General Resource
Art Fraud Detective: Spot the Difference, Solve the Crime!
This is an exciting and fun art supplement that kids are sure to love (makes a great gift for Christmas or a birthday). There are three main parts to the book. First is an introduction which explains a problem the art museum is having with forgeries. Several gangs of artists have copied original works, but made very slight changes to them. The object of the book is to identify who is responsible for the various forgeries by looking carefully for very specific clues.
The rest of the book is split into two books on top of each other. The upper part is composed of the forgeries - which look like real art until you look very closely (and thus the magnifying glass). A small symbol on the forgery will tell you how many changes the forger made to the original work. By studying the lower book - which is an art catalog with prints of the real paintings, the reader will discover the differences and solve the crime. The catalog includes information about the type of painting; the artist and when he lived; and a brief story about the painting and its subject. There are a total of thirty-four paintings and there is a complete answer key in the back of the book.
What a creative way to get kids interested in art and...fear not! You'll find no twaddle here. I was very pleased to see the practice in attention-to-detail that this book requires and encourages. It's enjoyable enough that my daughter has enjoyed working through it with friends on sleep-overs. There is one picture that jumps out at me as being a little on the shocking side. It's a picture of a very ugly old lady in a very low-cut dress. The book explains that it is a caricature of older women who try to dress younger but really make themselves look ridiculous. I don't really like the picture, but I don't think it really detracts from the book (it also offers the idea of additional purpose in art and an unusual way of making a point).
A magnifying glass on a ribbon is bound in
Art Masterpieces: A Liturgical Collection
We enjoy CHC products a great deal because they fit naturally into our homeschool and family life. This little art appreciation course is no exception.
Arranged around the liturgical year, the package includes ten beautiful 8" x 10" full color, masterpiece reproductions featuring ten different artists (e.g. Michelangelo, Botticelli, Rembrandt, da Vinci) and a 25 page art appreciation guide. The guide provides excellent suggestions for teaching art appreciation in general (those who are familiar with the Charlotte Mason approach will be right at home) as well as specific suggestions for individual masterpiece focusing on content, line, color, pattern, and design. The information gleaned from this guide can easily be applied to other works of art you may already have in your home too.
In addition to the general use section, the guide devotes one page per month to the study of a particular masterpiece. A monthly theme is suggested along with ideas for integrating the study of the particular artwork into family life. Like other CHC products, this package has incorporated Catholic ideals into a program that is enlightening and edifying while remaining something that real families can easily work into their daily school and family life.
When we first received our package I immediately put all of the pictures into a frame, with the June masterpiece on top. I made a pocket on the cardboard backing to hold the booklet and we have weekly discussions about the picture that now hangs in our living room. Occasionally I take the booklet out of the pocket behind the picture and flip to some discussion prompts about line, form, etc. The children enjoy the looking at all the details in the picture while I ask questions and my husband is delighted to have a variety of religious pictures to brighten our room.
Augustus Caesar's World
Note from the Webmaster: A number of Catholic homeschool parents have commented that the book has some problematic sections of a secular nature - soft on paganism, etc. It may well be a worthwhile book, but should only be used with a reasonable amount of caution and parental supervision.
Beck Family Musical Series
Brother Joseph: The Painter of Icons
Tom was an ordinary boy who loved being outdoors and drawing whatever he saw. Although Tom found school distasteful, his teacher, Sister Aquinas, saw artistic talent in him and encouraged him and lent him books on religious art. He discovered that his favorite artist was Fra Angelico. He attended a high school seminary and discovered that he wanted to be a monk. There he becomes Brother Joseph and finds that his artistic talents are put to good use. "He knows that he is busy about the right things, happy that as an artist he is able to give so much joy and peace to others with his icons."
This is a nice story about art, vocation and using one's talents for God and others. My children especially enjoyed the charming verses that run through the monk's head - "My brush will up and downward go, I'll paint like Fra Angelico!"
Catholic Bookmark Kit from Illuminated Ink
Catholic Cardlinks: Patron Saints
Children will love (I speak from experience with my own brood) to befriend the saints with this charming resource that they can so easily hold in their little hands. Each elongated cardstock sheet has a colorful sketch of a saint (48 saints in all) with a short biography. The pages fan out so that you can see all of the faces at once. Or open to one at a time and spend a little time reading about your favorites. When I leave this sort of book laying in reach of my little ones (especially the pre-readers), they will become acquainted with the pictures over time and find their favorites that they ask me to read about over and over. What a nice way to help young children develop a devotion to a favorite saint!
I'm also delighted to see such colorful and creative resources being published for young children.
Binding details: cardstock pages pivot on a sturdy post
Catholic Mosaic – Living the Liturgical Year with Literature
Catholic World History Timeline and Guide
The front of the book includes some rather extensive lists of recommended Catholic history texts, supplemental history reading and recommended websites.
The package is rather expensive, but many families are finding that, because it is a resource for the whole family that the investment was a worthwhile one. Personally, I very seldom purchase items in this price range (approximately $100). I have to admit that, in addition to using the images for our family's timeline (although we didn't do it exactly the way recommended in the book) I find myself using the reference timeline portion of the book very frequently. It's definitely not a book that will just get left on the shelf!