When Mother's Day Gets Stormy...

Happy Mother's Day to all Mamas out there.  Moms of children on earth and children in heaven.  Godmoms. Grandmoms. Aunties.  Spiritual moms.  Stepmoms.  Foster moms.  Just-like-moms.  For each and every mama, I pray that God's love and grace may shine in you, through you, and to you and that Our Blessed Mother continue to intercede for you.

I also want to let you know that if you have been having hard day, you're not alone.

My day missed the mark of a picture-perfect Mother's Day by a mile.  In fact, even the only photo that was taken of the day missed the mark. 

Yep, Hubby caught the kids and me in the frame, but neglected to include what I wanted him to take a photo of - the breakfast my daughter had so eagerly gotten up to prepare for me.  

(Just so I won't forget it over time without a photo to remind me, she made GFCF French toast, diced apples, and diced strawberries for us all on her own.)

Yes, hearing my daughter move around the kitchen to surprise me for breakfast - and ignoring the overly sensitive smoke alarm that went off as she did - was a sweet moment this morning. 

Going to Mass together as a family was as well.  In fact, I almost got good-teary when my fidgety oldest took my hand and positioned it palm up, hand flat, so he could rest his hand on mine.  At that point, he discovered his hand is as big as mine now - or just a hair's breadth smaller - and showed me.  Wow!  When did he get so big?  I welled up, remembering the long journey we've had with him so far and how God has graced us so many times throughout it.

Thankfully, such graces continued throughout this day, because shortly after Mass was when the "happy" in Mother's day became a choice, not a given.

At our lunchtime meal, my boy's ridiculous aversion to the mere presence of certain foods that were on the table for his sister got him going.  That, coupled with the knowledge that he'd lost his online time for a week due to some behaviors the other day, kept him going, and, before long, a tempest of whining, complaining, disrespect, and carrying on blew through our home.

My son's stormy behavior threatened to wash any "happy" away from Mother's Day for us, but, Daddy, his siblings, and I chose not to let it.  I firmly invited my son to leave the table and, then, the rest of us coached each other to ignore as many behaviors and words as possible and to act and react with happiness.

That worked for a bit, and we got through lunch okay.  As we did, I kept inwardly thanking God for filling me with extra measures of patience, good humor, and grace as my son's storminess ramped up further and further.  I also was grateful for my youngest's grin and my daughter's strong smile.

Unfortunately, my my oldest son's dark and angry front did not blow over after lunch, but persisted to hover in our home. 

Through God' grace, I managed to avoid the not-so-great reactions that I sometimes fall prey to when one of my children carries on so incessantly.  Throughout the literal hours of my son's nonsense, I did not yell in frustration nor anger, nor did I cry in exasperation or disappointment.  Instead, I just kept quietly calling on Our Lady in my heart and mind and reminding myself of how the newly sainted Saints Jacinta and Francis, as well as Blessed Lucia, offered their sufferings - great and small - up.   I also thanked my other two children for staying cheerful and playing kindly with one another as I tried to remain firm and loving with my son.

Yet, things escalated and got a bit ugly.

Then, thanks be to God, a change of location helped. 

For years now, I have recognized that changing activities or location can help reset my children, so, even though Grammy was not home today, when there was a bit of lull in the emotional storm hitting out home, I decided that we should go as a family to drop off Grammy's Mother's Day gifts.

Daddy gallantly agreed to drive and even stood out in the cold drizzle when he noted our gas tank too empty to get to Grammy's and back - bless him!

Before departure, I quickly went through our Catholic audio CD's to see if there might be one that would help reset my tempest preteen.  Mathew Kelly's Best Way to Live caught my eye.  Once popped into our minivan CD player, the talk quelled the kids and, hopefully, spoke to their hearts some.

We were able to drop off Grammy's gift and even get a bit of an apology and smile out of my son (albeit coaxed with a bag of treat snacks) before heading home.

Things were beginning to look up, until, during the ride home, I was overcome with a sudden case of feeling awful.  Headache, muscle aches, belly not right...

As soon as I let on how poorly I was suddenly feeling, my husband, who has never been great at things like cards, gifts, or even acknowledgement of special days (as in I do not even think he spoke the words, "Happy Mother's Day" to me at all today), immediately stepped up with what he is good at - being a steady husband and dad.

He had no qualms with me heading straight into our home and into bed, where he rubbed my head and comforted me for a bit until it was obvious the children needed him.

