Tag Archives: art history

The Master and his Apprentices Review

If you are looking for a Highschool Art History curriculum, then you might check out The Master and His Apprentices company.   We recently had the opportunity to review their product called The Master and His Apprentices: Art History from a Christian Perspective.

The Master and His Apprentices:

Art History from a Christian Perspective

Covers Art History from Creation to Modern Day

Highschool Elective

Full Color Illustrations

Two Versions Available: Digital & Physical

Digital:

Digital Text $34.99

Digital Teacher Guide $19.99

Physical:

Hardcover Text $149.99

Softcover Teacher Guide $24.99

The Master and His Apprentices is designed to give students a solid foundation in art history.  It is written from a Christian worldview and incorporates scriptures into the study.  The Master and His Apprentices helps readers understand history through art and helps create a “visual” timeline of biblical and world events.  Unlike most other art history curriculum, this one does not contain nudity, but instead focuses on various masterpieces artists created during specific historical periods.

Art History Periods covered:

  • Creation: God is the Master Artist
  • Ancient Cultures: Ancient Near East, Egyptian and Aegean
  • Classical Antiquity: Early Greek, Etruscan and Roman
  • Middle Ages: Medieval & Islamic, Early Christian & Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic
  • Renaissance: Proto-Renaissance, Early Italian Renaissance, High Italian Renaissance and Northern Renaissance
  • Baroque and Beyond: Baroque, Rococo to Today (modern art) and Global Highlights (non-Western art)

The Master and His Apprentices can be completed independently by highschool students or adapted to be used by the whole family. This course is available in both a digital version and a physical book version.  This is a full curriculum, covers over 125 hours of instruction (text, notes, discussions, worksheets, research papers, and exams), and can be used for highschool elective credit.

Text:

The Text is about 372 +/- printable pages and contains reprints of ancient art, architecture, statues, paintings, and relics from around the world throughout history.

It covers around 19 different historical and cultural focuses condensed and divided into 6 historical periods.  The course starts out with an introduction to art history.  Then a brief focus on the first six days of creation and Father God as the first artist.  Next it covers man-made art, sculptures, relics, and buildings from around the world throughout different cultures and periods in history.  It also covers art related vocabulary and related concepts used in art such as: Design and Composition, Line and Shape, Value and Color, Style and Texture, etc.

Teacher Guide:

The Teacher Guide is about 60-70 +/- printable pages (they are not numbered).

This book includes a suggested schedule with week by week instructions, worksheets that can also be used as discussion questions, four exams, instructions for writing four course papers on artists from different time periods, grading chart, answer keys, and more.

A suggested schedule is to do the class over 36 weeks or divided into (2) 18-week semesters.  This course can also be used as a supplement to other curriculum (world history, bible history, ancient history, etc).

Author:

Gina has been a teacher and author for over 12 years. She is a home school and college graduate. I have been very impressed with things she has shared about her experiences and why she wrote this curriculum.

She states her goal in writing this curriculum is: “From the beginning, I’ve been praying that God would use this book to draw non-believers to Himself and to push believers even further into Jesus as His fingerprints become more visible in creation and history.”

She says she has watched students transform as they connect the Creator to Art History.  From her website, she states “In fact, often for the first time in their lives, they were able to make connections between their different classes. Visually “seeing” the periods allowed them to create a framework in their minds for combining various timelines from other disciplines, be it history, Bible, literature, science, philosophy, etc. More importantly, many students were awaking to the fact that the Bible isn’t just a story, but real history – a history that overlaps other famous periods, places, people, and events.”

Our Experience:

For the purpose of this review, I focused on my son who loves art.  He wants to be an artist (drawing and painting), and a craftsman (with wood and leather) himself.  However, all three of my highschool boys are taking this course for highschool elective credit.

We were sent the digital versions of this curriculum which included:

  • Digital Text ~ The Master and His Apprentices: Art History from a Christian Perspective
  • Digital Teacher Guide
  • Digital Print/Photocopy Rights for our household.

With the digital versions, you can view the curriculum on the computer and you have the option to print out what you need if desired. The Print/Photocopy Rights give you the permission to print additional copies for multiple students in your household.  Or you can purchase the physical book versions if there are things you want a physical copy of and if you don’t want to print them yourself.

After using the program on the computer (Text and Teacher Guide), and printing the worksheets as we needed them, I decided to purchase the physical copy of the Teacher Guide too.  I actually purchased three Teacher Guides so that all three of my highschool sons have their own book to write in.  We were fine with the colorful digital copy of the Text book to read on the computer, but having a physical copy of the Teacher Guide in front of me and my sons simplified things so I didn’t have to go back and forth to the printer for the worksheets.

So far, my son is enjoying this course.  There is a lot of information covered and he is very motivated.  He has other courses with overlapping information that he is doing at the same time for: Ancient History, Bible History, and World History and Art.  So this class is mirroring what he is learning in those courses and increasing his knowledge about various art, history, cultures, and what we know about them.

He has no problem completing the worksheets.  The worksheets are filled with questions and give you space to answer, usually answers are a phrase or a few sentences.  You can also use these questions for discussion.  There are also a few pages to diagram.  We have not yet completed a test or a research paper though.  But I have no doubt he will do well as this is a subject he enjoys and is motivated to complete.

