A Sweet Morning Prayer

Happy Father's Day!
 
As our day wound down here, I had a little one falling asleep on me.  It reminded me of how he did a similar thing just the other morning, which was precious. 

For the Record:  This photo was not taken during the moment described below.  No photo was.  However, the big blue eyes looking up at me and the delight-filled smile ARE reminiscent of it...

Before either of Jack's siblings were awake, he woke, padded out to me and gave me a HUGE hug.  Then, he cuddled into me and fell back asleep for a while.  

When I saw Jack's eyes begin to flutter open once more, I whispered to him that I was going to move so I could go to put in the laundry.  Instead of rolling off me, he snuggled deeper into me,smiled, and said, "You forgot to do something, Mom."

"What?" I asked.

Jack yawned, smiled and, then, purposefully and playfully stuttered, "G...g...g.." I realized what he is hinting at, hugged him, and began to lead us in our morning prayer: 

Good morning, God, we thank you for this day, please be with Jack, Nina, Luke, Mommy and Daddy and all we think and do and say.

Jack then yawned again, smiled with both mouth and eyes, and said "That's it."

Satisfied, Jack then hugged me and released me to get up to do my chores while he hunkered happily down into the couch.

A simple moment.  A sweet one.  A moment to savor:  my child seeking for us, His children, to open our day together in prayer.

Isn't it beautiful when young children initiate prayer?  What are some of your child's favorite prayers?

Teaching Children to Fish... Vocabulary! {A WordBuild Review}

Looking for the coupon code?  Scroll down to "Learn More"!

My children wow me daily with their expressive vocabulary.  So, why would I ever choose to review a vocabulary-building curriculum called WordBuild: Foundations, Level 1 by Dynamic Literacy?  Because I believe in the old adage, "You can give a man a fish and feed him for a day.  Or, you can teach him how to fish and feed him for a lifetime."  


Daily, I offer my children a smorgasbord of vocabulary through reading quality literature aloud to them, as well as through encouraging the one who can independently read to do so within his own interests to his heart's content.  Often, as we read aloud, and sometimes as my oldest reads to himself, new words become naturally assimilated into my kiddoes' working vocabulary.  At other times, one or the other of my children asks, "Mommy, what does (fill-in-the-new-word) mean?" 

Of course, I love when my children ask about words and happily answer their questions.  However, in doing so, I tend to "feed them for the day", rather than "teaching them how to fish".  I offer my children synonyms, definitions, examples and more, but, admittedly, rarely help them break down the words into meaningful morphemes (or core prefixes, suffixes and roots). Thus, I do not give them the tools to unlock the meaning of more than 16,000 words. WordBuild  does!
 
What is WorldBuild: Foundations?
 
 


WordBuild: Foundations, Level 1 is a proven way for children at a grade three through five level to quickly develop strength in word comprehension.   As the the first in a series of vocabulary products designed to help students in third grade through college age, it can also successfully be used with remedial and English Language Learners in grades five through nine.

Using a systematic rotation of puzzles, games and other activities, Foundations was designed as a result of more than thirty years of research on the evolution of language and best practices in teaching vocabulary.  It has been proven to engage students and to get results.  It:

• does NOT contain word lists to memorize, but teaches children how to build and break down words using morphemes (or word parts).

• focuses student learning on the most frequently used prefixes, roots and suffixes used in the English language.

• lays foundation in teaching students the 93 Latin and Greek roots that comprise 75% of the words use in academic English. 

• builds upon children's prior knowledge by having them attach target morphemes to words they already know, thereby exponentially increasing their working vocabulary. 

And, it does all this in about 15-minutes a sitting! 



Our Experience
 

Four our review, we received via post:

• The WorldBuild:  Foundations Level 1 Teacher Edition includes 256 pages of day-by-day lesson plans, which are broken into 5-day units that quickly and clearly explain what to teach, complete and discuss each teaching day and which provide answer keys, teaching tips, periodic tests and more. The Teacher Edition also contains a helpful 10-page appendix of compound word lists and a 2-page final "check up" quiz. 

