ARTistic Pursuits Inc. is a long time favorite around our house. They’ve been our go-to for Art curriculum since we completed our first review for them many years ago. I love them and so do my children.

Their newest curriculum, ARTistic Pursuits Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray, was designed for children in grades K through Third. For our review, we were given a copy of Art For Children, Building A Visual Vocabulary. It is book one in this series.

Because we have used ARTistic Pursuits over the years with my older children, in particular with Emmalee, I wanted to take a look at this series for Laycie and Jackson. It fits their age range in learning. I chose to begin with Volume 1 so that they can follow the series and learn each lesson as they work through it. I also had Emmalee take a look over it, because in Art, you can always learn, especially from a course like ARTistic Pursuits!

The book itself is hardback with a glossy cover so that it’s easy to wipe off. It’s Art. It gets messy. Markings happen and paint spills. An instruction book will face it’s challenges so I’m thrilled the cover is easy to clean up.

There are 18 projects which feature Master Works shared in 12 text lessons through the book. There are 6 video lessons sharing Art Material Instruction. Each lesson shares a project. The DVD and Blu-Ray disks are held in a plastic envelope at the front of the book.

This book was written by Brenda Ellis. It follows history in chronological order but you can skip around to different periods if you so choose by using varied volumes of the series for lessons. There’s no right or wrong way to do it.

You’ll find a Table of Contents listed in the front of the book, allowing you to easily locate a chapter or page as needed. There is also a list of materials shared and advice on teaching the lessons simply. Finally you’ll find a Welcome from the author herself, introducing the idea of the program.

This curriculum was made to be easy to use and fun as well, keeping both you and your student engaged for the lessons so that Art becomes a joy to you and not a stress-filled journey. As parents, many of us don’t like Art because it’s messy and it can be a lot of work. The goal is for Art to be fun, to limit the amount of work needed to complete the lessons and to just enjoy each moment as you learn and work on the projects at hand.

The lessons take 10 minutes to follow along and get started, yet that 10 minutes opens a world of imagination and creation for you and your child. Read the lessons to or with your child. Ask the questions in a fun manner to encourage your child’s interest in Art. Stretch their imagination and allow them to create with your encouragement. Your child will create artwork that shares their own personality and style.

The DVD lessons are short but the lovely Ariel Holcomb, along with Brenda Ellis keep the child interested in what they are learning through the instructional and educational video. You can simply pop this into your computer or TV and your child can easily follow along. Simple and easy.

We really played around with the lessons of this book. I allowed Emmalee to take over instruction, as her heart is in Art. She picked through the lessons and worked with her siblings to create fun little things. She showed them watercolor techniques that she’d already learned through her previous experience with ARTistic Pursuits. Watercolor crayons were new to us so learning to use those was fun. We’ve been using watercolor pencils for a while now. She helped her siblings with color mixing, though she chose to use watercolor paints instead of the crayons. She also had them do some things using construction paper as directed by the lessons she read in this book.

ARTistic Pursuits Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray are available through ARTistic Pursuits Inc. for $39.99 for Art For Children, Building a Visual Vocabulary Volume 1. They also offer a materials starter pack for $64 or a combined cost of $103.99 for both. You can also buy the full set of this series on the website.

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About the Book

Title: The Captured Bride

Author: Michelle Griep

Release Date: June 1, 2018

Genre: Historical Romance

A war-torn countryside is no place for a lady—but Mercy Lytton is a lady like none other. Raised amongst the Mohawks, she straddles two cultures, yet each are united in one cause . . . to defeat the French. Born with a rare gift of unusually keen eyesight, she is chosen as a scout to accompany a team of men on a dangerous mission. Yet it is not her life that is threatened. It is her heart.

Condemned as a traitor, Elias Dubois faces the gallows. At the last minute, he’s offered his freedom if he consents to accompany a stolen shipment of French gold to a nearby fort—but he’s the one they stole it from in the first place. It turns out that the real thief is the beguiling woman, Mercy Lytton, for she steals his every waking thought.

Can love survive divided loyalties in a backcountry wilderness?

Click here to purchase your copy!

About the Author

Michelle Griep’s been writing since she first discovered blank wall space and Crayolas. She is the author of historical romances: The Innkeeper’s Daughter, 12 Days at Bleakly Manor, The Captive Heart, Brentwood’s Ward, A Heart Deceived, Undercurrent and Gallimore, but also leaped the historical fence into the realm of contemporary with the zany romantic mystery Out of the Frying Pan. If you’d like to keep up with her escapades, find her at www.michellegriep.com or stalk her on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.

