Just a wee bit excited!

A few weeks ago I attended the Teach Them Diligently conference...I really think it should be Teach ME diligently...because I have learned so much...but that is besides the point.  Some of the workshops are sales presentations.  You are usually well aware of this before you attend...most are not though.  Sometimes I like to attend these "sales" type workshops because it is a great way to learn about what is out there in the land of homeschooling materials.  I was however unaware that the workshop titled "Releasing your Child from the Grips of Entertainment" was a sales presentation of sorts.  In the end...it was all good, I really, really enjoyed the presentation.  Sharon Hofer, a local artist, talked about how children are being taught using technology...why not try something different...by putting down the video games, tv remotes, keyboards and learning through art.  Granted you can't learn everything through Art, but it is definitely an alternative for many kids.  Her art program, called Creating a Masterpiece, is extremely popular in the area...and she currently has over 200 kids on her waiting list.  We live a little more than an hour away from her studio...and we would probably have to wait a few years to get in...so taking classes from her aren't really an option for us.  Well lucky for us, she sells DVD's to teach the same things that she does in the studio.  Since I wanted to learn alongside my kiddos, I purchased the level 1 DVD's. You can mix and match the different levels, but Jocelyn picked out what she wanted to start off with and they all ended up being level 1.

So we started with acrylic painting.  Our goal in the end was to make it look like the painting on the cover.

 Mrs. Hofer does a great job at teaching the different techniques of how to paint with acrylic.  The lessons were broken down into 4 different episodes.  We had to pause several times, so we could actually complete what she was teaching.  The girls and I were so excited that we completed episode 1 in one setting and then finished the entire painting in a second sitting.  The supplies add up a bit...especially since there were three of us...but all in all we really enjoyed her first DVD.  Using the concepts we learned for this painting, we can now incorporate those and paint other acrylic paintings.

Here are a few pictures from our first painting!

 After our first lesson!

Joc is actually holding mine and I am holding hers...ooops.

 Kate working on the sky.

Be prepared for a mess...

Some tips....especially if you are working with an extremely uncoordinated 5 year old...you will need a LOT of patience.  A lot.  There were a few tears along the way because this un-named 5 year old wanted to do the painting just right and perfect...I had to keep stressing it was HER painting...she had to make it her own.  So the bottom one is now up for sale for a million dollars.  Let me know if you are a taker...and we can arrange the deal:)