• The Basics Student Activity Book, which is a 20-page, full color workbook that uses pictures to introduce students to compound words and, then, transitions them into prefixes and suffixes in a gentle, graphic manner.

• The Foundations Level 1 Student Activity Book, which contains 184 pages that cover 30 prefixes, suffixes, and combinations presented in Affix Square, Affix Adder, Magic Square, Word Search and fill-in-the-blank workbook pages.  It works more than just vocabulary.  It also works spelling with units on such things as the double letter principle and the dropped 'e' convention.

The first day using Foundations was easy-peasy and engaging.

Because my nine-year-old has had little prior practice with formal learning about compound words, prefixes and suffixes, I decided to begin our 15-minute and under sessions with The Basics Student Activity Book.  Using suggestions from the Teacher Edition as a guide, we quickly got to work.  My son does not typically enjoy workbooks, but did not balk much about this one.  He completed the first few pages with little guidance and relative ease.  All was going swimmingly until...

The activity book disappeared!

To this day, despite searching, none of us in our home know where it went.  We suspect that in an overzealous 10-minute tidy one day it got shuffled into our paper recycling bag and donated to a local recycling bin.  Oh no!  (Both my son and I liked that book!)

Not to be too chagrined, I let my son know that I thought he had been doing so well with the Basics Activity Book that he could probably tackle the next level without much trouble.  I would sit next to him as he did in case he felt in over his head.  He agreed.  And guess what?

The Foundations Level 1 Activity Book was not over his head at all!  He actually did more than one page in some of his 15-minute sessions with it.  In fact, the only things he needed me for was:

• to write his definitions on the Prefix Square page because his handwriting was too big to do so himself after he had written the words he'd constructed from the square:

• to remind him to remember capital letters and periods on the Affix Adder pages, which he actually got quite into making sentences for and did not want my help with (as shows in his spelling!)

• to show him how to add up the numbers on the Magic Square page so he could check his own work.  (I like that the program includes some basic addition practice, too!)

• to say, "It's okay, you don't need to finish now" when our timer went off while he did the Word Search page, because, although he was into the word search, we had somewhere we had to be getting going to that day.

• to listen as he did the fill-in-the-blank page orally, because I felt the blank lines were a bit short for him to write complete words on.

And so we were off to a good start which has continued.  Each subsequent unit of work in the activity book has followed the same pattern with different affixes and root words.  Each page has been completed in 5-15 minutes.  My son has stayed fairly engaged, but also has sometimes been "bored" by the repetitive nature of the activity presentation.  (As I said, he is not a "workbook kid".  Also, because we do a wide variety of experiential learning activities and games, "systems" sometimes get old quickly for him.)  Thus, I found myself, at times, allowing him to pick just one or two pages of each unit of work to complete or doing portions orally.

That said, I am glad we have been using the program.  Even though my son has strong expressive vocabulary, Foundations is serving the main purpose I thought it would for us.  It is teaching my son to be a fisher of words.  Since we began the program, we have paused during read aloud times to point out affixes he'd focused on in the Activity Book to his siblings.  I have also noticed him taking more care with his word attack when spelling and with his decoding and meaning-gleaning when reading on his own.  
 
My Bottom Line

If you have a child who is not 100% workbook-opposed and who has also finished mastering phonics, Foundations could be an ideal tool for helping him move beyond "sounding out" words and into "meaning" them out.  It can help not only with word comprehension, but also with spelling, and it can do so in an engaging, systematic way that lays the foundation for unlocking a huge portion of English words.

Strengths of the program include that:

• the Teacher Edition was quite well laid out and easy-to-follow with objectives, hints, needed materials, week-at-a-glance chars, discussion ideas and more.  While some Teacher Editions, I think, are superfluous, this one, I think, is a true help!

• there is some variety.  The games and puzzles keep children engaged in learning, even if my particular child could use even more variety in them. 

 

• learning is incremental - steady but quick.  Material is presented in bite-size pieces that allow children to quickly digest it.  With three roots and three prefixes, children can learn 12 words.   Then, add three suffixes and they've got 48 words.  Three more roots and that's 96 words...