Guest Post from Michelle

A Visit to Fort Niagara

Whether you’re a history buff or don’t have a clue what the French and Indian War was about, there’s a destination in upstate New York that’s fun to visit for the whole family . . .

My husband and I made the trek to this living history site last summer. I had no idea what to expect, other than what was advertised as a “reenactment camp.” For those who don’t know, this is when volunteers who adore history come together to present a particular event, such as a battle. These people usually choose a real person from the era upon whom they fashion their modern day persona. They dress, speak, eat and live as that person might have. Here I am with some of my new friends:

Generally around the 4^th of July, the 1759 Battle of Fort Niagara is recreated in a 3-day extravaganza of soldiers, muskets, canons and an entire market place to peruse selling period-related items.

Some of the things that surprised me about stepping back into the mid-eighteenth century were:

• How much smoke muskets kick out
• Once the battle begins, it’s hard to see who is your enemy or ally
• Canons are really loud
• Everything wasn’t as black and white as it seems in pictures—gowns and uniforms were very colorful

What makes this event so spectacular is that they take the entire 20 day siege and condense it into 3 days. If you visit every day, you’ll see and experience exactly what happened. You’ll be there to see the British, Colonial regulars and Iroquois allies sneak out of the tree line to shoot at some French soldiers who were pigeon hunting just outside the fort. You’ll hear the war whoops and barrage of angry French epithets roaring on the air. You’ll even get a chance to taste some of their food as you wander around inside the French Encampment set up inside the fort walls.

To experience a bit of the danger, sights and sounds of what Mercy and Elias lived through in The Captured Bride, Fort Niagara really is a fantastic place to visit.

Blog Stops

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Vicky Sluiter, June 9

Carpe Diem, June 22

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Michelle is giving away a grand prize of

Click below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/d06e/the-captured-bride-celebration-tour-giveaway

My Review of The Captured Bride:

I’m a huge fan of Historical Fiction. I love a good story of any kind really, but something about history intrigues me. When I read a novel that’s set in the past, I can simply imagine being in the time and place, the life they’ve lived and the love they experience. It’s a beautiful thing.

The Captured Bride is set in the time period around the French and Indian War. The book tells the story of Mercy Lytton, a young woman who was raised by the Mohawk Nation. Mercy’s stands as a link between the English and American Indian worlds, both which have a strong dislike of the French. Mercy must learn to overcome her dislike of the French in order to complete the task she’s set to do and to find the love she’s always wanted with Elias Dubois.

Elias is a French traitor who is facing hanging in the gallows. He’s accepting of his fate, only because he has God on his side. His strong faith guides him each day of his journey. Sent by the enemy to deliver Gold of his own into the English hands, he’s not sure he can complete his task with the likes of Mercy by his side.

This was an delightful story full of exciting travel and intrigue as Mercy, Elias and the others in their party travel across the land.

Michelle Griep loves writing. She began creating stories as a small child and has not stopped yet. Though her stories are mainly set in the Historical genre, she’s also written some contemporary fiction as well.

About the Book

Click here to purchase your copy!

About the Author

Kristin N. Spencer spends part of each day imagining up new worlds and beings when she isn’t busy taking care of her three children and writing partner husband T. E. Spencer. When she’s not writing you can find her working in full time ministry, sewing cosplay costumes, or watching geekesque movies. She writes whatever genre she wants including but not limited to Non-Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Sci-Fi, Space Fantasy, and traditional Fantasy. Kristin studied Comparative World Literature at California State University, Long Beach and received a Bachelors, which she fondly calls a degree in reading. Her favorite movie is Sabrina (the Julia Ormond version) and her favorite person is Jesus.

Guest Post from Kristin N. Spencer

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A Baker’s Perspective, June 5

For The Love of Books, June 18

Giveaway

My Review of Plunge Into Darkness:

Kristin N. Spencer is a Christian author who loves to share the stories she creates with others. She writes stories from many genres: Inspirational, Sci Fi, Fiction and Fantasy, just to name a few. She has enjoys sewing costumes for Cosplay in her free time and sharing her ministry as much as possible.

Plunge Into Darkness is one of Kristin N. Spencer’s many available novels. This story tells about the lives of two young girls who live in a Fantasy world that Kristin created. These girls are the same age but live very different lives. However, they are entwined through destiny to help one another.

Ever is a curious youth, who’s parents lovingly dote on her every whim. She lives on a farm in town. She wants for nothing, except a friend.

Dawn lives next door to Ever. She never speaks – there’s no need to. Dawn’s parents never hold her, or hug her. She seems a burden to them. Dawn loves to watch Ever across the fields and longs to know her and the love that her parents show to her.

