ARTistic Pursuits Inc. Art of the Ancients Review #ComplimentaryProductReceived

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

My family had the privilege of trying the Art of the Ancients from Artistic Pursuits Inc. for this review to use in conjunction with our own curriculum at home. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

ARTistic Pursuits Inc. creates art curriculum for children. This full-color curriculum helps children to grow their skills of observation and critical thinking. It teaches all components of fine art, including creativity, art history, art appreciation, and art techniques. This unique homeschool art program permits the student to be expressive and make up their own decision about what and how they will draw, paint, or sculpt.

ARTistic Pursuits Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray by Brenda Ellis are brand new hardcover books for kindergarten and elementary students. These have art history and art instruction lessons in text with pictures to study and video lessons on how to use the art materials. There are a total of 8 volumes currently:

• K-3 Vol. 1 ART FOR CHILDREN, Building a Visual Vocabulary
• K-3 Vol. 2 ART OF THE ANCIENTS
• K-3 Vol. 3 ART OF THE MIDDLE AGES
• K-3 Vol. 4 ARTISTS THAT SHAPED THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
• K-3 Vol. 5 ART OF THE NORTHERN COUNTRIES, RENAISSANCE TO REALISM
• K-3 Vol. 6 ART OF THE IMPRESSIONISTS
• K-3 Vol. 7 ART OF THE MODERN AGE
• K-3 Vol. 8 ART IN AMERICA

Each book covers one whole semester of art if you have your student do one lesson a week. You can do these lessons chronologically starting with volume 1 and follow the history volumes in order or do volume 1 and then skip to the volume of choice after that. It is all up to you.

Art of the Ancients is the second volume of the series. It is a hardcover book with both Blu-ray and DVD. It has 64 pages, 18 lessons (12 text lessons featuring artworks by ancient artists and 6 video lessons featuring art instruction on materials), and 106 illustrations. This art curriculum book and videos takes a look at art found in caves to the classical art of the Roman Empire. The book covers Near Eastern figures and relief carvings, Minoan fresco painting, Etruscan and Egyptian wall painting, Greek pillars and pottery, as well as the many methods of making art in Rome. Young learners will create and respond to art of the ancient cultures as they express themselves and see the world in new ways. They also learn about the period and how the people then made art. Children will work with pastels and clay.

K-3 Vol.2 Art Supply Pack | ARTistic Pursuits

K-3 Vol. 2 Art Supply Pack (can be purchased separately or with the book for additional cost) Includes:

• Wire clay cutter
• Amaco Air-dry clay
• NuPastel hard pastel color sticks, set of 12
• 15 x 15" cotton fabric Blue Cotton Tote Bag

You will also need these materials from K-3 Vol. 1 Starter Pack Materials list:

• Watercolor crayons
• Oil pastels
• Ebony pencil
• Vinyl eraser
• Watercolor brush, #8 round
• Watercolor paper pad
• Drawing paper pad
• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Elmer's Glue-All
• Glue stick

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

I did this art instruction for kids with my daughters Teela and Zari who are in 3rd and 6th grade this school year. We tried to do one lesson a week, but our clay did not come to us in the mail because of back-orders and delays with COVID-19. We did what we could with what we had at home. My kids love art so they enjoyed these activities and learning about the art and history very much.

The lessons without videos have prep notes with tips and information about the type of art. It also has notes on how to instruct a larger group. Then there is the art history lesson on the next page with pictures of an art piece and questions at the end in bold. After the history lesson the book has a page of how to do the art. Each art lesson has a box of text that will list the materials needed for that art project, an example picture of the art made by a student, pictures of the art being assembled and instructions with more insight into the history. The lessons that have videos are truncated in the book and have a minimal amount of information to show you what art will be created and what materials are needed to make the art. These are used with the DVD or Blu-ray.

ARTistic Pursuits Inc. Art of the Ancients, K-3 Vol. 2: Lesson 1 (something with wheels with pastels).

The first lesson we had an introduction of art in the ancient world and learned how to use soft pastels to make a picture of something with wheels. This lesson was accompanied by a video (video #1) on the DVD or Blu-ray. This gave us very visual step-by-step instruction of the process. We liked the videos and thought they were very thorough, educational, and nicely done. The video had the art history and art instruction to show how to use the pastels. Zari did the Fire Truck.

ARTistic Pursuits Inc. Art of the Ancients, K-3 Vol. 2: Lesson 2 (cave art).

The second lesson in the book we learned about European cave drawings. We read in the art book of 4 boys in France that discovered some cave art. There are questions at the end in bold of the this art history lesson about the bull and horse cave painting in the book to make sure the children are paying attention to the art. Then we are told with words and shown with color pictures in the book how to do cave art on brown paper with earth colored pastels. I did the zebra and Teela did the panda bear.

The third lesson we learned about clay slab building. This lesson was accompanied by a video (video #2) on the DVD or Blu-ray. This gave us very visual step-by-step instruction of the process. In this lesson you build a clay figure out of slabs. The video had the art and art instruction to show how to use and care for the clay and other items to make the figure. Since we didn't have the clay we just watched the video for the instructions for future reference.