My Personal Thoughts:

I hope I am getting wiser in my “old age”.   I know I am getting bolder in my faith and sharing what God has put on my heart and my understanding of scripture.  So that is what I am about to do, and you can skip this section of my review if you don’t want to hear it.  I have a lot more to say, and I will post more (a continuation) in a future post.  But here is a very brief statement.

I appreciate the Author’s love for Father God and her desire to help students understand bible history as they learn about art history.  I also appreciate her hope that people will draw near to Jesus as their savior.  She has done a good job putting art history and bible history together.  The bible scriptures she has included and in depth timelines help to connect the dots of events in history, bible events, and art.

However, I have some misgivings about using art history or any art appreciation curriculum to draw students close to “god”.  There are so many different gods and idolatry represented in artwork from cultures around the world that I believe people can actually be led away from Father God while they are “appreciating” art if they are not very careful.

I personally believe most things in this world that fall under “art appreciation” and “art history” and “ancient history” and “world history” would be things Father God has warned us to stay away from.

Colossians 2:8  ” Watch out, so that no one will take you captive by means of philosophy and empty deceit, following human tradition which accords with the elemental spirits of the world but does not accord with the Messiah (Jesus of Nazareth, Yahusha HaMeshiac).” 

I have sincerely questioned over the years whether or not Father God wants us to study what the world calls “art” from history.  There is a HUGE difference in knowledge and wisdom.  Much of what we learn in academics is just knowledge. Society asks us “How much do we know?”  Society “ranks” us and often pays us by what we know.

The “god” of every society on earth is the same deceiving serpent from the garden that was there when man first fell away from Father God, Yahuah, our Creator.  Do we really want to teach our kids to glorify and appreciate the statues, buildings, pyramids, paintings, and man-made creations that honor another god? Should we not sound the alarm and send out warnings and cautions to teach them not to glorify it?

Matthew 24:6 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and despise and be against the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (riches, money, possessions, or whatever is trusted in).”

But the real question should not be “what do you know” but rather “Does what we “know” draw us closer to Father God?” OR “Does “knowing more” draw us farther away from him?”  For example in scripture, Adam and Eve bit the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil when the serpent deceived them and told them to “appreciate” the forbidden fruit, he told them to “behold it, look at it, taste it, it will give you more knowledge, you will not die but you will become like god”.  Another example is in the lives of the Israelite’s who mixed all the cultural practices of Egypt, Greeks and Roman gods and traditions (and so many more examples) and what they “knew” and their “appreciation” of the “art” and idols of these other cultures actually drew them away from Father God, not closer to him.

Mark 7:9  “Indeed,” he said to them, “you have made a fine art of departing from God’s command in order to keep your tradition!”

Or put in context, it reads as “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away from me.  Their worship of me is useless, because they teach man-made rules as if they were doctrines.  You depart from God’s command and hold onto human tradition. Indeed, you have made a fine art of departing from God’s command in order to keep your tradition!”  Mark 7: 7-9

Until the church members of the Bride of Jesus of Nazareth, Yahusha HaMeshiac, wake up and see the truth, their brains will continue in gaining knowledge, but their spirit will lack discernment of truth, vision of the spirit, wisdom, and the power to defeat spiritual wickedness.

Perhaps most “great works of art” are proof of man’s sin against Almighty God.  Most famous works of art are a direct violation of God’s command to not create a graven image and not create idols and not worship any other gods.  Most are attached to demons and worship of deities and even in more modern art, many artists have shared they were under the influence of something evil and supernatural when they created their masterpiece.  In my early Christian walk, I was shocked when I first learned that demons are real, not just something from two thousand years ago, and not just someone’s imagination in modern horror movies and mental illness as we are led to believe, but instead they are real entities.  More recently I was also shocked to learn that many famous artists, musicians, and writers of “great” masterpieces were plagued by demons and blood sacrifice.  Yet Christians glorify these things that “artists” create and display them in their homes, education, communities, and churches.

1 Corinthians 12:2 “Remember the way you used to live when you were Gentiles (pagans) apart from God? You were engrossed—enchanted with voiceless idols, led astray by mere images carved by human hands.”

Jesus of Nazareth said that “traditions of men nullify the power of God in your life”.  The church has no power because they have traded their trust in the anointed word of Father God for “trust” and “appreciation” in man-made traditions.  He also said if the spirit of Father God is in you, then you will do greater things in this earth than he did.  How many Christians do you know who have done “greater”?  How many do you know who have healed someone, opened prisons, gave sight to the blind, raised the dead, made the lame to walk, cast out demons, etc.?  The church today is in bondage to buildings, demons (denominations) and “famous works” of literature and art and the traditions of men, academics, sports, pharmacia, artificial intelligence, music, and material possessions, and it lacks power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit of God.

I have prayed for discernment and have prayed that my family will see the world as Father God sees it.  I pray that we will avoid being deceived by the “things that look good to eye” and “desirable” in this world.  I pray Father God will give us eyes full of compassion, that look for his goodness,  and beholds what is upright, and for lips that speak truth and show kindness and charity to others, but also hearts that are wise and filled with truth and discernment.

Matthew 10:16  “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”

Final Thoughts:

If you are looking for a thorough Art History curriculum, then The Master and His Apprentices will give you a historical understanding of famous works of art and artists, and an indepth timeline of art pieces and events, including biblical events, in history that will meet highschool requirements for Art History and Art Appreciation.

