Fall Into Autumn

Get ready, get set, and here we go! The nights are getting cooler, red, orange, and yellow leaves are beginning to appear on the maple trees, and football has begun in earnest! Fall is arriving, and it's time to take the learning outdoors and enjoy this season of change.

We've got two great announcements for this week! Today begins our big Fall Into Autumn Sale AND a fantastic Art For All Ages lesson bundle giveaway from the amazing Tricia Hodges! Read on...

Our Fall Into Autumn Sale is set to help you make the most of this time with some great savings and terrific memory makers:

Autumn Treasures - the flagship DNG for this time of year, full of apples, leaves, Johnny Appleseed, & much more. Regularly $8.95.
Sale: $5*
Tremendous Trees - the trees are such an important visual part of the autumn landscape, with leaves of all colors drifting with every cool breeze. Regularly $8.95.
Sale $5*
Football Frenzy - one of our most popular DNG studies, don't miss this one that is fun for the whole family. Regularly $8.95.
Sale: $5*
Simply Soccer - autumn also brings the fall soccer season in focus. Regularly $8.95.
Sale: $5*
Digital Photography - make the most of the colors of autumn and family adventures. Regularly $8.95.
Sale: $6*
Baseball - get ready to enjoy the World Series, beginning soon! Regularly $8.95.
Sale: $6*

* Sale prices good through Saturday, 9/21/13.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Simple Start in Chalk Pastels EBook Bundle Giveaway!

Tricia from Southern Hodgepodge has generously offered to give away 5 copies of A Simple Start in Chalk Pastels EBook Bundle! If you aren’t familiar with this book, it is AMAZING and can be used by all ages. AND, many of the tutorials correspond nicely with our unit studies!

In this book, Nana walks you through the steps of creating beautiful artwork.  She also provides tips on which colors to use for each picture.

In a Simple Start in Chalk Pastels, you will find:

• A Simple Start in Chalk Pastels ebook, 100 pages of lessons and tips
• 45 tutorials in all — one lesson a week for an entire school year
• Bluebird video pastel lesson — Nana shows you how to draw the bluebird
• Sky Vista video pastel lesson — Nana walks you through a scenic vista

Enter today!
Or, if you can't wait, use the discount code FRANCE
for $5 off your purchase now! This offer is good through 6/1/13.

This giveaway is now closed.

Congratulations to our winners:

Tammy L.

Alana P.

Angie D.

Ashley H.

Heather N. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Simply Fun Start with Art

Every now and then, I come across a learning tool that catches my attention and takes my breath away. A Simple Start in Chalk Pastels is one of those, and it is a great way to bring art to the table when using our unit studies—a perfect and oh-so-easy fit to so many of our titles. I've included a list at the end of this post to give you an idea of how well this new book meshes with our products!

I’m not particularly artistic or craft-oriented, and I always look for easy crafts and projects that will help kids of all ages learn more about the topic at hand AND enjoy using their creativity in the process. This book does all of that and much more, allowing imagination and ideas to come into play. And that’s GREAT!

Tricia Hodges, the author, has worked with her mom—Nana, an artist—to create this collection of art adventures. She has also included several chapters for those that need help: “How to Start Art with Little Ones,” “Nan’s Advice on Art with Young Children,” and more. Tricia makes things so doable! I just had to try these for myself, so I put on the tea kettle and had my mom come over so that we could try them out together. We had such a good time that we are going to be trying another lesson this week! It was easy to see just how fascinating this would be for kids of all ages, even for family gatherings.

Go ahead and give it a try, and jump right in with them. Tricia is generously offering a special discount to our readers—use discount code USAB to receive a $5 discount when you buy the E-book here. While I am not the most artistic person, these are so easy to use and pure fun. There are so many lessons in this treasure that would work well with our study titles!