Ever decides to friend Dawn, and this is the first friendship or interaction with a caring person that Dawn ever receives. They keep their friendship hidden so as not to upset Dawn’s parents. This works for a time but then something changes.

Ever’s life is turned upside down when she’s told that Dawn has been sent away, never to return. Her best friend is missing, believed to be dead but no one will question Dawn’s parents. Years pass before the truth is uncovered. A horrific truth that no child should ever need to endure.

Ever has to help Dawn find a way through the Darkness by plunging in to save her. Dawn, in turn, shows Ever that true friendship is one of the greatest gifts she can have. The two save each other in a ways you would never expect.

Plunge Into Darkness is a fiction story. The story line is easy to follow and read through. I would suggest this book for Teens with caution as a few of the things that happen to Dawn by her parents are a little detailed. The details are important to understanding what this young girl has faced in the 10 years she has been missing though.

I do consider this a Christian story, though the “God” of the story is created. The deep insight and stories from the “Book” were very encouraging and fit well with the story. The “Man of Sorrows” has the same feel as Jesus to me.

Years ago, before I joined the Homeschool Review Crew, I had no clue as to the wonderful vendors we would be introduced to and able to use on our homeschooling journey. Memoria Press is one of those amazing vendors which we are always thankful for. Memoria Press has allowed us to easily study many subjects we would not otherwise have access to. They are what we now use for Latin, Greek, for Spelling and now for Classical Composition for my oldest daughter, Emmalee.

For this review, we were gifted their full set for Classical Composition: Classical Composition I: Fable Set and Classical Composition II: Narrative Set. Additionally, they also included their Classical Composition Accelerated I Lesson Plans for us to use with the curriculum. This was perfect for Emmalee who always works at a faster pace than curriculum normally directs.

We received the lessons plans, four spiral bound workbooks and two DVD’s for this set. Each set has a Student Workbook and a Teacher Guide, along with a DVD of lessons that go with the workbooks. It is an entire curriculum for Composition which can be spread out or accelerated, as we used it so that your student can work through the entire set in a year. That’s one set per semester in order to make a full year.

Classical Composition Accelerated I Lesson Plans

Let’s talk about the Classical Composition Accelerated I Lesson Plans first. This booklet is only a few pages in length but very detailed. It sets the curriculum up for you into a 34 week span for lessons. You begin with Classical Composition I: Fable Set, working through this set until completion, then starting on the Classical Composition II: Narrative Set. This is set up as a Monday through Friday schedule, as Memoria Press prefers their curriculum follow that schedule most of the time. You can adapt it as needed and work on a Saturday or Sunday if you need to.

The Classical Composition Accelerated I Lesson Plans are not hard but they do cover a lot, making them more intense scheduling wise. Your student sometimes ends and begins a lesson in the same week. I haven’t found that the work was too challenging that this could not be done though.

Classical Composition I: Fable Set

The Classical Composition I: Fable Teacher Guide is extremely thorough. It guides you through the intentions of the curriculum right from the beginning, helping you, the Teacher, understand how the program is set up and guide you through the teaching process which is clearly laid out on the many pages filling this guide book. The Appendix covers words you may not recognize as well as a sentence description to help you better understand them. It also contains a few other pertinent pieces of information for use with the curriculum that we as educators should first understand.

The guide itself is easily followed and laid out clearly for our use, breaking each lesson down with explanations on how to use and teach the curriculum to the student. It offers a smaller image of the Student pages for you to view as you work through. Each lesson follows the same pattern, adjusting to what the student is doing in their own workbook for you to keep in line with them as they work through.

The DVD, of course, was designed to be used along with each lesson of the curriculum. This DVD features Brett Vaden, an instructor at Highlands Latin School and the Memoria Press Online Academy. Brett guides the student through each of the lessons, covering the subject matter professionally and making it easy for them to understand and follow along with their lessons. This makes it easier on us as homeschooling educators as well because there is a teacher covering the main part of the lesson for us.

The Student Book begins with the Teaching Guidelines and suggestions for the programs usage. This is followed by an Introduction To The Fable Stage, where Fable and the writing journey are quickly discussed. Next you will find a Definition Of Terms for your student to use as a guide and to help them better understand these terms as they pop up in their lessons.

Lesson 1 begins with an excerpt from The Ant and the Chrysalis. The student reads the excerpt and the lesson follows with a breakdown of the Plot, sentence variation and finally Outline of summary of what they have read.

The second part of the lesson begins with Paraphrasing, rewriting the Fable they read the first day, and more variations. These help the student break down what they are learning as they work through the program to really get a better understanding of the writing process. This format continues throughout the book as the student works through many great Fables in writing. The appendix of this workbook is the same as the teachers guide.