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ARTistic Pursuits: Art for Children, Building a Visual Vocabulary Review

If you want to learn art skills in the comfort of your home, then you might check out the fun professional art lessons for all ages from ARTistic Pursuits, Inc.   Everyone can learn art skills.

Our family recently reviewed one of their art curriculum products called Art for Children, Building a Visual Vocabulary, which is volume 1 of the 6 part series called ARTistic Pursuits Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray.

Art for Children, Building a Visual Vocabulary

Instruction Book

Hardback Book

Colorful Step By Step Illustrations

18 Lessons

64 Pages

DVD

6 Video Lessons

&

Blu-Ray

6 Video Lessons

Cost $39.99 on sale for $33.99

Each field of study has it’s own vocabulary and the field of “Art” is no different.  In this curriculum, over the course of 18 lessons and hands on activities, students learn vocabulary words that artists use and much more.  They will learn about famous artists and their artworks, experiment with art supplies and various art techniques that will communicate ideas and develop skills too.

ARTistic Pursuits, Inc. curriculum is created by art instructor and author Brenda Ellis.  She has an extensive background as an artist, teacher, and author.  With her latest curriculum series for grades K-3, she wants to encourage your kids to develop a solid, hands on, “visual vocabulary” because it is the first step in learning about art.

Visual vocabulary words in this curriculum:

  • artist
  • art materials
  • compose
  • imagine
  • observe
  • elements
  • shape
  • form
  • texture
  • subjects
  • landscape
  • still life
  • portrait
  • artworks
  • and much more

Famous Art in this curriculum:

  • The Courtyard of a House in Delft by Pieter Hooch, 1658-1660
  • The Birthday by Mark Chagall, 1915
  • In Flander’s Field – Where Soldiers Sleep and Poppies Grow  by Robert Vonnoh, 1890
  • THe Christening Feast by Jan Steen, 1664
  • Flower Day by Diego Rivera, 1925
  • Boy with bagpipes and young bear by Artist Unknown, 20th CE
  • The Sunflower by Gustav Klimt, 1906-1907
  • Monte Sainte-Victore above the Tholonet Road, 1896-1898
  • Still Life with Coffeepot by Vincent Van Gogh, 1888
  • Sentinel of the Plains, by William Herbert Dunton, 1910
  • Blue Dancers by Edgar Degas, 1898
  • Henry VIII by Holbein The Younger, 1540

Lessons in this curriculum:

All of the lessons are professionally illustrated and contain step by step instructions.  Six of the lessons are described in greater audio visual detail on the DVD’s.  You can chose to play the lesson either on the regular DVD or Blu-Ray DVD.  The DVD’s make you feel like the teacher is right there in the same room with you and they are very easy to understand. With DVD’s you have the freedom to pause or rewind if needed, or hear them again and again.

The 18 Lessons in the book with 6 lessons on DVD/Blu-Ray include:

  1. Watercolor Crayons (full lesson also on DVD)
  2. Artists Compose
  3. Artists Imagine
  4. Identify and Mix Colors (also on DVD)
  5. Artists Observe
  6. Artists Communicate
  7. Contruction Paper: Cut (also on video)
  8. Artists See Shapes
  9. Construction Paper: Fold (also on video)
  10. Artists See Form
  11. Oil Pastels: (also on video)
  12. Artists See Texture
  13. Artists See Landscapes
  14. Artists See Still Lifes
  15. Artists Draw Shapes (also on video)
  16. Artists See Animals
  17. Artists See Figures
  18. Artists See Portraits

The Instruction Book also contains additional chapter resources on:

  • Materials List
  • Teaching Simply
  • Welcome To The World Of Art
  • Objectives (specific learning goals for each lesson)
  • Learning Shapes Templates

Video explaining K-3 Art Instruction Books With DVD and Blu-Ray and a sample lesson:

The Homeschool Review Crew had the opportunity to chose 1 of 4 of the 6 Books with DVD’s in this newest K-3 curriculum series called ARTistic Pursuits Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray. Be sure to check the Homeschool Review Crew link a the bottom of this post to read what other families thought about these products.

Art for Children, Building a Visual Vocabulary (Volume 1)
Art of the Ancients (Volume 2)
Art of the Middle Ages (Volume 3)
Artists that Shaped the Italian Renaissance (Volume 4)

With this newest series of products, getting started learning about Art from a professional art instructor in the comfort of your home is easy.  Once you have your instruction Book with DVD’s and have collected your materials, you can choose your own schedule and learn at a pace that meets your needs.  Plan what day of the week you want to begin, get out your book and DVD of choice, and immediately start learning about famous works of art in history, art vocabulary, famous artists, and then imitate their techniques to create your own masterpieces.

A fine arts education is easy with curriculum from ARTistic Pursuits, Inc. because they incorporate art instruction, art appreciation, and art history together in text and video lessons for seamless learning and mastery of skills.

With ARTistic Pursuits, Inc. curriculum, students will:

  • Develop observational skills.
  • Develop creativity skills.
  • Practice skills and techniques of famous artists.
  • Participate as a budding artist creating their own one of a kind masterpieces.

ARTistic Pursuits, Inc. has lots of curriculum products available. They are well known and loved by many families in the homeschool community.  On their website, you can find something for all ages Pre-K through 12th grade and even adults can learn easily with their curriculum.  This newest K-3 series that contains the hardback Instruction Books with DVD lessons replaces the 2013 spiral bound K-3 curriculum editions.

