Beyond the Stick Figure Art School/ TOS Review

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.





I have always loved art. It was my favorite subject in school, as well as my favorite hobby. So, of course, when anything art related comes up, I jump at the chance to review it! 
That is how I came to use Beyond the Stick Figure Art School. I received Beyond the Stick Figure Complete Drawing Course PLUS 3 Bonus Courses.
Sally Stansfield is the creator of Beyond the Stick Figure Art School. Here is a brief  introduction video from her. I love what she has to say here. 

Beyond the Stick Figure Complete Drawing Course PLUS 3 Bonus Courses is meant to teach art skills intermittently. "Here are the step-by-step lessons that will take you from drawing stick figures to realistic masterpieces in an open and go, easy to use format."

The complete course is made up of four parts. The first part is, of course, the drawing program itself. The second part, or first bonus, is Pen and Ink Techniques Course, and Complete Watercolor Course. The Third part is the Introduction to Acrylic Course, and the final part is the Introduction to 3D Design Course. 

I chose to go ahead and start with the drawing program because I feel that a basic knowledge of drawing will help me in all other areas of art as well. 

This program is designed for people ages 5-95, so I wanted to try to do it together with my five year old son. 

When we started our first lesson, that we actually drew anything in, even my five year old was like, "Mom, I already know how to draw circles!", but I quickly saw how it all comes together and that no step is truly unimportant.  

She had us start out by drawing circles on small pieces of paper. Then we added some curved lines. This is just to get the practice of the shapes and lines. The first one is mine and the second one is my son's. 

So pretty quickly after learning to draw circles, we learned how to add to and beyond, and ultimately how to make it look like bubbles! I thought that was pretty cool! 

Each one of these little images was from one lesson. Each lesson is fairly short so that it makes it easier to stick with on a daily basis. 

We practiced some more curved line lessons, as well as straight lines and more practice on layering. (I need more help on this! UCK!) 

Each section that you draw, you can color in and make them look really cool! 

We did get to draw an actual picture fairly quickly. We learned how to draw a flower and it's petals. 

My son made two. He did so good!!!

I did a little more practicing making flowers look like they are behind each other. (Still need help!) 

The next two lessons are ones where we were supposed to take what we have learned and mix all of the shapes together and then shade in the negative space. It looks pretty cool! 

I really liked the lesson on Primary and Secondary colors. We actually mixed the colors together and then pasted the cards into our sketch book. 

This kid is just too adorable! 

There are three parts to the drawing program. Part One has 17 topics/lessons. Part Two has 34 and Part Three has 5. 

We are not learning to draw a picture right away,  as much as we are learning all of the skills and lines and techniques to be able to draw. 

I have not finished all of the sections. I am in Part Two at the moment but I can not wait to see what there is to come. I know that a lot of this seems to be for much younger kids, and I agree that it is very well suited for the younger ones as well as beginners, but I also think that, even as an adult, I can use the refresher of the basic skills and I can remember to put them into action. 

Once we complete the drawing program we can choose from one of the three bonus programs to use. 

The Pen and Ink section looks really fun! Here you will be doing more drawings and not just learning shapes and techniques. It is so cool though to watch her dray a few lines and all of a sudden you can see a lake and mountains! 

I can't wait to follow this tutorial all the way through. The landscape pictures are beautiful. 

The watercolor section also looks really fun. I have never really played around with water colors so I would be really interested to learn how to paint with them. I showed you a few different screenshots so that you can see that each picture is shown to you step by step so that you WILL be able to draw it just like they do! 

The Acrylic section looks so beautiful. I have also never played around with acrylics either. I am very excited to dive deeper into this whole program. Look at some of what we can learn to paint in this program!

The last part is 3D Design and I know my son will love this! I will too. 

I think that when you first start this program you may think it is a little too babyish, but just stick with it because you will be drawing real pictures and artwork in no time! Just follow all of the steps. The program is made this way for a reason. 

Your whole family can sit down and do this together and there is only one price per family, no matter how large yours is. 

I plan on using this for my 15 year old as well for art.. I like sitting down and doing art with my two boys. It is fun and a great way to bond. 

Please make sure to go and read the other Crew member's reviews as well to see what they thought of this program. 

BJU Press Homeschool Focus On Fives/ TOS Review

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

I would venture to bet that if you are a homeschool parent you have heard of Bob Jones. I have used Bob Jones in the past for the higher grade levels but I hadn't used a Bob Jones curriculum for the younger grades.