 
Potential pitfalls of it, depending on the parent and child might be:

• The course appears to be originally designed for a classroom and, therefore, can seem a bit dry and repetitive at times.  Likewise, depending on the speed with which your child masters materials and their interest in such things as word searches, some pages of the activity book may seem like "busy work".  The easy fix for this is simply to skip such pages.

• Printables to make compound word dice are found in the first lessons, but further lessons do not include such fun options for kinesthetic learners.  I am fully able to create such things on my own, but I would still love to see more suggestions for multi-sensory, active learning within later lessons of the Teacher Edition or as an appendix.  There are so many active, fun ways to move beyond pen-and-paper and discussion when learning how to break down and piece together new words.  Layering some of these into the solid existing cycle of pen-and-paper activities and games would make Foundations even more dynamic! 

Learn More (and Use A Coupon Code!)

• Use the coupon code happyhearts at checkout for 25% off books on www.dynamichomeschool.com or 10% off www.wordbuildonline.com. 

• Download a sample of WordBuild: Foundations, Level 1.

•  Find Dynamic Literacy on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

 

• Read what 85 Schoolhouse Review Crew families think about Dynamic Literacy's WordBuildOnline, WordBuild: Foundations, Level 1, and WordBuild: Elements, Level 1. 

How might you feed your children's ability to "mean" out words for a lifetime?

 

If God is Our King...

Sometimes, children say the most beautiful things.  

On the Feast of the Sacred Heart, our Nina did.  

I had asked her to get changed for Mass and a farewell reception for our priest while I was in the shower.  When I came out, she was dressed a bit fancier than I had expected her to be.
 
I asked her why she had donned such a dressy dress.  Her reply:

True, my girl, true.  So true and so sweet.

May we each remember just how richly blessed we are as children of God!

What Can A 4-Year-Old Do in the Kitchen?

Jack is four and guess what he has mastered? Planning and preparing a full meal with but a little help from Mama sous chef.

Jack asked me to peel and cut fruit alongside him and to help him get the roll ups out of the toaster oven where they were warming,  Besides that, he planned and prepared this meal for our family with focused and satisfied independence.

Now, before anyone cries, "Danger!", let me explain:  We are not negligent parents.  Rather, we are parents with a mission to guide our children to be happy, healthy, competent adults.  Part of this means giving them freedom and responsibility in the kitchen.

He only began cooking eggs after putting the roll ups in to warm and prepping the fruit for our meal because I reminded him  that the eggs would not take long, but would need full attention.

Inspired by Montessori principles, Mike and I have long involved our children in food preparation -- yes, even wielding knives and cooking over fire.  For while some think that doing so is just too unsafe, we disagree.  

Dangerous to us is cowering in the kitchen, thinking that young children are incapable of learning how to plan and prepare healthy meals even after they have shown an interest in doing so.  

Earlier in the week, Jack has decided he wanted to prepare eggs for protein, sliced apples for produce and rolls ups for carbs.  However, when the day came for him to make our family meal, he swapped out apples for strawberries, peaches and nectarines.  A tasty choice!

For time eternal, children have had kitchen responsibilities.  In "the old days" these responsibilities included working with tools far more ominous than any of our kitchen knives are and cooking over a much more open flame than our little gas stove can produce.

 

Because the task is challenging for him and he was eager to cook eggs, Jack asked me to peel and slice some of the fruit alongside him.

So it is that Mike and I choose to take extra time when we can to work alongside our children in our kitchen.  At first, this means, agreeing that our children can be our sous chefs, which, of course, does find us sacrificing some speed in food in order to mentor the the children in meal prep.  For, in the short-term, planning and prepping meals child-free can be far more expedient.  No eggs accidentally broken on the floor.  No pan to scrub after food was cooked a bit too long.  No constant pausing to answer this question or direct that next action.

I have cleaned up a fair share of broken eggs and fished out many an egg shell bit over the years, but it is so worth it to witness this concentration and ability now!