Video about ARTistic Pursuits, Inc:

Our Experience:

We chose Art for Children, Building a Visual Vocabulary Instruction Book and DVD set for the purpose of this review.  It came with a hardback Instruction Book, a DVD, and Blu-Ray.

My kids ages 6, 9,  and 10 work on this curriculum together.  They really enjoyed this learning experience.  I also had their older brothers join them for part of the learning experience too.  I just love homeschooling and having the freedom to adapt learning programs to the needs of our family!

It only takes about 10 to 15 minutes to explain a lesson (or watch a video), and then your student can work on recreating the project independently.  All of my kids enjoyed these lessons.  On the days we all did them together, several sat on the couch and we pulled up additional chairs to use as tables, a folding table, and another sat at a workbench etc.  We had a living room full of young artists!

On other days, it was just the three younger kids learning or perhaps one older brother would join in when his own school lessons were finished.  For a few of the lessons, my 9 year old son or my 10 year old daughter worked on a lesson by themselves.  Out of all the younger kids, it was my 10 year old daughter who loved this curriculum the most and she wanted to work on it as often as she could.  She often chose to repeat a lesson several times, just enjoying the process of learning and practicing her skills.

Lesson Examples:

Below are just a few of the lessons we have worked on over the course of a couple of months.  We tried to maintain a plan of 1 or 2 lessons a week.  We are about 1/2 way through.

I had some art supplies on hand to use when the book first arrived.  The items that I didn’t have, I ordered at a discount online through ebay.  ARTistic Pursuits, Inc. also sells art supply kits on their website too.  You can also find most of the items at a local retail store near you if you don’t want to order items online.  We used a combination of watercolor crayons, oil pastels, watercolor pencils, ebony pencils, art paper, construction paper, tape, glue, and various props to do these lessons. Also my youngest son also wanted to use his watercolor paints for one of the lessons too.

Lesson 1: Watercolor Crayons

Using watercolor crayons and watercolor pencils was a new experience for us.

Son age 9:

Son age 6:

Daughter age 10:

Lesson 5: Artists Observe

My 13 year old son wanted to observe, draw, and color a pine cone on a tree branch.  He did an amazing job on the details.

He recently did a Davy Crocket unit study and a Pine Tree unit study, and he is currently taking a survival skills course that involves skills such as learning to identify resources from different kinds of trees.  This opportunity to learn observation and practice techniques from ARTistic Pursuits was a perfect match for him and fun for the younger kids to see how these skills can be useful and put into practice for more than just art enjoyment. Being observant and knowing what things in nature actually look like could help you find resources that your survival might depend on someday.

Lesson 9: Construction Paper- Fold (Construction Paper Folded Animals part 1)

The kids created 3D animals from construction paper.  In this lesson they learned to draw, cut, fold, and make a bear that stands up and is looking toward you.

Lesson 10: Artists See Form (Construction Paper Folded Animals part 2)

Big brother helped two younger brothers create 3D animals from construction paper.

They created the side profile of horses.

Sister made a dog and a lion from this lesson too.

Lesson 11: Oil Pastels

We learned it is hard to color and make fine details on pictures with oil pastels!  They smear and smudge easily.  But with perseverance, it can be done.

The task was to watch a video lesson, gather objects from around the house, then draw and color them using techniques from the video using oil pastels.

My daughter age 10 created a picture of a tea set using oil pastels.

My son age 6, started out wanting to make his picture of a sea shell, but later he changed his mind and wanted to create a picture of his toy wooden airplane.

My son age 9 wanted to make his picture of different houses.

My son age 17 wanted to create his picture of various colored beads. He loves geometric shapes and patterns.

My son age 15 wanted to create his picture of a toy tractor and include it in a farm scene.

Lesson 13: Artists See Landscapes

We enjoyed learning to make trees and landscapes in this lesson.  We recently reviewed a T is for Tree Bible ABC book and learning to make trees fit in perfectly with the focus of that book too.

Materials: watercolor crayons, paper, brush, water, and paper towels.  My youngest son’s picture is at the top of the photo below and he wanted to use his watercolor paints instead of his watercolor crayons.  The picture below his in the same photo was done by my 10 year old daughter with her watercolor crayons.

I tried my hand with this lesson too and learned how to make landscapes and trees.  I made the picture posted below with watercolor crayons, but had not gone over it yet with a water brush to smooth out and blend the colors when I took this picture of it.  But I love how it turned out anyway.  I have 0 art skills, but somehow, it came out despite my lack of skills.

I tried to make three different types of trees with mountains and a stream, and show the light shining on the trees from the right side and made the trees get darker further down on their left side and back side of the mountains.  This was my first time to use the watercolor crayons.  See I told you adults (even with no previous art experience) can learn from these books too!

Lesson 14: Artists See Still Lifes

The task here was to collect three items to use as a “still life” and draw and color with watercolor crayons.  My six year old son collected three objects he wanted in his still life picture: a starfish, a clam shell, and a fish.  But part way through, he changed his mind, flipped to a new blank page, and wanted to create a still life picture of his boot!  His BOOT!!!

After coloring with the watercolor crayons, the technique is to take a brush and plain water and paint water over what you have colored and it blends together to look like watercolor paint.  He loves these crayons!

Lesson 16: Artists See Animals

My thirteen year old son loves to create, draw, paint, color, etc.  He is a budding artist.  He ventured further ahead and did this lesson.   He has more experience drawing and is also using the ARTistic Pursuits Middle School Book One: The Elements of Art and Composition that is all about sketching and drawing.