The forth lesson we learned about the city of Jericho and the Human Statue found there. There are questions at the end in bold of the this art history lesson in the book to make sure the children are paying attention to the art. Then we are told with words and shown with color pictures in the book how to do a human figure in clay. Since we didn't have the clay we just read the book and looked at the pictures for future reference.

ARTistic Pursuits Inc. Art of the Ancients, K-3 Vol. 2: Lesson 5 (animal art with pastels).

In the fifth lesson we learned about art in Minoan palaces. In this lesson we learned about a painting called Bull Jumping that was found in the Island of Crete. There are questions at the end in bold of the this art history lesson about the painting in the book to make sure the children are paying attention to the art. We were instructed to make an animal painting with pastels. I did the hedgehog and Zari did the Toucan.

There was only one thing that I would change if I was the author. My daughters and I wished that all the lessons had videos because we are very visual and the videos made the instruction so much easier, but we would also have liked those that did have videos to have the whole instruction and art history lesson in the book as well. This would make it easier to use with those children that are too young to read and those that learn better by reading than by visual and audio as well would benefit if both were used for all lessons. This would help our learners of all types.

So far ARTistic Pursuits Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray Art of the Middle Ages has been very educational and fun. We have learned so much about the art of the time. I highly recommend this art for children. ARTistic Pursuits Inc. Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray Art of the Ancients would be a great art curriculum for use with art history lessons and unit studies of the Early Europeans, Minoans, Ancient Egyptians, Ancient Greeks, Etruscans, and Ancient Romans.

Follow Them on Social Media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArtisticPursuitsInc
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ARTisticPursui1 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artisticpursuitsinc/ 
• Hashtags: #hsreviews #myartisticpursuits #homeschoolart #artinstruction #ART #Homeschool #ARTEDUCATION #artisticpursuits #creativity

BUY IT
You can purchase ARTistic Pursuits Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray. They are each $39.99. If you would like to purchase the art kits with these it is more and depends on the kit.

Read other homeschool curriculum reviews for ARTistic Pursuits Inc....

Roman Roads Media Fitting Words Classical Rhetoric Review

My family had the privilege of trying the Fitting Words Classical Rhetoric (complete program) from Roman Roads Media for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Roman Roads Media is a publisher of classical curriculum with a Christian worldview. Named "Roman Roads" for the first century roads of the Roman Empire that were the physical means by which the early church spread the gospel far and wide. Similarly Roman Roads Media now brings instruction through today's technology and media. Some of the curriculum they offer is Picta Dicta, a Latin learning curriculum, and Fitting Words Classical Rhetoric, the course I am reviewing here. You can see more on their website.

Fitting Words Classical Rhetoric is a complete curriculum for high school students and above to learn classical rhetoric. Rhetoric, if you are not familiar with the word,  is "a technique of using language effectively and persuasively in spoken or written form. It is an art of discourse, which studies and employs various methods to convince, influence, or please an audience". Basically it means speaking eloquently or having a way with words. This course covers a years worth of instruction, discussing topics such as: using words well, the greatest speeches of all time, and practicing the skills of effective public speaking. It teaches a Christian worldview  of this and references Bible passages in the course.

The Full Fitting Words Bundle Includes:

• Textbook
• Student Workbook
• Answer Key
• Exam Pack
• Video Course

Fitting Words Textbook Sample Pages

The Fitting Words Textbook is a hardback non-consumable textbook that has single-column pages and wide margins. The beginning of the textbook there is a Foreword, Preface, and Introduction. There are more than 100 black and white original illustrations throughout the book. These are of classical style and are a wonderful addition to the text. There are 30 total lessons that encompass the five cannons of rhetoric. The text also covers the six parts of a discourse, the three modes of persuasion, etc. Included within are great speeches from ancient, biblical, and modern times to help clarify the ideas in the book. It has 12 of the main speeches reproduced in full in Appendix A at back of the book. In Appendix B it pin points every speech in the Bible with the scripture referenced so you can look it up, who the speaker is, the intended audience, and a title or quote from each. In the back there is also a Glossary of words, their definitions, and where they can be located in the text. There is also pages of works cited. It is a complete curriculum for classical rhetoric that is packed with resources.

The Fitting Words Student Workbook is a spiral bound consumable workbook that covers exercises and activities for all the 30 lessons detailed in the curriculum. Several of these lessons that have two exercises. It starts out with an introduction of sorts that goes into the "Components of This Course" and says the "Optional Course Schedules" should be there as well, but all I saw was a "How to Use This Workbook"page in its place. The lesson exercises follow these pages with questions the student answers in their own words about things discussed in the textbook and video course. This is to be completed by one student. After the lesson exercises there are pages that cite the works in the exercises and sheets to help the student evaluate themselves when they practice the required speeches.

The Fitting Words Answer Key is a paperback book that includes answers to all the exercises and exams covered in the Fitting Words curriculum. Its layout complements the layout of both exercises and exams to make grading easier. Brackets let us know point recommendations for exams. The one and two year course schedules are also incorporated (which is good because it wasn't in the workbook like it said in the contents that it should have been).

The Fitting Words Exam Pack comes as a shrink wrapped loose leaf packet. These are also 3 hole punched to be able to place in 3-ring binder. This includes all nine exams that cover the crucial ideas for the course. Test review sheets and speech judging sheets are also contained therein. This is 70 pages total.