Over time, though, choosing to have our children as sous chefs becomes the more efficient choice.  For it leads to the tables turning:  the moment when we become the kids' helpers.  When we can simply smile and attend to another thing here and there as the children do the majority of the meal prep, asking us only for a bit of help.

Then, one day, one meal at a time, the children become the solo chefs -- ready, willing and able to plan and prep a meal from start to finish.  Jack is not 100% there yet with egg roll ups and fruit, but he is oh so close and it makes us both smile.

 

There is a simple joy that comes when a four year old sees "egg soup" turn to scrambled eggs, doing it "all by myself!"

As each of our children gain independence in the kitchen, we savor the fruits of all our labor:  the meals the children make and the efforts we put in to set them free in the kitchen.
 

What other "dangerous" practical life skills might children be capable of?

Comprehensive Reading and Writing for Children with Challenges! {A Schoolhouse Crew Review}

When I was offered the opportunity to review Primary Arts of Language: Reading Complete Package and Primary Arts of Language: Writing Complete Package from Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW), I was thrilled!  

Nina worked happily with this curriculum whenever we did it together.  Sometimes, we adapted the directions on printable consumables to suit her desires on a given day.

For years now, I have suspected that my daughter has dyslexia.  However, rather than investing time running around to appointments and therapies to pursue an official diagnosis, my husband and I have opted to invest time and energy in areas of her strengths while also continuing to seek resources and strategies to help with her challenges.  IEW's Primary Arts of Language (PAL) packages, which are aimed at chidlren with reading levels below grade two, are just such resources! 


"Complete" is an appropriate word!

Nina hardly needed to begin with writing basic letters, but she did.  Why?  Because she wanted to!  I like to let her make choices and lead sometimes even when approaching "boxes" curriculum.  Speaking of "boxed" curriculum, I am absolutely delighted with how comprehensive and easy-to-use this one is!

Although I had read online about what my family would be blessed with in our PAL packages, I must say that when I opened the box and began diving into Primary Arts of Language: Reading and Writing I was wowed.  There was just so much there!



Primary Arts of Language: Reading came with:

• a Primary Arts of Language: Reading Teacher’s Manual, which I began reading right away, found straightforward and easy-to-follow.  This manual is spiral bound and well laid-out, which makes it easy to reference during lessons.  It contains specific, simple-to-implement instructions for presenting poetry, phonetic rules and games.  It also has pages and pages of cut-and-go cardstock word cards.  (Can we say easy-peasy prep?!?)

• a Primary Arts of Language: Phonetic Games book, which is also spiral bound and includes game boards, which are meant to be cut out and mounted on file folders, and game pieces, which are pre-printed on card stock and can simply be taken from the book and cut apart.  I just loved that all of this was pre-printed which made setting up the games a breeze.  However, I admit, I did not use all the games each time they were suggested in the plans because we already have other games we play.

• a Primary Arts of Language: Reading DVD-ROM, which I only accessed at first for the Primary Arts of Language: Reading Student Book (e-book) which includes printable pdf files.  I later took more notice of the other helpful portions of the DVD-rom: 
   
  • an instructional video by Jill Pike, which makes the complete -- and, perhaps, seemingly overwhelming to some -- program easy to understand and get started with
   
  • four informative MP3 audio talks: Nurturing Competent Communicators by Andrew Pudewa, The Four Language Arts by Andrew Pudewa, Poetry as an Integrator by Anna Ingham, and Intro to the Blended Sound-Sight Program by Anna Ingham.
   
• a Primary Arts of Language: Phonetic Farm folder with stickers, which I dare say fits well with the description "simply genius".  The full-color folder and stickers are visually appealing, easy-to-use and oh-so-helpful in helping children remember the different letter combinations that can make the same sound.  My daughter said it was her favorite part of the program!