The younger kids have not completed this lesson yet.  The task is to look at a picture of an animal of your choice (such as a horse) and draw and color it.

Lesson 18: Artists See Portraits

The task in this lesson is to use oil pastels, ruler, construction paper, tissue, and a mirror to create a self portrait.  My 10 year old daughter learned to make a self portrait and then she made a portrait similar to an example of a girl in the textbook lesson.

She did very well for her first time ever!  It is amazing how well these lessons communicate the ideas so that kids can understand the task and create their own masterpieces.

Final Thoughts:

It is about mid June now, and we are finishing our school year, but I am sure the kids will want to finish this course and then repeat all of these lessons again and practice these new skills they have learned during the hot summer days ahead too.  They have really enjoyed this curriculum.

This Instructional Book and DVD set contains 18 Professional Art Lessons at a reasonable cost, for about $2.22 per lesson. If you are like me and have multiple students using this curriculum, then the cost for each lesson is even less.  For example, in our homeschool, we have six kids plus myself using this material, so that is $40 Book with DVDs / 18 Lessons = $2.22 per lesson / 7 art students = $0.32 per lesson per person for our family.  That is a budget friendly deal for professional art lessons!

Art is a subject we are expected to teach and learn about in education.  I have used products from ARTistic Pursuits and other companies for our homeschool Art curriculum.  However, to be honest, I have been hesitant over the years to jump into “ART” curriculum for a good reason!  I have learned to approach using art lessons with my kids with prayer and from a biblical worldview.  I am cautious because I do not want to violate my faith in the art projects we create including the art lessons on creating a “graven” (carved) image.  We trust in Father God, our Creator, and one of the 10 Commandments (rules to live by) that Father God gave his followers is:

“You are not to make for yourselves a graven (carved) image or any kind of representation of anything in heaven above, on the earth beneath or in the water below the shoreline.” Exodus 20:4

Father God himself made the image of mankind from his own image and breathed into it:

“Then Adonai, God, formed man (mankind) from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, so that he became a living being.” Genesis 2:7

As I wrestled with this rule, I met others along the way who took it very seriously and I met others who didn’t care at all.  One town I lived in previously had stone / concrete statues that were hand painted placed up and down the sidewalks on every street corner.  I have also met people with statues in their homes and yards, government buildings, market places, and church buildings, where they had statues of angels, statues of dead people (heros and saints), statues of gods and goddesses, and parts of their bodies like the huge phallus that is on the grounds of many public buildings, and statues of animals, and birds too.  One man I used to know gave us a huge wooden statue of an eagle he had outside along the pathway near the garden.  It was hand carved and abeautiful.  However, we knew after he gave it to us that it was wrong to have such a piece of “art”.   Some people I have known lined their “knickknack” shelves in their homes with carved images because they enjoyed collecting them as a hobby.  I’ve met people who pray to statues either at home or in religious buildings, and people who place their trust in statues to protect them too.  I have also met people who have a carved image of a man crucified on a cross and hang it in their homes or next to their beds or around their neck and they believe the carved image has power to protect them.  We are instructed in the scriptures not to do this.  I had a roommate in college from Tiawan who prayed to pictures of dead relatives and burned incense to them believing they had power to protect her.  I had friends from Japan and China who also believed this way.  I had Hindu friends from India and Pakistan who had images and figurine statues of various “gods” they prayed to daily and placed red colored stickers or a dot of face paint or stuck red gem stones onto their foreheads.  I had another Christian friend in college attending graduate school who had grown up in India and prayed to religious statues in church and at her private religious school.   I also had an older Christian friend from the USA who sat beside the grave of her dead son and dead husband next to their gravestones and she would pray and also talk to them about current issues in her life and seek their spirit as well as pray to statues at her church where she prayed each Sunday to protect and guide her.  I have been to modern museums where there are waxed sculptures of well known people and animals, and museums that have human looking robots who speak and move and tell stories.  I have also met people and spent time in their homes who are on the other extreme too such as the old order Amish who wouldn’t have any statues of any kind either outside in their yard or inside their homes, or around their neck or wrist and would not even get their picture taken or have any pictures in their homes at all.  I have met people from around the world who were in between these extremes too.

However, I share all of this personal information to say that we need to be careful to obey the commands Father God gave us to “love and obey Father God with all your heart”, “have no other gods”, “do not make a graven image”, “do not create idols”, etc. as well as obey the commands his son gave us to “love Father God with all our heart, and also love your neighbor as yourself” and do not cause any child to stumble by what you teach them because the kingdom of God belongs to them.   The scriptures say that it would be better for a millstone to be hung around your neck and be cast into the sea than for you to cause a little one to stumble and fall away from Father God.  WOW!  This is serious!