Fitting Words Classical Rhetoric Video Course.

The Fitting Words Video Course is a thorough instruction from the author that takes the learning one step further and adds a more visual component to it. Each lesson has two videos, one on the lesson and the other on application. These include: numerous examples, illustrations, videos demonstrating good oratory from history, extra activities, and more. There is also a preparation video for each of the 9 tests. You can pick from just streaming, DVD + streaming, or Blu-Ray + streaming.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:
I thought I could use this with my 18 year old, Delbin, to enhance his speaking skills and rhetoric, but after he looked it over and did one of the lessons he said it wasn't really for him. I was a bit crestfallen as I had hoped that he would be more enthusiastic about this course and want to do it because I did believe wholeheartedly that it would benefit him. Nonetheless, since the curriculum is geared towards high school and up I took up the charge in doing the lessons myself for this review, since I actually wanted to do the course anyway.

The tote bag that the course arrived in.

I was previously unaware of Roman Roads Media and pleasantly surprised when everything came in the mail. It was all very high quality and neatly contained in a tote bag that you could store everything in. I liked that everything could stay organized inside where you could find it easily. It was a nice touch that made everything even better.

The recommended steps for doing the course were different online than on the video course...

Recommended Steps While Going Through Fitting Words from the Video Course:

1. Watch the Lesson portion of the Video Course.
2. Read the lesson in the Textbook.
3. Watch the Application portion of the Video Course (workbook open).
4. Work on the exercises in the Student Workbook.
5. Where appropriate, put the application/workbook to practice!

I was a little confused about this, but decided to do what the instructor says to do in the video lessons. I suppose it doesn't really matter too much which order you do it in as long as it works for you. The one-year schedule has you meet 4-5 times a week, doing 1-2 lessons per day and has two semesters of work. The two-year schedule has you do a lesson per week roughly with it taking two years to complete. The one-year pace was a bit fast for me so I slowed it down to not overwhelm myself.

Delbin watching the first lesson in the Fitting Words Video Course.

We received the physical DVDs for the Video Course. There were a total of 4 discs. Disc One had lessons 1-11, Disc Two had lessons 12-17, Disc Three had lessons 18-23, and Disc Four had lessons 24-30. Over 18 hours of instruction total. Each video lesson is not too long and showed mostly the author in his study or library speaking from a podium. He is speaking from notes that he often looks down at...which is a little ironic since he is a speaker that is supposed to be teaching good speaking skills...but hey, nobody is perfect. All in all though I did enjoy these video lessons, especially when popular culture references were brought up....like for example a scene from Star Trek or Star Wars with a great quote. Hey, what can I say...I am a fan girl of great Sci-Fi and really appreciated the references.

Delbin reading the first lesson in the Fitting Words Textbook.

The physical Textbook has almost 400 pages with 30 lessons spanned out through 7 units. The lessons are short, but well written and packed with information. After each lesson there are optional Thinking Deeper questions, Developing Memory builders, and Reading Further to offer additional resources to glean from. There are also Key Concepts and Famous Orators highlighted in the sidebars for each lesson. I love that it has appendixes of famous speeches in their full text and every speech from the bible that are referenced so you can look them up on your own and read them yourself. This is a wonderful tool to have at your fingertips!

A sample of my work in the workbook for Fitting Words Classical Rhetoric Exercise 4.

The physical workbook follows the textbook and video course well. It has plenty of room to write your answers on the lines to the questions asked, which is wonderful! Of note: on the website the picture of the workbook is a paper back softcover and it says there are perforated pages, but there are not any perforated pages in the version that I received. It looks like they might have made the workbook better by making it spiral bound. I really love this because the workbook now lays flat and is easier to handle when taking notes or answering the questions in it. I also liked the wide margins so that in case I wanted to write notes there I could do so. Besides the exercises to do, there are 5 speeches to give throughout the course. I didn't get to any of those yet myself, but when I do there are speech judging sheets at the back that will help others grade my work.

The physical answer key is great at providing answers to every exercise and exam. These answers are wonderful to see examples of what should be written in the workbook. These don't have answers like "answers will vary", instead they fully answer the questions with great examples in complete sentences. I am also glad to find the course schedule here since it was absent in the workbook.

I am so glad that this course also came with a physical pre-printed exam pack. This is so much better than having to print these pages out myself and hole punch them. My printer is on the fritz anyway and is very low on ink...so I really appreciate this addition to the bundle especially since it is 70 pages!

The Commonplace Book.

I have also been told by the author to keep a Commonplace Book. This is an out of pocket expense, but totally worth having. It is a blank book to write down quotes, excerpts, phrases, sayings, thoughts, wisdom, or witticism from what you read, hear, or see. This is to develop copiousness, or idea of being full of thought, words, or information.

Bookmark we also received as a bonus.

The Fitting Words Classical Rhetoric from Roman Roads Media is a wonderful and very complete curriculum for learning rhetoric. I recommend it very highly to any who want a Christian worldview about this subject and to teach this to their students at home or learn it yourself. It is a fabulous course for classical education!