To get an even better idea about each of these package components, head on over to the IEW website to download samples, listen to audio clips and view video excerpts.  When you do, though, be aware that what you'll find is only a taste of the comprehensive program that will land on your doorstep if you order this product.  As I said before, I am wowed by it!   It has poetry, letter stories, games, activities and more.  Better still, like many other IEW products, it is especially written to be as helpful for special needs students as it is for those without specific challenges.  To me, this is HUGE!  I love that it can help my struggling learner and that later, because of the printables on the DVD-ROM, I can use it with my youngest.  It holds appeal and purpose for both.





Primary Arts of Language: Writing Complete Package is fabulous for special needs learners and others, too!  And, like the PAL reading package, it is oh-so-comprehensive!  In it come:

• a Primary Arts of Language: Writing Teacher’s Manual, which is spiral bound and not only contains complete daily and weekly instructions for presenting printing, copywork and composition lessons, but also has a 72 page appendix filled with posters, charts and more to make prep easy!
  .
• a Primary Arts of Language: Writing DVD-ROM, which includes the Primary Arts of Language: Writing Student Books (e-book) that allows you to print out consumables as needed (for multiple children in your family if you intend to use this curriculum with one sibling, then another.  So handy!), a helpful instructional video and five useful MP3 audio talks:

• Dictation, Narration, and Public Speaking by Andrew Pudewa

• The Four Language Arts by Andrew Pudewa 

• Units I/II in the K–2 Classroom by Shirley George 

• Unit III in the K–2 Environment by Shirley George 

• The K–2 Writing Environment by Richelle Palmer
   
  

• an All About Spelling Basic Interactive Kit, which contains letter tiles, magnets, spelling divider cards and a downloadable sound app to help children learn through sight, sound and touch while making mom and dad's prep so easy!

• an All About Spelling Level 1 Student Pack and teacher's Manual which make taking this customizable, multi-sensory program from package to child so, so easy and successful!  (I have long been debating about if I "need" All About Spelling (AAS) for my children, and, now can attest that even if no one ever really needs any specific program, some make it so much easier for children to master spelling.  AAS used as a part of IEW seems to be just such a program!) 

My Bottom Line

I was delighted when my daughter, inspired by this curriculum, asked me to write out a poem she had composed and, then, proceeded to copy it so beautifully!

I had heard about IEW's fabulous reputation before being selected for this review.  Now, I know firsthand why they have it.  Primary Arts of Language: Reading and Writing, if used together, step-by-step, piece-by-piece, exactly as intended can, undoubtedly help children learn to read, spell and write with confidence, proficiency and even fun!  It can be equally helpful and enjoyable if used a bit more piecemeal in order to adapt to a child's existing knowledge and skills and a family's schedule.   
Truly, if you are looking for a comprehensive curriculum with well-written teacher's manuals, easy-prep games and activities, family-tested-and-recommended lessons and a heart for all children - including those with special needs, Primary Arts of Language: Reading Complete Package and Primary Arts of Language: Writing Complete Package could be it! 

Learn More

• IEW offers SO MANY fantastic materials and packages.  Eighty-five Schoolhouse Review families tried a variety of them.  Read their reviews.
 

• Find IEW on Facebook, Pinterest, Vimeo, Twitter, YouTube, Google+ and their blog.
   
Might the Institute for Excellence in Writing help your challenged learners, too?  I think so!

Scrapbook Your Field Trips! {An Exploring Creation Field Trip Journal Review}

Note:  This post contains affiliate links to a favorite educational products provider of ours: Apologia Educational Ministries. Read full disclosure here.

In my family's eclectic "us"schooling life style, field trips play a huge part!  However, until we had an opportunity to review the Exploring Creation Field Trip Journal from Apologia Educational Ministries, we were never that great at documenting our adventures.  Sure, we took loads and loads of pictures, but that was about it.  Now, with thanks to the Exploring Creation Field Trip Journal that is changing.  We are all getting into the habit of writing more about our adventures!



 
Apologia is well-known for their top-notch homeschool materials, and, their Exploring Creation Field Trip Journal does not disappoint.  It has a little something for everyone.



Check Out Tips and Ideas



Like many journals, the Exploring Creation Field Trip Journal opens with a page to personalize.  We put a family photo on our page since we decided to use the journal together.