After resting for a short period, I recalled a toy my youngest had been asking to play with this past week and one that my oldest had not seen in a while which I though would interest them.  Thus, when I heard some squabbles erupting in the front rooms, even though I knew my husband could handle them, I rallied to get the toys from the attic.  I, then, told my husband what might be easy and healthful to make for dinner, and thanked him for letting me rest.

I heard a few residual storms from my son after that, but they were short lived, and, between the toys, some video time, and Daddy's care, the kids remained content enough most of the time that I could spend the remainder of the afternoon and evening trying to rest off whatever has physically hit me.    I even heard laughter and joyful interactions at times - praise God!

My husband brought me soup upon request, which I was able to keep down, so I tried to sit with the kids and him at dinner for a bit.  I felt awful then, though, so, went back to bed, where I remain, thankful for the luxury of being able to rest on this less than picture perfect Mother's Day.

As I rest here now, my boys and Dad are watching a series on the history of Rome, and my daughter has come in to snuggle with me.  So, it's time to stop sharing and to get to mothering again.

Through challenges and through cheer, I know I am blessed to live in my calling as a mother.  I am thankful for my children each and every day - even when the storms hit.  I am also grateful for Our Holy Mother, who generously bestows such grace upon us.

May you Mother's Day - typically "happy" or not - conclude with a true inward happiness.  I know mine is.

Make Algebra Visual, Hands-On, and EASY {An Algebra for Breakfast Review}

Lately, math time in our home has centered largely around Grades 3/4 and 5/6 Lessons from Algebra for Breakfast.

If you've never heard of Algebra for Breakfast, you are not alone.  I hadn't either until I was offered a chance to review this online video-based math enrichment program with my children. 


As soon as I began listening to the introductory video at the Algebra for Breakfast site and heard that even a first grader could learn algebra with Bob Hazen's method,  I knew I wanted to try the program with my children.

Mind you, I did not want to try Algebra for Breakfast, because I am a momma that wants to push her children hard and early.  Rather, I was excited about the program, because I am in a season of homeschooling where I need an "easy button" for math - something all three of my children can use and succeed with that takes minimal prep time from me.  So, once I heard that even six-year-olds could learn with the principles Bob Hazen teaches and saw that the Algebra for Breakfast program uses video teaching, hands-on manipulatives, and games, I was fairly certain the program would be a good fit for us. 

My oldest child likes online learning.  My middle child benefits from hands-on exercises.  My youngest loves learning games.  And me?  I like when "easy" and "math" can honestly be spoken in the same sentence.  Through experience now, I can attest that Grades 3/4 and 5/6 Lessons from Algebra for Breakfast are easy for Moms and kids to use!

So What is Algebra for Breakfast?

Algebra for Breakfast  is the brainchild of Bob Hazen, a credentialed math teacher who created a Summer Algebra Institute after spending years working with young children teaching them how to do algebra using specific principles that move away from the typical disjointed rules-based math many are taught in school and work, instead, on a more unified approach using an  incremental learning method with hands-on activities, music, manipulatives, and games.  He then took the methodology of his institute and made it available online through Algebra for Breakfast.This math enrichment program is available for children at Grades 3/4 and 5/6 levels.  For my family's review, we received 6 months access to both levels of the the online program and a download of 10 skip count songs.

This program also requires Math Dice, which I already owned, the use of special manipulative blocks, which I did not receive, but can be purchased through the Full Membership Pack.

Each level of lessons contains a number of brief videos for parents and 40 online student lessons with accompanying PDF worksheets and keys available for download. The video lessons are quite short - most ranging from about 5 to 10 minutes long - and are often recordings of Bob Hazen teaching a group of actual students.

Working through the Level 3/4 lessons with my children, I admittedly wondered at first how all the "first name, last name" stuff Bob teaches the children and the playing with blocks was going to become hard algebra.  Soon enough, though, I realized it was not going to be hard algebra at all.  Rather, it was incrementally building to easy, solid algebra that presented and practiced all of the following concepts even if the actual terminology was not always used with students:

• Countability
• Single Variable Expressions
• Known vs Unknown Values
• The Meaning of Variables
• A Multi-Sensorial Approach to Algebra & Mathematics
• Operation Sense
• The FNLN Principle: Identifying Like Terms and Unlike Terms
• Single Variable Polynomials
• Equivalent Amounts
• The Skip Counting Principle
• Quadratic, Linear, and Constant Expressions
• Polynomial Identification
• The Rectangle Principle
• Quadratic Factoring
• Number Sense & Mental Math
• Mental Imagery for Mathematics
• Multiplication & the Skip Counting Principle
• Monomial and Arithmetic Factoring
• Perfect Squares
• Place Value & Mental Math
• Factors, Multiples, & Skip Counting
• Problem Solving
• Addition & Subtraction with Like Terms
• Primes & Composites: Arithmetic
• Primes & Composites: Algebra
• Algebraic Substitution
• Division: Symbols, Reading, Meaning, Skip Counting
• Skip Counting & Algebraic Factoring
• Two-Digit Mental Multiplication
• Goldbach’s Conjecture on Primes


Checking in with my oldest on the 5/6 level, I saw similar concepts being used, but at a slightly more advanced level and with some additional concepts, too.

Once I understood how easy Bob made things, I began wishing he'd create an entire series of homeschool math programs for all ages and types of math!  For, each of my children learns math differently, but all of them have taken things away from Algebra for Breakfast already.
 
The Kids' Take

My youngest, at six, is actually two grade levels below the target age for the Grades 3/4 Algebra for Breakfast Lessons, but I had him work with his sister and me on the program anyway, because I thought he might get something out of it.  I was right! 

Between the brief, incremental lessons that Bob Hazen clearly presents in the videos and the hands-on practice that downloadable worksheets prompt, Algebra for Breakfast was  accessible for my youngest son.  When I asked him for his thoughts for this review, he said:

I have been using Algebra for Breakfast a few times a week with Mom and my sister.  It is teaching me easy Algebra.  I use blocks. I have done the fastest way to get ten.  You get the ten bar, not two five bars, or five twos...  I like it.  It is easy.

Did you get that?  My six-year old said algebra is EASY!

My daughter, at nine, said:

Algebra for Breakfast has been okay so far.  I like that the teacher uses blocks and teaches a little at a time.  I am learning Algebra, like squares.

To use the program, my brother and I sit down with my mom and the computer.  We watch the videos, then click on the worksheets and use them.  Sometimes, we do the worksheets orally online using the blocks at our table.  Sometimes, we print the worksheets out and do them by hand.  I prefer doing them orally.

My oldest, at eleven, used the Grades 3/4 Algebra for Breakfast Lessons independently as his siblings and me used the lower level together.  He had this to say: 

I like that the teacher uses other people's materials to teach math - like the blocks and the Math Dice...  The blocks are very easy to understand. I don't like the Math Dice as much. They just aren't as fun and easy as the blocks...

I learned about x-squared and x and how to do factoring.  I did not know any of these things before and now I understand them.  The teacher's method of teaching made it easy.

Again, that "easy" word!  I loved hearing my children call this program easy, since I do not like when math is hard.  Plus, my son learned squares and factoring without me having to do a thing!  How's that for an "easy button" for math?  It was just what I was looking for when I decided to introduce Algebra for Breakfast to my children, and, since my oldest likes being on the computer, it was just what he was looking for, too, it seems. 

In fact, my oldest went on to say:

I liked that the lessons were online and that I could do them by myself and finish them fast.  I did all 40 lessons already, but, to be honest, I only did the videos for all of them.  Sometimes, I did not do the worksheets, because, when I get something, I don't like to waste time practicing it a lot. 

I don't think all kids would go through it fast.  I think most would do one lesson a day.  Sometimes I did more, because I did not do every part.

And this is where I'd like to put a word in about Algebra for Breakfast's customer service.  I wrote to the folks at Algebra for Breakfast on a couple occasions, and, each time they got back to me promptly and positively.  One thing I wrote was a suggestion for student worksheet packets that parents could quickly and easily print out prior to giving their children free reign to progress at an independent pace with the program.

Currently, each lesson's worksheet is accessed on Algebra for Breakfast from links within each individual lessons.  This works for most, I am sure, but, I also know that it was part of what contributed to my son blowing by so many worksheets.  He is not proficient yet at downloading and printing things and I am not ready to have him master these computer skills 100% yet.  So, I thought it would be helpful to have a link that allowed me to print a set of worksheets all at once, rather than downloading and printing each separately  This would have saved me time and ensured my son had easier access to a printable version each worksheet - encouraging him to complete more of them before going on to next lessons.

Since parent answer keys are already provided in sets, I figured that an option to provide sets of blank worksheets might not be too difficult for Algebra for Breakfast to include.  They agreed and said they hope to roll out such an option this summer.