Follow Them on Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RomanRoadsMedia   @romanroadsmedia
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/romanroadsmedia/  @romanroadsmedia
YouTude: https://www.youtube.com/user/romanroadsmedia  @romanroadsmedia
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/romanroadsmedia  @romanroadsmedia
Hashtags: #hsreviews #RomanRoadsMedia #FittingWords #Classical #Rhetoric

BUY IT
You can purchase the entire Fitting Words Classical Rhetoric bundle for $204.00 or you can get them separately through Roman Roads Media.

Read other homeschool curriculum reviews for Roman Roads Media...

ARTistic Pursuits Inc. Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray Art of the Middle Ages Review

My family had the privilege of trying the Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray Art of the Middle Ages from ARTistic Pursuits Inc. for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

ARTistic Pursuits Inc. creates art curriculum for children. This full-color curriculum helps children to grow their skills of observation and critical thinking. It teaches all components of fine art, including creativity, art history, art appreciation, and art techniques. This unique homeschool art program permits the student to be expressive and make up their own decision about what and how they will draw, paint, or sculpt.

ARTistic Pursuits Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray by Brenda Ellis are brand new hardcover books for kindergarten and elementary students. These have art history and art instruction lessons in text with pictures to study and video lessons on how to use the art materials. There are a total of 6 volumes currently with two more on their way:

• K-3 Vol. 1 ART FOR CHILDREN, Building a Visual Vocabulary
• K-3 Vol. 2 ART OF THE ANCIENTS
• K-3 Vol. 3 ART OF THE MIDDLE AGES
• K-3 Vol. 4 ARTISTS THAT SHAPED THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
• K-3 Vol. 5 ART OF THE NORTHERN COUNTRIES, RENAISSANCE TO REALISM
• K-3 Vol. 6 ART OF THE IMPRESSIONISTS
• K-3 Vol. 7 ART OF THE MODERN AGE (Coming in the summer of 2018!)
• K-3 Vol. 8 ART IN AMERICA (Coming in the summer of 2018!)

Each book covers one whole semester of art if you have your student do one lesson a week. You can do these lessons chronologically starting with volume 1 and follow the history volumes in order or do volume 1 and then skip to the volume of choice after that. It is all up to you.

Art of the Middle Ages is the third volume of the series. It is a hardcover book with both Blu-ray and DVD. It has 64 pages, 18 lessons (12 text lessons featuring artworks by medieval masters and 6 video lessons featuring art instruction on materials), and 106 illustrations. This art curriculum book and videos takes a look at art produced in the Middle Ages, from the early Migration Period to the Gothic architecture of France. Young learners will create and respond to medieval art as they increase their skills in motivation, concentration, and discovery, etc. They also learn about the period and how the people then made art. Children will work with colored paper, needlework, weaving, and oil pastels.

K-3 Vol.3 Art Supply Pack | ARTistic Pursuits

K-3 Vol.3 Art Supply Pack (can be purchased separately or with the book for additional cost) Includes:

• Gesso, small bottle
• Gold acrylic paint, 2 oz
• Tissue paper (assorted colors)
• Sculpey, white, 2 oz
• Flat watercolor brush, 1/2 inch
• Mod Podge, matte finish
• Small tip squeeze bottle
• Plastic sewing needle, large
• Bristle brush, 1 inch
• Lightweight chipboard
• Gold origami paper
• Purple cotton tote bag

You will also need these materials from K-3 Vol. 1 Starter Pack Materials list:

• crayons
• oil pastel set
• scissors
• watercolor brush #8 round
• watercolor paper
• construction paper
• eraser
• Ebony pencil
• Elmer's Glue All
• glue stick

ARTistic Pursuits Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray Art of the Middle Ages Lessons 1-5

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:
I did this art instruction for kids with my daughters Teela and Zari who were in 1st and 4th grade this past school year. We did one lesson a week which got us through the 5th lesson. My kids love art so this was a great activity to get them busy during the summer. ARTistic Pursuits Inc. Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray Art of the Middle Ages would be a great art curriculum for use with art history lessons and a unit study for the Middle Ages or medieval times.

The lessons without videos have prep notes with tips and information about the type of art. It also has notes on how to instruct a larger group. Then there is the art history lesson on the next page with pictures of an art piece and questions at the end in bold. After the history lesson the book has a page of how to do the art. Each art lesson has a box of text that will list the materials needed for that art project, an example picture of the art made by a student, pictures of the art being assembled and instructions with more insight into the history. The lessons that have videos are truncated in the book and have a minimal amount of information to show you what art will be created and what materials are needed to make the art. These are used with the DVD or Blu-ray.

ARTistic Pursuits Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray Art of the Middle Ages Lesson 1 (Paper Loom Weave and Crown).

The first lesson we had an introduction of the medieval world and learned how to weave with a paper loom. This lesson was accompanied by a video (video #1) on the DVD or Blu-ray. This gave us very visual step-by-step instruction of the process. We liked the videos and thought they were very thorough, educational, and nicely done. The video had the art history and art instruction to show how to do a weave on a paper loom and a crown that uses the weave, cutting diamonds, using tissue paper as a sort of a window. We couldn't find the gold origami paper so we ended up using shiny wrapping paper for the weave in the crown.

ARTistic Pursuits Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray Art of the Middle Ages Lesson 2 (Weaving Beasts).