The pages that follow include

• a table of contents.
• a checklist for preparing for field trips.
• two pages of ideas for field trips, near and far, real and virtual, in your backyard or around the world.

There is also a password and webpage listed which allows  Exploring Creation Field Trip Journal  owners access to additional online materials, such as virtual field trip ideas, state maps and loads of helpful links!

After that, come four sections of full-color, graphically-pleasing journal pages for you to fill out.

Explore Your State, Your Country, and the World

The first of these sections includes double page spreads for places explored in your state, in the United States and in the world.  We opted not to use these pages yet, because, in the next academic year, we will be focusing on the geography of the United States and I would like to use them then. 


Plan and Capture Memories from Specific Trips

The second section of the journal is for specific field trips.  It begins with a page of tips and, then contains 10 double-page spread for journaling about individual field trips.  Each of these spreads contains space to jot down:

• the location of the field tip
• its time
• its date
• a map of the location
• a prior reading book list
• an emergency contact plan
• a photo or drawing
• a list of things you want to see or do
• a story of the day
• some notations of things you never want to forget

Because our family takes so many field trips, we could have easily filled these pages within a couple weeks.  However, we opted to journal only some of our field trips and did each a little differently even though the pages to do them on were identical.

For one trip we journaled about, we did less writing then taping.  You see, we rarely print photos in our home.  So, the kids were excited to print some to put in our journal as opposed to just reviewing them on the computer as we normally do.  Even after selecting only a portion of the photos we took during our field trip, however, we had so many photo that we wanted to tape into the journal that we knew we couldn't write much.  So, since we'd been working on analog time telling, I had my youngest show me where to draw in the time that our field trip began on the pre-printed clock face.  We also write the date, and the children dictated a few things to me.  Then, we covered the rest of the pages with photos!

For another field trip, one child drew a map of the field trip location.  Then, all the children dictated the story of the day and their favorite memories to me.  Still photo-happy, we decided to cover the rest of the space up with photos!  

 
For yet another trip, my oldest child drew a map, wrote about what the kids had wanted to do and wrote the story of the day by himself.  Then, each of my three children shared something about the trip that they did not want to forget and I wrote their thoughts into the journal.  After that, of course, we added pictures!

Other pages followed suit.


Find a Special Spot

The third section of the journal has four double-page spreads for writing and drawing about a special spot through each season.  We opted not to use these pages yet since we could not all agree on ONE special spot.   (We're still choosing a SINGLE spot to begin journaling about in the fall.)
 
Capture How YOU See Things

The final section of the journal is for thoughts and drawings "As I See It".  As all the sections of the journal do, this one includes a how-to-use tip page.  Following that are pages for journaling about:

• movement
• reflections & shadows
• 2-D, 3-D and 4-D memories
• patterns, textures & colors
• predators & prey
• the heavens
• the earth
• God's signature on creation

There are also 10 more general pages for topics of your choice.  We are waiting to use all of these delightful pages on some nature-art journaling excursions we have planned.

Enjoy This Flexible, Yet Focused Way to Capture Memories

 
The Exploring Creation Field Trip Journal is such an adaptable journal!  We have enjoyed using the parts of it we have used thus far and look forward to filling the rest of its pages with highlights of the many adventures our family partakes in.  I appreciate the way the journal offers ideas, tips, prompts and spaces that individuals or families, youngsters or older folks, homeschoolers or brick-and-mortar schoolers can enjoy! I also appreciate that the journal is spiral bound, for easy opening and writing in.  Plus, it is graphically pleasing. 

We have put our journal in the kitchen alongside our plain-notebook journals so the children can opt to capture any adventure we take in it.  They also sometimes just look at the entries we've already done.

Late spring and summer are a wonderful time for field trips and I truly feel this journal could help almost any individual or family capture memories in a fun, flexible yet focused way.


Find Out More

• See sample pages of this beautiful journal!

• Learn how 100 Schoolhouse Review Crew families have been using the journal.

• Find out what other helpful and beautifully made products that Apologia offers.