Classical Composition II: Narrative Set

Classical Composition II is set up exactly as Classical Composition I: Fable Set. The Teacher’s Guide follows the exact same pattern. The appendix shares an Advanced Rubric you can check off as your student works through the program. This covers things like handwriting, content, tone, and so on. There is a description of words that are seen throughout the curriculum with examples. The DVD for the program is also the same as the first, with the same educator leading the lessons as you follow along. This shows unity and creates less confusion for your student.

The Student Book begins the same way with the Teacher’s Guidelines shared first, followed by a definition of the common terms used in the program. Next you will find an Introduction To The Narrative Stage which is very thorough in explanation.

Lesson 1 begins with a short Narrative of The Rose. The student then breaks this down into the Nine Components of Narrative Invention. Next they create an Outline based on the Narrative read. The second part of the lesson covers Variations of the Narrative and Paraphrases as well. There is plenty of room for writing within the pages of the workbook but a student can use notebook paper if necessary as well.

Lessons in the Narrative workbook are slightly longer than the lessons in the Fable workbook, requiring more writing on the students part as they learn to develop these composition skills with their writing. The program really gets the student thinking and breaking down what they’re reading.

How We Used It

The Classical Composition curriculum program is designed to be used with students in grades 4-12. The student workbook is designed for use with one student so you will need a copy per student using the program. It is a full composition curriculum designed for your student to use.

I honestly asked for this set for Emma. Emma is my most driven student. She absorbs everything placed in front of her and has been using Memoria Press for her lessons for a while now. While we don’t normally follow the suggested schedule, she was easily able to do so for this review. She found the program exciting and challenging. Now that the review period is over with, I’ll allow her to resume her usual work-through-the-program-as-quickly-as-she-likes way of learning. It works for her.

She especially loves programs that teach her while challenging her learning and this is one of those. She’s gleaned a lot of knowledge about writing in the past few weeks while we’ve used this program. It’s wonderful to see her love of learning and writing blossom thanks to such wonderful curriculum. She really thrives on all of the Memoria Press products we use in our learning.

Classical Composition I:Fable Set is available for $85 from Memoria Press. This includes the student workbook, teacher’s guide, and the DVD for the set.

Classical Composition II: Narrative Set is available for $85 as well. It’s intended for grades 5-12. It also includes the student workbook, teacher’s guide and the DVD for the set.

You can buy both sets together for a discounted price of $120 using a special coupon offered on the site.

The Classical Composition Accelerated I Lesson Plans are available as a download for $8 or $9 in print.

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I’ve been a long time fan of The Critical Thinking Co.™ They have several wonderful products that really help your kids think and understand. For this review, we were given many options. I personally chose Critical Thinking Detective Book 1 for us to use.

This is a small workbook of about 32 pages in length. It comes with a paperback cover in a glossy finish that features a serious looking detective on the front. I assume he is looking for clues, like any great detective would be.

Critical Thinking Detective Book 1 focuses on Math and Vocabulary. It is written by Michael Baker. Graphic Design is created by Scott Slyter. This book is designed for use with 4th through 12th graders.

The book itself requires students to read through the pages thoroughly, in order to comprehend the “case” and solve the problem presented in the “case” itself. You will begin with information written in an article that provides clues to the case. There is a line-up of suspects featured on the page of which you will need to deduct who did it. The second page provides a form where you write down the names of each suspect and use the provided evidence to tell why or why not the person was not the culprit in the “crime” or “case”.

Cases are titled simply. The Car Thief,The Chicken Breast Thief, The Plant Thief are only a few of the titles listed throughout the workbook. Some of the cases are pretty funny. Others are challenging. None are too hard to understand or complete.

The answers are included in the book, beginning on page 26. The answer section is thorough and shares info on each suspect as well as the culprit of the crime.

We began using this book together. We read through the crime article and discussed the details. Then we talked together about each suspect, discussing details, profiling each one. As we worked on deducting who did it, we discussed the culprit themselves and why they were the one who committed the crime. It was a fun exercise to work together on.

I also allowed my daughter to work on this herself for some of the articles. She simply wrote out her answers on notebook paper so that we could share the workbook with the other kids. It was easy for her to do since the outline is really simply and easy to follow. This allowed her to work on critical thinking without my guidance and she did very well. I look forward to using more of the books from this series with her in the future.

The Critical Thinking Co.™ offers tons of books for critical thinking which are available on their website. They also offer test prep, and full curriculum for use both with homeschooling and public schools. They have a catalog available for request on their website.

Critical Thinking Detective Book 1 is available in both Paperback and eBook for $8.99 each.

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