The second lesson in the book we learned about the migration of people, art in battles, and art during the Migration Period. There are questions at the end in bold of the this art history lesson about the picture of a metal brooch in the book to make sure the children are paying attention to the art. Then we are told and shown how to do woven beasts out of construction paper.

ARTistic Pursuits Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray Art of the Middle Ages Lesson 3 (Initial Page).

The third lesson we learned about art in monasteries, medieval illumination, and initial pages. There are questions at the end in bold of the this art history lesson about the picture of a medieval illumination. Then we are told and shown how to do a initial page with the first letter of the artists name. We couldn't find the gold origami paper so we ended up using shiny wrapping paper for the letter. 

ARTistic Pursuits Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray Art of the Middle Ages Lesson 4 (Mosaic).

In the forth lesson we learned about art in Basilicas and Byzantine mosaics. There are questions at the end in bold of the this art history lesson about the picture of the Theotokos Mosaic. Then we are told and shown how to do a mosaic of a person out of construction paper.

ARTistic Pursuits Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray Art of the Middle Ages Lesson 5 (Panel Drawing).

In the fifth lesson we watched video #2. We learned about Gothic panels in this lesson. We were instructed to make a panel drawing with tissue paper to create the background and a picture of a colorful song bird drawn on it.

There was only one thing that I would change if I was the author. My daughters and I wished that all the lessons had videos because we are very visual and the videos made the instruction so much easier, but we would also have liked those that did have videos to have the whole instruction and art history lesson in the book as well. This would make it easier to use with those children that are too young to read and those that learn better by reading than by visual and audio as well would benefit if both were used for all lessons. This would help our learners of all types.

So far ARTistic Pursuits Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray Art of the Middle Ages has been very educational and fun. We have learned so much about the art of the time. I highly recommend this art for children. It is perfect for our homeschool art and to go along with our unit study history lessons about the Middle Ages.

Follow Them on Social Media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArtisticPursuitsInc @ArtisticPursuitsInc
• Twitter: @ARTistic Pursui1

Suggested Hashtags: #hsreview #myartisticpursuits #homeschoolart #artinstruction

BUY IT
You can purchase ARTistic Pursuits Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray. They are each $39.99. If you would like to purchase the art kits with these it is more and depends on the kit.

Read other homeschool curriculum reviews for ARTistic Pursuits Inc....

Brick Fest Live! LEGO® Fan Experience is Coming to Portland Oregon!

Brick Fest Live! LEGO Fan Experience is coming to Portland Oregon and I can't wait! My family is planning on going as a fun filled homeschool field trip. I love that LEGO is so educational as well as fun. There is so much going to go on to help entertain all of us while we are there and you can save $3 with the promo code below!

August 19-20 LEGO lovers rejoice! The Brick Fest Live LEGO Fan Experience is filled with hands-on attractions and activities built to inspire, educate, and entertain.

DATE AND TIME

Sat, Aug 19, 2017, 9:00 AM - Sun, Aug 20, 2017, 6:00 PM

Portland Expo Center
2060 N Marine Dr
Portland, OR 97217

MY READERS SAVE! Save $3 off tickets with promo code USFGTHREE

Enjoy an amazing LEGO world where you can marvel at giant creations and even build some of your own.

The Brick Fest Live LEGO Fan Experience provides a venue for LEGO lovers of all sizes to celebrate, build new creations, and see some truly mind-blowing LEGO sculptures to help set the imagination free.



Attractions Include:

• The Brick Show Experience: Meet popular YouTube LEGO show hosts from The Brick Show and be featured on in an upcoming video.
• Brick Fest Derby: Build and race your custom built LEGO derby car down one of our 35-foot long timed tracks!
• Collaborative Building Activities: Contribute to large-scale mystery floor mosaic.
• Inspiration Stations: Add to existing LEGO cities and make them your own by building custom creations.
• Video Game Arena: Have a favorite LEGO video game? Come challenge your family or make new friends in the Brick Fest Gaming Arena playing your favorite LEGO title head to head.
• Mini Golf: A miniature golf course built to inspire! Take your game to the next level on the Brick-Links.
• Brick Fest Theater Trivia & Entertainment: Participate in LEGO trivia all while taking a break from what will be an overwhelming amount of awesome!
• Mosaics: Using a colorful variety of LEGO bricks, build a piece of art to proudly display for other attendees.
• Shopping: Find new, vintage, rare, and custom LEGO sets and merchandise from one of the many merchants in attendance.

MY READERS SAVE! Save $3 off tickets with promo code USFGTHREE

Get more info and tickets HERE.

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: Because I am posting about the Brick Fest Live! LEGO® Fan Experience I am getting free tickets for my family to go. Thanks to USFamilyGuide.com for providing me this promotion information and free tickets. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for posting this promo.

Doctor Aviation Review

My family had the privilege of trying the six-month aviation course from Doctor Aviation for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Doctor Aviation is a wonderful online educational course that teaches about aviation. This is a 6 month online subscription. This course is made up of fifteen 45-60 minute video lessons with three segments (Technical Trivia, Notable Innovators, and Legendary Aircraft/Events). Each video lesson has two PDF files to download for further learning. These include: "To Learn More" which are suggestions that have extra readings, YouTube videos, movies, hands-on activities, research and writing assignments, etc. & "Guided Notes" to fill out as your student watches the video lessons to help them learn and retain the material. There are also Practice Exam Questions and Final Exam Study Notes to download. This course is recommended for ages 16 and up although it can be done with younger children and as a family course as well.