• Get social with Apologia on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+.

Paint and Read: Kadinsky

Summertime can be a perfect time for forays into art appreciation and painting.  So sit back and be inspired by a simple, but fun, paint and read together time you and your children might enjoy!

Painting Time...

In the kids second painting class, they learned a bit about Wassily Kadinky, an abstract artist from Russia who is best known for his expressionism, or painting with color that brought about a mood or emotion.

Squares with Concentric Circles, 1913 (Image Source: Wikipedia)

With inspiration from Kadinsky's Squares with Concentric Circles, Luke and Nina thought of an emotion and then tried their own hand at painting in the style of expressionism.

Nina chose to do happiness.
 

Luke chose to do mixed emotions.
 

Both enjoyed creating concentric circles within squares, and I appreciated seeing how each child in their class created unique paintings based on their own palette choices and emotions!

Reading Time...

 After painting in Kadinsky's style, of course, it was time to dive deeper into who Kadinsky was and how he painted.  Thus, I selected four books to read together at home.

(Note: Affiliate links follow for your convenience.  Please see our full disclosure  for more information if you wish and, thank you for clicking through to make any purchases you might have to make today.)

The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky's Abstract Art was Nina's favorite because of the way it was written, its illustrations and the way it describes how Kadinsky experienced music as colors.    I, too, loved this historical fiction book based on Kadinsky's life.  

Indeed, The Noisy Paint Box, is a true "living book", which is as fun to read aloud as it is to pour over for its exuberant acrylic paint and paper collage illustrations!  Replete with rich and poetic language, evocative illustrations, an author's note that is not to be missed, and reproductions of the Kadinsky works that inspired some of its illustrations, The Noisy Paint Box is a true feast for eyes, ears, mind and soul. You cannot leave it behind without being impressed by how Kadinsky heard sounds as colors and experienced colors as sounds.  Nor can you close the book without recognizing what a celebration of creativity it is!

The Life and Work Of... Wassily Kadinsky was Luke's favorite.  He liked it because it was "a better biography and more scientific" than The Noisy Paint Box, he said. 

I, personally, would not use "scientific" as a description of The Life and Work Of... Wassily Kadinsky.  Rather, I'd say the book was a straightforward, yet enjoyable children's biography that included:

• 11 reproductions of Kadinsky's work, showing the different periods and styles of Kadinsky's art

• a brief, but clear history of Kadinsky's life and art

• illustrations and photographs to bring the history of Kadinsky's life and times to life 

and more.

The book was brief enough to read aloud, yet interesting enough for the children to page through and "study" on their own.  With cleat text and illustrations, photogpraphs or reproductions on every page, it engaged and delighted my children.

Image Source: WikiArt

Sky Blue (An Art Play Book) was Jack's favorite since it was an interactive book with peek-a-boo pictures, lift the flaps and more. In fact, we all had fun moving the pages around to see Kadinsky's Sky Blue in different ways.  I also appreciated the book's rich vocabulary, many allusions and poetic language.  Together with the illustrations, the text unleashes imagination.  However, I would be remiss if I did not mentioned that, at times, I wondered if the book was created in the 70's as opposed to its copyright date of 1988, if you know what I mean.  (Yes, it was a bit "trippy" in some ways!) 

We also read the Kadinsky section of The Usborne Book of Famous Artists.  In just two pages, we learned about Kadinsky's life, times and work.  We also enjoyed a creatively drawn timeline of his life and an image of the vivid, pure painting palette Kadinsky used!  

Undoubtedly, since The Usborne Book of Famous Artists contains over 30 more artist spotlights, we'll continue to keep it on hand.  It's a wonderful, engaging introduction to masters of art!
 
More...

What fun we've had with our relaxed read alouds learning about famous painters and their works.  If you didn't catch it before, enjoy checking out our Picasso study and stay tuned for Matisse, Monet and Van Gogh to come!

We'd love to hear your favorite projects and resources for relaxed exploration about famous artists!  Please share in a comment here or on the Training Happy Hearts Facebook page.