“He called a child to him, stood him among them, and said, “Yes! I tell you that unless you change and become like little children, you won’t even enter the Kingdom of Heaven! So the greatest in the Kingdom is whoever makes himself as humble as this child. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me; and whoever ensnares one of these little ones who trust me, it would be better for him to have a millstone hung around his neck and be drowned in the open sea! Woe to the world because of snares! For there must be snares, but woe to the person who sets the snare!  So if your hand or foot becomes a snare for you, cut it off and throw it away! Better that you should be maimed or crippled and obtain eternal life than keep both hands or both feet and be thrown into everlasting fire!”  Matthew 18:2-8

Art (as well as many other things) can easily lead us to break these commands and lead us or our children down the wrong path.  I do not believe that having your picture taken or making a drawing or painting is the same as creating a graven image.  I could be wrong about pictures and my Amish friends could be right.  So my advice is to pray about it and trust Father God to show you the truth.  For me, over the years I have come to understand the difference between an image and a graven image as two different things though they can be one and the same.  I believe a graven image to mean any “carved image” made of stone, wood, or metals that represents something that is dead (no breath in it) but is in the image of something that could be alive or have lived (such as people, birds, land animals, water animals), or possessed by a demon spirit, and any idols or images you might be tempted to place your trust in (such as angels, heros, saints, sun, moon, stars, planets, gods, demigods, demons, fairies, elves, wizards, witches, gargoyles, dragons, talismans, charms, serpents, trees or plants).  Father God made mankind in his image and gave us the breath of life.  We choose to place our trust in him and obey him. We are set apart and He has forbidden us to make graven images.

I understand that sculptures and carved images are part of learning about art history, religions, empires, governments, fame, and fortunes, and these images are all around us in this world.  However, for my family, though we can learn who made them and why they made them as part of learning about history, and we obviously observe their existence in every culture today, we believe we have been warned by Father God in the scriptures not to create these images ourselves, not to have or posses these images, and also not to place our trust in them.

We are to be “set apart” to bring Father God glory.  We are to love others, but we do not follow them and their traditions.  This makes us different from the rest of the world (you are in the world but not “of” the world) because we trust in Father God and obey the 10 commandments He gave us and ask his forgiveness when we have disobeyed, and we believe He sent his only begotten son who perfectly obeyed Him, to die in our place and purchase back our lives to save us from the eternal death and destruction that will come upon this world for rejecting Father God and breaking those commands.  This is serious!

“did not turn from what they had made with their own hands — they did not stop worshipping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they turn from their murdering, their involvement with the occult and with drugs, their sexual immorality or their stealing.” Revelation 9:20-21

Creating graven images isn’t the only concern with products marketed to children.  There are many things that could have spiritual consequences.  I would encourage homeschool families who desire to obey Father God, to pray about the art products and curriculum they use and ask Father God to show them what He wants them to teach their children about art and any other subject.

Thankfully, ARTistic Pursuits, Inc has curriculum that meets different families needs, and is flexible, and has several art lesson options to choose from that don’t violate our faith, or we can avoid certain lessons if needed.  These flexible options have helped us learn about art, art history, and practice art techniques that don’t involve carving images into graven image sculptures.  We mainly chose to focus on the lessons that involve drawing, sketching, making crafts, coloring, and painting for our hands on portion of the curriculum and avoid lessons that pertain to carving sculptures.  ARTistic Pursuits, Inc. has a huge variety of products from the toddler-preschool ages all the way through senior year in highschool that can help prepare students to take art courses at the college level too.

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Schoolhouse Teachers Review

My kids are loving the variety of Homeschool Courses available with the Yearly Membership from SchoolhouseTeachers.com.

There are almost 3 million children currently being Homeschooled across all 50 states in the USA.  SchoolhouseTeachers.com is a great “go to resource” for these Homeschool families, for both students and parents. They offer great courses and Homeschool helps at an affordable price.  Be sure to check out the time limited special offer below.

SchoolhouseTeachers.com

350+ Courses Online

Available 365 days a year

24 hours a day at your convenience.

 Preschool through Highschool and courses for Parents too.

Resources for Teachers

Resources for Parents

Online Subscription Membership

With a membership to SchoolhouseTeachers.com it is easy to find just the right courses to fit your family’s needs.

Courses are available by Grade Level and are easy to access.

Courses are also available / organized by Subject Area so you can find what you need that fits your interests.

These courses are USER FRIENDLY.  Besides being extremely convenient and available 24/7 many of the courses also have varying components like choosing either to use the lessons online or download them to your computer, printable lessons, printable worksheets and video components, etc.

Once you select the class or classes you want to do, then each class has more user friendly information such as:

How to Use This Course
Course Details
Course Introduction
Components
Length
Ages/Grades
Course Outline
Transcript Information
Download a Preview
For courses with videos – Watch a Preview Video
Course Completion Certificates
Links to lessons
Links to lesson plans if available

Additional Resources and Help For Members:

In addition to the huge variety of courses, some of the other features I love about our Yearly Membership to SchoolhouseTeachers.com include:

Media Center which includes a FREE subscription to The World Book eBook Library.  World Book is an online educational encyclopedia and resource hub filled with eBooks, written articles, videos, games, worksheets, quizzes, experiments, trivia, lesson plans and more.  This is a new component of the Yearly Membership to SchoolhouseTeachers.com

Preschool Playground which includes a full curriculum covering a wide variety of subjects, plus lots of tutorials and helpful resources.

Bible
Language Arts
Multi-Subject Learning
Numbers, Patterns, and Cognitive Skills
Manners and Healthy Habits
Arts, Crafts, and Music
Science
Social Studies

Focused Learning Centers for kids who are struggling.

High School Helps includes a list of courses and tips and resources for fulfilling transcripts.  There is also a really neat Highschool Planner you can print out to help your student set goals, organize assignments, and stay on track. 

Special Needs Resources includes helpful tips for choosing curriculum and making modifications and adaptations to the lessons.