If you are having your child take the course for credit for high school you would need to have them do enough of the suggested activities in the "To Learn More" PDFs to make it a half credit course. If you had them do most of the suggested activities it could possibly even be a full credit. You need them to also fill out all notes and do Exam 1&2 and the Final after studying. The Examination 1&2 and the Final needs to be obtained by contacting Doctor Aviation. Exam 1 is done after session 5 is completed. Exam 2 is done after session 11 is completed. The Final is done after session 15 is completed.

Daryl Smith a.k.a. Doctor Aviation

Daryl Smith a.k.a Doctor Aviation, the instructor and founder of the Doctor Aviation lessons, has logged over 2000 flying hours while in the Air Force  and 24 years of service as a Command Pilot. He was also an instructor pilot and research pilot during testing of the Strategic Defense Initiative (aka The Star Wars Program). On the ground he has served as an instructor at the United States Air Force Academy teaching aviation and other courses and a published author an aviation book. Currently he is a college professor. He is well qualified to teach the Doctor Aviation course.

Doctor Aviation Video Course Overview

Course Syllabus for Doctor Aviation:

• Section 1 Course Intro.
Session 1: Course Overview: The Aviation System (42:29)
• Section 2 The Aircraft: These include primarily airplanes, but also helicopters, gliders and balloon craft such as blimps and hot air balloons.
Session 2: The Major Components of an Airplane (53:41)
Session 3: Axes & Forces (54:47)
Session 4: Why an Aircraft Flies: The Secret of Airfoils and Lift (1:09:27)
Session 5: Why an Aircraft Turns, Pitches and Slides: The Flight Controls (1:02:40)
• Section 3 Air Traffic Control: The air traffic controllers, tower personnel and radars that  control the flow of air traffic. Think of them as traffic cops of the skies.
Session 6: How We See an Aircraft Miles Away: The Secrets of Radar (1:06:53)
Session 7: The Air Traffic Cops: How Air Traffic Control Works (59:33)
• Section 4: Aircraft Maintenance: Those individuals and equipment that repair or maintain aircraft.
Session 8: Keep 'Em Flying: Aircraft Maintenance - Propeller Engines (49:10)
Session 9: Keep 'Em Flying: Aircraft Maintenance - Jet Engines (1:00:47)
• Section 5: Airfield Operations: These tasks keep an airfield running; items like: De-icers, baggage handlers, ramp attendants, refueling trucks, ticket agents, etc.
Session 10: The City in and of Itself: Running a Large Airport (48:07)
Session 11:The Small Airport and Running an FBO (57:47)
• Section 6: The Aircraft II
Session 12: Flying in the Clear and Not so Clear Air: VMC & IMC (48:44)
Session 13: Important Pilot Instruments - Altitude Indicator (53:34)
Session 14: Important Pilot Instruments - Airspeed Indicator (43:44)
Session 15: Other Aviation Ships: Gliders, Helicopters, Airships (1:00:18)

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:
My 16 year old teenage son, Delbin, and I started taking this course together. Delbin and I have had an interest in learning more about aviation and I thought that the Doctor Aviation Online Training Videos would be a great learning course for us to do this. I am glad to have the opportunity to try this in addition to my other homeschool lessons.

Doctor Aviation Dashboard

After we subscribed we could access the aviation video training course by logging in on the website. After logging in the dashboard shows our next lesson and by clicking on the "Watch This Lesson" in yellow we could go to video lesson page. The lesson page has the video to watch, "Action Steps" to take, and "Additional Resources" (the PDFs) to download.

The "Guided Notes" are best done with the video programs they go with. So I would download and print them out ahead of time. While Delbin and I followed along we would fill these pages out as we watched. These pages are great to help retain all the the important information in these videos.

Doctor Aviation Video Lesson Page

We have been doing one lesson every two weeks so far because the extra work involved to get the high school credit for Delbin. The videos are very informative and interesting. The instructor's lectures are filmed in an airplane hanger and he uses props and graphics as well to explain his lessons better. Each video session has three parts: Technical Trivia, Notable Innovators, and Legendary Aircraft/Events. These parts go well together and with the section and session themes. The Technical Trivia is jam packed with the principles of aviation. In the Notable Innovators part we learned about the people behind aviation, like: The Wright Brothers, Chuck Yeager, Amelia Earhart, etc. In the Legendary Aircraft part we learned about famous aircraft and what makes them famous. In the Legendary Events part we learned about important things that happened to shape aviation history. It might take my son longer doing all of the activities in the "To Learn More" PDF so that he can get high school credit. I am glad there are 6 months to work on it.

Some of the props and images/graphics used in the Doctor Aviation films.

The "To Learn More" PDF has all sorts of neat books and articles to read, websites to go to, and videos to watch outside of the Doctor Aviation website. There is also a For Further Study section in it that suggests activities, like: field trips, detailed studies on more focused subjects, building models, doing research papers, hands-on activities, etc. Many of the links to websites are hyperlinks in the PDF making it easy to click on and go there. Some of the books and links are out of print or not working any more, however; because these were last updated in 2016. It would be really great if Doctor Aviation could update these more regularly.