Even if they do not, I am still a fan of Algebra for Breakfast as it truly has made algebra easy for all three of my children to grasp.  My oldest wrapped up his comments to me about the program by saying:

Algebra for Breakfast was different than other programs, because it uses blocks which make it really easy.  I did not have to think much about the problems, I could just do them with the blocks.

With the base of what he - and his siblings - have done with the blocks, I can already see paper-and-pencil and in-your-head algebra becoming easier for them.  

Learn More



Currently, Algebra for Breakfast packages sell from a bare bones online program access only package for $22 to combined grade level packages with Math Dice and manipulatives for $144.  So, if you already have manipulatives or dice, or if you have children at different levels, you can find an appropriate package.



We were one of thirty-nine Homeschool Review Crew families that tried out Grades 3/4 and/or 5/6 Lessons from Algebra for Breakfast.  Click on over to read reviews about how the program fit each of our families and how it might work for yours, too.

You can also find Algebra for Breakfast on Facebook  

Get a FREE Printable Fatima Prayers Copywork Set!

In 1916, three shepherd children named Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta from Fatima, Portugal were visited by an angel that called himself the Angel of Peace and the Angel of Portugal.   Then, on, May 13, 1917, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to same three children with an urgent message for the whole world.

Our Lady identified herself as Our Lady of the Rosary and urged the children to pray the rosary daily for peace in the world and to make sacrifices for sinners.

Our Lady continued to appear to Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta on the 13th of each month from May to October of 1917.  Over the course of  her visits, and in the several preceding visits by the angel, Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta were taught a number of prayers.  These prayers are wonderful ones to memorize and pray as we offer up sacrifices throughout each day for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for the sins committed against God.

{Disclosure:  Some links which follow are affiliate ones.}

To help my children memorize the Fatima prayers - as well as to work on their handwriting - I have made copywork sheets of all the prayers found in the back of The Children of Fatima and Our Lady's Message to the World by Mary Fabyan Windeatt, which we are reading this week.  I am sharing the simple FREE PRINTABLE Fatima Prayer copywork sheets in case your children might benefit from them, too. 

In the set, I included both ejaculations and longer prayers:

 

I also made copies of each prayer in print and in cursive.

 

My hope is that in doing so, the set will be helpful across ages and abilities. 

Other Our Lady of Fatima Resources and Activities


My plan is to also center a good deal of our week's learning, review, and activities around the 100th anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima.  In case you're doing the same, I thought I'd also share some other resources and activities we'll enjoy this week:

We always enjoy listening to Holy Heroes CD's in our minivan, during chore time, or when we're playing with Legos and such.  Secrets from Heaven: The Story of the Children of Fatima will be perfect for this week. The audio is also available as a digital download/MP3.

My youngest got the darling Jesus and Mary hardcover for Easter and has been making his way through reading it with me.  We're going to read the sweet, 1960's version of the Story of Fatima as part of his lessons this week and will share it with his siblings, too.

We love CCC's animations here and will likely be watching The Day the Sun Danced: The True Story of Fatima again this week.

I am fairly certain that we will be making our now annual mini-Mary Gardens this week or next, which are a lovely way to honor Our Lady of Fatima's feast day, Mary's month of May, Mother's Day, or Saint Isadore the farmer's feast day, which is also coming up.

I am not sure yet if we will make simple paper Marian baskets to pass forward again this year, but I wanted to mention them here in case you are looking for an easy service idea for this week.
I've love to hear what your favorite Our Lady of Fatima resources, prayers, and traditions are. 

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.

Enjoy Art Lessons Inspired by Art Around the World! {An ArtAchieve Review}

Since diving into art lessons with ArtAchieve's Entire Level II, my family has started a fun, little tradition: 

The children sit down and complete an art lesson on their own or with me.  Then, when everyone has completed the lesson, we show Daddy all our artworks and have him guess whose creation is whose.  Often, the guesswork is easy for him since each of us seems to have developed our own style of drawing and preferred choices of color.  However, sometimes, we manage to  "trick" Daddy, which always gives my children a good giggle.

ArtAchieve Has Become a Favorite 
Of course, using ArtAchieve is not something we do only to try to stump Daddy.  Rather, it is something we immerse ourselves in because we enjoy it - and can fit it into our super eclectic and busy lifestyle.