Literacy Center includes how to teach your child to read in 101 easy steps, and includes activities for better comprehension.

Just for Parents section that includes courses, planners, and unit studies to make it easier to balance homeschooling, managing your home, maintaining a healthy marriage, and much more.

Schoolhouse Expos is like being able to get all the great information at a homeschool conference (great speakers on a wide variety of homeschool topics) from the comfort of  your living room!

Monthly Menu section helps you create family meals that your family will love.

TOS Magazine Resources

Certificate Library includes downloadable, printable certificates so parents can reward and motivate their students.

Help Charts include printable charts for homeschooling and household management.

Videos Library includes hundreds of free streaming videos.

Our Experience

We have been using SchoolhouseTeachers.com consistently for the past year in our homeschool.  A great feature with this site is that no additional text books are required.  Also most of the supplies needed for courses are usually found around your house or easily acquired through a local store or online if needed.  But usually you can find away to do the class without additional expenses.  Sometimes library books are suggested, but you can usually find everything you need on the internet for FREE.

We had used SchoolhouseTeachers.com a few years ago, prior to this past year, with a break in-between, and after using it again this past year I can honestly say their website just gets better and better each year with more classes and resources offered with your membership.  I missed it the year we took off and was truly glad to have a subscription for 2017.  As a member of the Homeschool Review Crew, we were sent a new 1 year subscription for 2018 in exchange for writing an honest review.

I like the variety of courses available to us, 350+ courses, plus videos, World Book eBook Library, printable resources, and more.  I also like the freedom to choose as few or as many courses as we want that fit our family’s needs.  I like the flexibility of doing the classes at our own pace and the ability to change courses if we desire and there are no penalties.  I like all the special features for parents like making calendars, lessons plans, certificates of completion, and help with dinner menus.  I especially like the variety of self-paced highschool courses available.

Some of the classes my kids used this past year from SchoolhouseTeachers.com are:

  • Introduction To Architecture
  • Elementary Art
  • Drawing With Realism
  • Leadership 101
  • Public Speaking
  • Studio Art For Teens
  • Digital Art and Product Design For Small Business
  • Introduction to Graphic Design
  • Art Tips with Jan Brower
  • Preschool Playground
  • Bible Stories For Kids

Here are two examples of SchoolhouseTeachers.com courses the kids have taken.

Course Example 1:

Introduction to Architecture.

My son loves this course and he highly recommends it to other kids.  It includes 37 lessons and qualifies for a full highschool credit on his transcript.  This is a big course and covers 246 pages.  Each lesson is several pages long and includes background and historical information, geography, maps, research, videos, websites, vocabulary worksheets, and architecture projects.

Module 1 – Ancient Structures

Lesson 1 – Introduction/Architecture in the Beginning
Lesson 2 – Pyramids
Lesson 3 – Pantheon

Lesson 4 – Parthenon
Lesson 5 – Coliseum
Lesson 6 – Petra
Lesson 7 – The Great Wall of China


Bonus Lesson 8 – Gingerbread Houses and Christmas Architecture

Module 2 – Transportation Structures

Lesson 9 – Tower Bridge
Lesson 10 – Brooklyn Bridge
Lesson 11 – Golden Gate Bridge
Lesson 12 – Panama Canal
Lesson 13 – Hoover Dam
Lesson 14 – Channel Tunnel

Module 3 – Living Structures

Lesson 15 – Neuschwanstein
Lesson 16 – Mount Vernon
Lesson 17 – Fallingwater

Module 4 – Entertainment/Touring Structures

Lesson 18 – Guggenheim
Lesson 19 – Eiffel Tower

Lesson 20 – Statue of Liberty
Lesson 21 – Washington Monument
Lesson 22 – Grand Canyon Skywalk
Lesson 23 – Spaceship Earth
Lesson 24 – Sydney Opera House

Module 5 – Skyscrapers

Lesson 25 – Empire State Building
Lesson 26 – Willis Tower
Lesson 27 – World Trade Center (before and after 911)


Lesson 28 – Petronas Towers
Lesson 29 – Taipei 101
Lesson 30 – Burj Khalifa

Module 6 – Worship Structures

Lesson 31 – St. Basil’s Cathedral
Lesson 32 – Cathedral of Notre Dame
Lesson 33 – St. Peter’s Basilica

Module 7 – Government Structures

Lesson 34 – Capitol Building
Lesson 35 – Pentagon
Lesson 36 – Architectural Fails
Lesson 37 – The Architect

For this course, and most of the courses we have used, we have had the option to download all of the lessons onto our computer with the provided link or use the lessons online.  He wanted to download them, and he had quick and easy access and it was easy to download and save them to the computer.

Each time he logs in to his course at his convenience, he reads through his lesson, watches a few linked videos, prints out and completes a worksheet that includes vocabulary and definitions, world maps of locations of buildings, he researches and then puts this into his 3-ring binder, and then he completes a building challenge in almost every lesson.

Some of the building projects have been 3 D paper models of famous structures around the world such as Roman Coliseums and Pantheons and the Great Wall of China.  One of the projects was building a ginger bread house.  In the curriculum, there are many links to paper models you can print out and build and my son has made a few of them, but he prefers to use 3 D models made of metal, plastic, wood, or building blocks for building famous bridges and other structures.  He has made a wish list of various models available on Amazon and Ebay that he wants us to buy for him and he plans to put them on a display shelf in his room when he finishes them.  He is only half way through the course at this time and is really enjoying it.