I am extremely blessed to have received a Kindergarten curriculum set from BJU Press Homeschool called BJU Press Focus On Fives.

This set come with a LOT! For starters, this set has SIX TEACHER'S GUIDES! Yes, I said six. lol

Here is a look into the teacher's guides. I took pictures of one chapter's lesson's from the first and last teacher's guide's to give you an idea of what they are like. 

The first teacher's guide is 217 pages plus teacher's resources. 

Each lesson starts out with a review. In this particular chapter the children are learning about fire trucks and firefighters. The kids will sing songs about being a firefighter and look at visuals while learning. The teacher's guide offers several suggestions as to different types of discussions or activities your children can choose to do.  

The activities tell you which pages of the work text need to be done and also shows you how and when to incorporate the flashcards, puppet, etc. 

I like that it walks you through telling the child exactly HOW to write a letter. 

The extended activities are super fun! Here you will find books that go along with the lesson, Language Arts activities, extra practice pages for writing practice, fun activities to practice motor skills, songs to sing, arts and crafts, etc. 

The last teacher's guide is set up pretty much in the same way as the first one. It is a bit thicker, but not by much. 

In this lesson the kids are learning about clothing from the Bible times. 

The teacher's guide's show you exactly what charts and visuals you need for each lesson. 

As you can see, it is pretty much the same, but the work is much harder! 

The extended activities in this lesson include books to read, stick puppets to make, a foot race to play and making clothes pin Bible boys and girls. How fun!

Some portions of the teacher's guides are more meant for the classroom, but unlike other curriculum's teachers guide's that I don't find really necessary, I find that these really are. 

One of the cutest things about this curriculum is the puppets!

Hopscotch and other characters appear in the curriculum, and the puppets help teach the kids!

There are hundreds of charts, flash cards, puppets, cut out's, etc. They are all very colorful and fun to look at!  Don't worry! I know it is a lot, but the teachers' guide's tell you exactly what you need and when. It will be OK. lol 

The visual flip chart has cute, colorful visuals to go along with the lessons. The visuals really help children to see what they are learning. 

There are 300 pages plus stories in this Phonics Practice workbook. The pages go along with each lesson, providing the extra practice your child needs.  

The back of the book has stories that your child can put together and make mini books!

The work text has more to do than just phonics practice including: handwriting, biblical stories, moral lessons, mazes, make your own stories, life cycle booklets, and many cut out activities. 

Including so many different aspects really keeps things fun. 

If all of this isn't enough, there is even another workbook for even more writing practice! This is the only book that is in black and white, but I don't mind because I'm literally just tearing out writing practice sheets. They don't have to be super colorful! 

There is a set of Phonic's and Review Card's but we were in the middle of moving during this review and these must have gotten packed up somewhere else because I can't find them! 

"The Phonics and Review Cards include reduced versions of the song charts, high-frequency word cards, and letters for the students to use during classroom activities and to take home for additional practice with a parent."

The final part of this curriculum set is the books! 

"These 34 books that focus on silent reading comprehension and oral reading. They include partner reading with a parent or teacher or an advanced reader. The Reading Books include a variety of genres, such as fiction, nonfiction, Bible stories, and poetry with a variety of art styles to match the stories."

 The books are super cute. There are 34 books included with this set. 

And if all of this is still not enough, there are optional video course that will become available in July! 

You can find more about that plus sample videos here:

https://www.bjupresshomeschool.com/product/428771

When I first opened this box I was overwhelmed by the amount of stuff, especially ALL of the teacher's guide's, but the more I look into it and the more we do of the program, the less overwhelming it gets.  

This is definitely a complete curriculum. I doubt your child would miss a thing if they use this curriculum. 

It's cute and fun! The puppets add a really fun element to the program, as do all of the cutouts and activities. 

So, will/would we continue to use this? YES, we would, and will! 

If you are looking for a complete curriculum that has everything you need and that shows you step by step exactly what to do and say, this is for you. 

You do still have the freedom to pick and choose activities and make it more personalized to your family, but it is laid out for you, and sometimes we need that. At the point that I am at right now, I need something mor elaid out for me, so I really appreciate this. I also feel very blessed to have received this program and I want to continue to use it and put it to good use! 

Here are some of the work sheets that we have done so far...

I suggest looking onto this curriculum if any of this sounds good to you. I am not the only one who reviewed this curriculum set. I encourage you to go and read others mom's reviews on this curriculum to see if they thought any different or if they like it as much as we do!