relaxation techniques that he hated when we started have become a part of doing art now.  As John told us "it’s a way of helping us be more aware. First, we take time to be aware of our breathing, and that aids in slowing us down; it sets us up for being aware and taking time to look carefully when we get into the drawing, to notice how a color is working, etc."

We received a years access to the entire lesson I art drawing lessons from ArtAchieve. 

I fully anticipate completing the rest of the art projects. 

Over the next three weeks I anticipate finishing another project with our International Student who is visiting us from France.

It will be a great way to practice English and to have fun learning.  He's quite curious about the fact that we school at home as he's never heard of such a thing before. 

Did you know that you can purchase individual lessons?  I know awesome eh?   You can also try out sample lessons from each of the levels.  

The site is easy to navigate, so I recommend you visit them and check out the individual lessons.   Each bundle of lessons is priced differently ($27 and up), as are the individual lessons ($4 each and up).   All available for a full year.

99 people from the TOS crew have been reviewing three of the different levels the ArtAchieve offers. 

Entire Level I
Entire Level II
Entire Level III

Click on the banner below to learn more

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Social Media Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Artachieve
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/artchieve  @artachieve
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