Course Example 2:

Elementary Art

Elementary Art covers 22 lessons /weeks including learning about 12 famous artists, 10 advent art lessons, art techniques, suggested library books, and looking up resources about each artist online and more.

12 Artists

My kids have enjoyed studying about 12 famous artists and their unique styles of art, and the projects they did in each style.

Lesson 1: Michelangelo
Lesson 2: Pablo Picasso
Lesson 3: Vincent van Gogh
Lesson 4: Georgia O’Keefe
Lesson 5: George Caleb Bingham
Lesson 6: Cassatt
Lesson 7: Grant Wood
Lesson 8: Rembrandt
Lesson 9: Pierre Renoir
Lesson 10: Andy Warhol
Lesson 11: Leonardo da Vinci
Lesson 12: Claude Monet

Here is an example of Lesson 2 and learning about the Abstract Art Style called Cubism by the famous artist Pablo Picasso. 

Their project assignment for this lesson was to use various shapes cut from colored papers to make their own masterpiece.  They really enjoyed this lesson.

Here is an example of Lesson 3 and a Van Gogh painting project.

We found a coloring page of Starry Night by Van Gogh.  The kids didn’t want to finger paint this day, so they modified painting the picture using the pressure technique with a brush.

Advent Art

The course also contains another 10 lessons called Advent Art that centers around the Christmas holiday and the birth of Jesus Christ.

Lesson 1: First Saturday of Advent – Luke 1:26-28, 31 An Angel Appears
Lesson 2: First Sunday of Advent – Luke 1:46-55 Mary’s Song
Lesson 3: Second Saturday of Advent – Matthew 1:20 Joseph’s Dream
Lesson 4: Second Sunday of Advent – Luke 2:4-5 The Journey
Lesson 5: Third Saturday of Advent – Luke 2:6-7 He Has Come!
Lesson 6: Third Sunday of Advent – Isaiah 9:6 Prince of Peace
Lesson 7: Fourth Saturday of Advent – Luke 2:8-11 Good News of Great Joy
Lesson 8: Fourth Sunday of Advent – Luke 2:13-18 Glory to God in the Highest
Lesson 9: Christmas Eve – Matthew 2:1-11 Three Visitors, Three Gifts
Lesson 10: Christmas Day – John 1:14 The Word became Flesh!

We did not do all of the Advent Art section of the course as it is listed.  Many of the arts and craft projects are designed to create a baby Jesus with felt, or paper plate angels, or star ornament with popsycle sticks, etc.

However there were a couple of projects in this section that I really liked such as Lesson 6 where the kids learn the “Names of God” and create a word picture.

Father God has many names.  The lesson provides several names for your picture, however there is still room on the page to add several more.

Yahuah = Father, He who breaths life

Yahusha = Yahuah Saves

1. YAH (“I am”) = Father and Judge (Creator and King)
2. YAHuah (“I am He who breaths life”) = Father (Abba)
3. YAHusha (“I am He who saves”) = Yahuah Saves = Son (Jesus)
4. Ruach HaQodesh (“the Dedicated Breath”) = Holy Spirit
5. Adonai (“Master”) = Lord
6. HaMashiach (“the Dedicated One”) = MessiYAH (Christ)
7. HalleluYAH = “You follow The Way of YAH”

Learning the names of God and making a list of his names on beautiful paper is fun to do.  This makes a lovely picture to hang on the wall, or put in a frame, and remind yourself and your kids of how great and loving Father God is and that he sent a part of himself, his only son, to save us.

I plan to tweak the Advent section of the Elementary Art course. I want to add in a few other bible art projects, while still focusing on the suggested bible scriptures about God sending his son Jesus to save mankind.  One tweak I am making is to help my kids create a bible art journal that includes the scriptures about Jesus Christ the Messiah.  I alternated colored paper and lined writing sheets so they can have plenty of space for writing and for art.  It has a “Jesus Christ Messiah” theme instead of a “Christmas holiday” theme and I believe will be more beneficial in learning about and focusing on faith in Jesus year around.  I am debating what binding to use for this project, so for now, the pages are loose and put into a folder.  I may simply use a three ring binder for them so it will be easy to add more pages when desired.  This journal will be a great way to keep related bible art projects and bible scriptures together and will make a fun memory book and encourage their faith.

Coming UP for 2018

Coming up this semester, some of the courses we will be using include:

  • Classic Architecture
  • All About Art
  • Accounting 101
  • Starting A Micro-Business For Teens
  • Early American History
  • Changes in Transportation, Communication, and Technology
  • Whole Foods Cooking with Sue Gregg
  • Fun With Cooking
  • Machines
  • Health and Fitness
  • More Preschool Playground!
  • Camping With Jesus course is filled with activities and discusses issues such as: What Will Heaven be Like? What Is Sin? Who Is Jesus, and Why Did He Die on the Cross? What Does It Mean to be Forgiven? How Do I Grow to Know God More?

Special Offer

New Members can SAVE BIG when you join SchoolhouseTeachers.com’s 2018 Fresh Start New Years Special!

Sale valid from 01/03/2018 – 01/31/2018

Be Sure to use the Special Code of your choice at checkout:

$90/yr (reg. $179/yr) Coupon Code: NEWYEAR18

                                 OR

$9.95/MO (REG. $19.95/MO) Coupon Code: MONTHNEWYEAR18

Sale ends: 31 January 2018

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