Our family was introduced to ArtAchieve last summer when we reviewed the Entire Level 1 program.  Immediately upon beginning the program, we came to appreciate how its creator,  John Hofland (who is an experienced homeschooler, art teacher, and world traveler) made art accessible to even the most novice among us, creating success for each of us right away.

Lessons brought:

• clear instructions via video or powerpoint formats.

• encouragement to embrace mistakes and not to judge your own artwork until it is complete.

• inspiration to explore and expand skills.

Better still, because the art lessons required only an internet connected device, a printer, and basic art supplies (such as pencils, paper, watercolor markers, acrylics, a Sharpie, and oil pastels), they proved super easy to facilitate.  Assembling supplies did not break the bank or have me running here, there, and everywhere to specialty stores.  So, I could quickly and easily get my children and I creating when we had time to do so at home.

And create we did!

And, create we continued to do.  In fact, we completed all of the Level 1 lessons, which amazed me!

Why?  Not because the lessons were difficult to complete.  (They were easy and fun to do!) Rather, my surprise at creating the final Level 1 came because our track record for completing any online programs is not great!

For good or for bad, life is busy, and as I often say, homeschooling is a bit of a misnomer for us, since we tend to spend more time outside our home than in it. That makes time to dive into home-based pursuits- especially online ones - a bit challenging for us.  We like diving into them, but find that we sometimes end up pushing one thing aside to focus on another, and, then, by the time we circle back the initial thing, if it a subscription-based thing, we are out of luck.  Our subscription ends before our focus to complete the program does. 

Such was not the case with ArtAchieve's  Level 1 for us.  In less than a year's time, we were able to take breaks from the program here and there, yet still happily finish all the projects within it, and, thus, feel ready and enthusiastically willing to say "Pick us, please!" when the opportunity to review Level II came up, confident we would love it and complete it in the next year!My children and I are delighted to be well into Level II's projects now and are eager to complete the rest of them!  We also want to take a bit more advantage of the awesome extras John Hofland offers as a part of ArtAchieve.

Because the art projects in the program connect to art from around the world, Mr. Hofland has collected shares related images, maps, and tidbits of information in video and powerpoint lessons.  He also has collected and shared more images, maps, links, etc. online so students can expand their knowledge in:

• art appreciation
• geography
• history
• writing
• science
• cooking
• music
• literature

...and more!  Whether you want to hop a quick bunny trail out of curiosity or dive ino a full-on cross-curricula unit study centered on one of the ArtAchieve projects, Mr. Hofland makes it easy to do so!


Yep, John Hofland makes creating art and opening the door to other learning easy and fun!


Level II Lessons

The Level II lessons pick up comfortably just where Level I lessons leave off in terms of skills and techniques, but, honestly, could be used as first lessons for any child ages 7 and up (or even younger) who has some drawing background. 

In Level II, you'll find 15 art lessons inspired by art around the world for the current price of $56.78 (which is a discount of $17 off the $75 price of these lessons when purchased separately.)  The lessons are entitled:

1. The Swedish Dala Horse
2. The Korean Wedding Duck
3. The Japanese Goldfish
4. The Elephant from Ghana
5. The Ukrainian Cat
6. The German Nutcracker
7. The Sri Lankan Landscape With An Elephant
8. Tessellations: Repeating A Pattern To Create Original Art
9. The Ukrainian Rooster
10. Hiding Butterflies
11. The Mexican Mask
12. The Russian Fortress — Color Value and Analogous Colors
13. The Polish Szopka
14. The Mermaid from Denmark
15. The Weaving from Thailand

Each lesson typically starts with a printable warm-up to help students focus on drawing specific types of lines while working fine motor control.  Then, via powerpoint or video, there is a brief cultural/background introduction before the main project is presented. 

The powerpoint lessons tend to give more particulars in the way of step-by-step drawing, using red and black details and giving notes on how to size or place specific details, while the video lessons offer students a chance to see sample artwork being created with verbal instruction and background music.

Notes for other background music as well as a plethora of cross-curicula links are also provided on the website.

On the website, you also see exactly what materials are needed for each lesson and how long the project is projected to take, o you can better plan when to immerse yourself in art on any given day (and, if life gets crazy, but the kids still want to do art before bed, quickly decide which project you can swap out materials for, as we did for the horse project, swapping markers for acrylic paint so as to have less mess before bed, while still experiencing much of the same fun and creativity.