All in all Delbin and I have thoroughly enjoyed the Doctor Aviation course and can't wait to learn more in the coming months. I am glad to be able to take this course with him too because even as an adult I love experiencing and learning new things. Delbin will be glad to get a high school credit for this course as well. We highly recommend this for homeschool aviation education and high school credit. You could also apply this course to having your son receive a Boy Scout Aviation Merit Badge or just watch it yourself.

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Memoria Press The Book of Trees Review

My family had the privilege of trying The Book of Trees from Memoria Press for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Memoria Press is a family-run publishing company that produces simple and easy-to-use classical Christian education materials for home and private schools. It was founded by a woman named Cheryl Lowe in 1994. They currently have preschool through ninth grade in most of their curriculum and some through twelfth grade. They also cover subjects in: Classical Core Curriculum, Latin, Classical Studies, Christian Studies, Logic & Rhetoric, Phonics & Early Reading, Penmanship, Literature & Poetry, American & Modern Studies, Writing & English Grammar, Science & Math, Greek, Modern Languages, Educational Resources, eBooks, Special-Needs, and Art & Music. I have also heard very good things about their Latin Curriculum.

For this review Memoria Press sent us a set of their three books for The Book of Trees: The Book of Trees Reader: An Introduction to Botany Through the Study of Trees, The Book of Trees Student Book, and The Book of Trees Teacher Guide. These are geared towards 6-8th graders. We purchased the other two books, that are recommended by the vendor as reference materials for the main 3, separately that usually comes in the complete set of The Book of Trees: The Tree Book For Kids and Their Grown-ups and the Peterson First Guide to Trees of North America. You can purchase all of these books separately as well, but the first three are necessary as a set for doing this unit study. The last two are up to you to purchase as they are referred to in the main 3 books, but you can find all of the information that you need online on the internet for researching the topics.

The Book of Trees Reader is a softcover book that teaches about botany through trees. It contains 83 pages and 9 chapters total, with the last two being for advanced work. These are all short and thorough. The chapters cover: The Beauty of Trees, The Root System, The Stem, The Leaves, Flowers, Fruits, Observing Trees, Photosynthesis, and Respiration. This has black and white drawings and photos throughout to show things in more detail.

The Book of Trees Student Book is a softcover consumable workbook that teaches about botany through trees that is to be used by one student. The prologue of the workbook goes through and tells goals that should be learned by completing this workbook and a Model Lesson Plan that shows what should be done by the teacher and student. It goes by unit rather than by chapter and contains five units, the last being the advanced work unit. Each unit has two to five lessons each with a total of 21 lessons including the advanced work.  Each lesson under each unit has these sections: Reading and Questions, Diagrams and Labeling, & Activities. In between lesson 15 and lesson 16 there is a Tree Observation section that has you pick a tree and observe it, collecting specimens and studying it by answering questions, identifying it, doing some research about it, and sketching its parts. You can do this up to 15 times in the workbook. At the end of each unit is a review of that unit. Unit four has the final exam at the end.

The Book of Trees Teacher Guide is a softcover guide that helps the teacher. It is basically an answer key for the Student Book and follows the same outline as it as well. It has all the completed pages of the Student Book filled out, as well as answers for quizzes, tests, and exams.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

We love Memoria Press and their classical christian curriculum for our homeschooling! We have a bunch of their other studies and have found them all wonderful. We've been very blessed to have been able to also receive a number of their curriculum to review here.

The Book of Trees from Memoria Press is a great set for exploring botany with trees. My family loves trees and nature studies! This classical christian homeschool curriculum is fantastic! I love the content myself and enjoyed doing this with my third grader, Teela.

Teela is advanced in her studies and works on a 6th grade level on reading and writing so I picked her for this study. We had a lot of fun together doing this and did a lesson a week. Although the lessons are short and each lesson could probably be done in one day, we have other studies as well we are trying to get through and I didn't want to overwhelm her.

Even though we were sent just the mandatory products in the set I thought purchasing the two reference books would be a good idea. Not only would we have them when we hit a place where it told us to look up something on a certain page of each book, we would have them in our extensive homeschool library. Also, we found the Peterson First Guide to Trees of North America a great sized pocket field guide to take with us when we did nature studies on trees, went on road trips other places, or were out hiking. The Tree Book For Kids and Their Grown-ups is a wonderful tree book with lots of beautiful hand drawn illustrations in color. In fact it has been awarded the Garden Writers Association Award for Best Illustration. I am very glad I purchased these to accompany the main books. If you purchase the complete set of The Book of Trees from Memoria Press it will come with these books as well.

Teela reading The Book of Trees Reader.

We started out with the reading and would read the corresponding chapter for the lesson. Then she would answer the questions individually and ask for help if needed. I would check her answers that she had written down. Then she would do the diagrams and labeling later in the week after we had done some review. After that we would do the activities together and do additional external research. Then for last part of the week we would review again and have the quizzes/tests.

Memoria Press The Book of Trees Student Book

During our studies so far of trees and botany we learned about Plant Systems & Organs, The Root System, External and Internal Structure of the Stem, & the first section on Leaves. There is a lot of workbook work for this study with an abundance of writing and charts/diagrams to label. We like this because the reading seems to stick better if discussed and then written down.

One of the hands-on activities about roots

We, however; loved the hands on activities the best and wish there were more of these with the book work. We love going out into the field to study nature. Teela and I have been enjoying this study so far. There are so many trees we do not know about yet. We cannot wait to delve deeper and do the Tree Observations so that we can identify and learn more of the tree species right in and around our own neighborhood as well as many trees at Lake Sacagawea Park in Longview Washington.

We highly recommend The Book of Trees by Memoria Press! It is a great science curriculum that is fabulous to use for learning about botany and trees. I look forward to using other curriculum books from Memoria Press with my children in the future!

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Veritas Press VeritasBible.com Subscription Review

My family had the privilege of trying a VeritasBible.com one-year family subscription from Veritas Press for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Schoolhouse Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Veritas Press is a publisher of classical Christian education products and curriculum. They also have two classical Christian schools and an online classical Christian academy. They teach chronologically the relationship between what is studied in “history books” and what Christians read in the Bible. Their first product, History and Bible Flashcards, was born from a desire to teach their own sons. Now Veritas Press has many other curriculum, tools, and services (online and off) for teaching classical Christian education in the home and school.

VeritasBible.com Courses.

The VeritasBible.com is a one-year online Bible curriculum subscription for the family that has engaging lessons for kids with games, music, activities, videos, and more. So far it teaches courses in: Genesis to Joshua (Old Testament 1), Judges to Kings (Old Testament 2), and The Gospels (New Testament 1). They are also currently working on two other courses that will be coming soon: Chronicles to Malachi and Job & Acts to Revelation. You can add up to 5 children to have an account in the program so the individual child can move through the curriculum at their own pace. Each of the 3 courses offered have 128 lessons and 32 major biblical events that your student can learn from throughout the year.

Zari and Teela doing VeritasBible.com.

  
How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

We received the one-year online subscription of VeritasBible.com. I set up both my daughters Teela and Zari in the program to have their own accounts. We began with Genesis to Joshua and made it a daily routine to do at least a section a day.

Genesis to Joshua covers a lot of information:

• Creation
• The Fall in the Garden
• Cain and Abel
• Enoch and Methuselah
• The Flood
• God's Covenant with Noah
• Tower of Babel
• Call of Abram
• God's Covenant with Abraham
• Hagar and Ishmael
• Sodom and Gomorrah
• Birth and Sacrifice of Isaac
• Isaac ad Rebekah
• Jacob and Esau
• Joseph as a Slave
• Famine in Egypt
• The Twelve Tribes of Israel
• Moses' Birth
• Plagues in Egypt
• Balaam and his Donkey
• Moses Dies: Joshua Assumes Command
• Spies to Canaan
• The Battle of Jericho
• The Exodus
• The Ten Commandments
• Aaron and the Golden Calf
• Moses Gets New Tablets
• Israel Given the Promised Land
• The Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant
• Joshua's Last Words
• The Levitical Priesthood Begins
• The Wilderness Wanderings

Genesis to Joshua Hosts.

VeritasBible.com is a thorough bible study that starts out in Genesis with a video introducing the bible with hosts Asher and his sister Abigail who are from the land of Canaan and are Israelites. They tell the story and narrate parts throughout the program and are later followed by a cat named Teb, and a pesky fly named Tizzy. There is video, music, online activities, quizzes, and a lot of review to get to know what you learn really well.

VeritasBible.com Map.

At the end of each section in the Creation part of the program the student gets a flag put on the map trail. The student clicks through spots on the map until they have finished the whole map. At the end of the Creation map you move onto the next map which is The Fall in the Garden and so forth. The student also gets awarded ribbons under their avatar they chose. The student cannot skip or move ahead in the program without watching the videos, doing the work, and acing the quizzes and tests.

VeritasBible.com ribbon awards.

We noticed that Zari needed a lot more help through the program because she doesn't read yet. There is a fair amount that does require reading. I didn't mind helping her with it though for a review of my own.

We also have a slow internet connection and had to load each video before watching them or they would be choppy and incomprehensible. The videos only could be watched on the High Definition (HD) setting, so there was not any way around this in our situation. Let us just say, patience is something my girls need to work on.

Some of VeritasBible.com activities.

Other than the video issue, both Teela and Zari had a lot of fun with the VeritasBible.com. They both are learning a lot. I love that the material is reinforced by activities, interactive games and questions. This helps their learning process a lot more. This homeschool Bible curriculum also has different ways they present the same information for different learning styles, so no one way of learning is left out and the information is retained better by the student.

The song was our favorite part of the whole thing. It was catchy and informational. It is sung frequently throughout the program and helps the kids know the events in order. By the time I needed to write this review my girls were actually singing along with it.

We eventually finished Enoch and Methuselah and can't wait to do more. VeritasBible.com is very well done and I highly recommend it to homeschoolers and others that want a great classical Christian education Bible study in their home for their kids. I love it for my Christian homeschool!

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You can start a FREE trial of VeritasBible.com on their website today (no credit card required).

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