The Children's Words

When I asked my youngest what his favorite Level II project was so far, he said:

The horse, because it was simple to draw and you did not need to color the main part of the horse at all if you didn't want to.  You just colored the saddle, the straps, and whatever decorations you make. 

It was fun to look at other people's drawings and to think, "I think that is good," and "I think another one is good," and, then try to combine them to make my own ideas.  I liked horse's head.

He also added about ArtAchieve in general:
 

I like (the way ArtAchieve uses) planning dots.  Sometimes they are annoying, but it helps me know where I am going to draw, so my pictures are more even. Sometimes, I make a dot in the wrong place, so I make it into a decoration.

I want to keep using it and think people who like drawing should use it.

When I asked my nine-year-old (who has taken to doing a mini of every Level II project so far after we complete our initial works), what her favorite was, she said:

The fish.  I liked it because you just had to draw the basic outline all the same, and, then, you could do whatever you wanted with it. 

I explored using different color combinations and designs with the fish.  The teacher online gave us a certain number of markers we should use, and I used that number to try to make different designs. 

I also liked designing the horse.  The horse was my favorite actual design that I did so far, because, although it was a simple design, it was kind of cool how I was able to use just three colors to make the horsey kind of pop!  Most of the picture was just white, but it still looked cool. 

What I like about this art program is that the teacher tells you what to do for the basics.  The he tells you, "I will show you what I am going to do, but if you have a better idea that you prefer, you can use yours." 

I also like how he says if you make a mistake, it is okay.  It may come out as the best part of your artwork.  It was funny once when I made a mistake on the same part of the cat that he did.  We both put a line in the wrong place.  I decided to do what he did with his mistake my mistake, because it looked cool.

People who like to do non-realistic art and explore shapes, color, and designs should use this program.

 

My oldest, at eleven, said:

I really liked Level 1, so I wanted to do Level 2.

My favorite project so far was probably the fish.  I did it by myself and thought it was a fun project.  I just really enjoyed it.  I did it with the video, because I like the videos more than the powerpoints. Since I have done a lot of lessons, I skipped the relaxing thing and the warm ups.  I just like to get right to the art.

I admit, we all tend to skip the warm ups now that we are on Level II, simply because the children want to jump right into the main projects, but we don't all skip the relaxation part!)

Also, as I mentioned before, we have tended to give only cursory notice to the cross-curricula connections provided by Mr. Hofland so far,, but that will be changing.  My oldest said:

I want to learn about the Swedish horse and other things.  I want to look through the links.  I'd like to start doing more of these things after we do the art - learning about the world.

 
My reaction when he said this was, of course, "Then, let's do it!"  Granted, we already do a fair amount of learning about the world through an existing geography club, read alouds, and more, but who am I to knock a double-gift horse in the mouth?  My boy has requested to use the links and information on the ArtAchieve site to expand his knowledge and skill and the links are all there - so easy use in conjunction with the lessons.  My oldest son concluded his comments about ArtAchieve by saying:

I like this art program because it is mostly drawing and coloring.  I like the coloring in part.  It's different than coloring books, because you draw the things, plus it's artistic, not realistic colors. 

I have improved at doing artistic stuff using colors and patterns.  Like, whoever thought of cat with patterns on it?  Have you ever seen one?  Well, neither have I, except in art!

I want to keep using this!  Those who are not very skilled at art can easily this to learn new things and those who are good at art can try new things.  I also think those who want to learn more about the world can learn new things.  So many people can use this program.

Learn More

If you're looking for a well-presented drawing program that won't break your bank or have you searching for specialty supplies, then ArtAchieve is well worth a gander!  Most likely, you'll also appreciate the cross-curricula tie-ins and the fact that even with a busy out-of-home schedule, it is possible to comfortably complete all the lessons in a single level within the time frame of a one-year subscription.  (We did it!) 
 

  Read about ArtAchieve's mission - which I can attest comes to fruition as you use the program!

See a list of the supplies you'll need for ArtAchieve lessons.

Try five basic lessons FREE!  Mind you, most of these are introductory lessons and only the Czech Cat one is in the style of the lessons you pay for.

Lessons can be purchased with one-year access on a per lesson basis or bundled at a discount.

You can get social with ArtAchieve on:

• Facebook 
• Instagram 
• Twitter 
• Pinterest 
• Google+

Want to see what 100 different families have created with
ArtAchieve's Entire Level I, Entire Level II, Entire Level III, and Entire Level IV?  Click through the banner to see all of our reviews.