            Path to the Beach (Oceans Unit Study and Summer Sensations)

            At the Beach (Oceans Unit Study and Sunny Seashells)

            Beach Umbrellas (Oceans Unit Study and Summer Sensations)

            Sandpiper Shore Bird (Oceans Unit Study and Summer Sensations)

            Sailboat at Sunset (Sailing Ships)

            Harvest Moon Nocturn (Magnificent Moon)

            Lily Pad (Monet – Gardens Unit Study and Passport France)

            Tornado (Twisting Tornadoes)

            To the Woods (Tremendous Trees)

            Tree Silhouette (Tremendous Trees and Autumn Treasures)

            Tree Reflection (Tremendous Trees and Autumn Treasures)

            Leaf (Tremendous Trees and Autumn Treasures)

            Dogwood Blossom (Spring Surprises)

            Bird’s Nest (Spring Surprises and Tremendous Trees)

            Winter Fun (Winter Wonders)

            Sunflowers (Gardens Unit Study and Summer Sensations)

            Hydrangeas (Gardens Unit Study and Summer Sensations)

            Queen Anne’s Lace (Gardens Unit Study and Summer Sensations)

            Butterfly (Incredible Insects and Gardens Unit Study)

            Tomato (Gardens Unit Study and Summer Sensations)

            Fruit Bowl (Gardens Unit Study and Summer Sensations)

            Blueberries (Gardens Unit Study and Summer Sensations)

            Watermelon (Gardens Unit Study and Summer Sensations)

            Mug of Chocolate (Winter Wonders and Chocolate Challenge)

            Fireplace (Winter Wonders)

            Sparklers (Patriotic Holidays and IndependenceDay)

           

The chalk pastels are so simple to use, making art easy for everyone. Once you begin using this book, it is easy to take what you’ve learned and apply it to other fun study topics like volcanoes! I can just imagine how that one will turn out—I love all of the color possibilities! Inexpensive and wildly successful art adventures are easy with this collection. A Simple Start in Chalk Pastels is one that the kids will keep asking you to use again and again—learning at its best. Thanks, Tricia, for bringing easy and beautiful art to the kitchen table!

Blessings,

Amanda B.

           

A Simple Start in Chalk Pastels

Little did we know what would result on that February day we were snowed in here in the South. The children and I didn't realize until then what we had been missing—the joy of art.

“Life is a great big canvas. Throw all the paint on it you can!” ~Danny Kaye

My mother, also known as Nana, pulled out her box of soft chalk pastels. She opened the box on our kitchen table. The colors were amazing—a delight! She then showed us how to turn a chalk stick on its side and spread the sand. We learned to make clouds heavy with moisture with just a touch of purple underneath. That day we created a path to the beach, warm and sunny, on our kitchen table while snow piled up outside the back door.

There was Nana, a master artist, teaching five children of different ages and abilities. From that start, our art times with Nana became fairly regular. We asked her, “What about a tree?” Later, in the fall, we made pumpkins and apples in rich color. And we learned to add just a touch of white to show the direction of the light. The next summer we made full and beautiful hydrangeas.

I realized something recently that helped me understand why we love chalk pastels so much. Didn't we all start with chalk? Maybe a nice, thick piece of chalk helped you make big circles on the driveway. It's a familiar medium. What's especially wonderful is how forgiving chalk pastels are. If you make a mark you don't like, simply smudge it away or layer over it with more color.

I do have to warn you that this is a messy medium. But as we say, pastels are blessedly messy. We just don a smock and keep the baby wipes close. I assure you, clean-up is easy.

If it's not messy, it's not fun!

There are really no age requirements for chalk pastels. A child just has to be able to hold a chalk stick. No special skills are needed. Supplies are simple and inexpensive: just paper and a set of soft chalk pastels. Chalks can be found at your local craft store for around 5 to 10 dollars.

All the times my mother taught the children, we shared on my blog in tutorial form. And that's how it all started—how we discovered a love of art and made it a priority in our homeschool. That love has grown and spread into more learning in so many other areas.

Now, nearly three years later, we share those art times with you in E-book form. Nana, the children, and I have a whole year of chalk art for you to enjoy. Do one a week. There are 45 tutorials to enjoy, 10–15 minutes a lesson.

In the past years of enjoying art, my ears have been tuned to many comments from others. They would love to do some art but the prospect seems overwhelming. We hope that our tutorials will solve a problem and meet a need like it did for us.

Soft chalk pastels offered us a simple start, a jumping off place for more art in other media. Then our art times led to art appreciation. Chalk pastels slowly swung the door open for us. They showed me how we could do it, and showed us all what sheer joy art can be.

Won't you join us? Brush, smudge, sketch that love of art into your homeschool?

Homeschooling for over a dozen years now, Tricia faces a daily dose of chaos with five children. She shares a mixture of art lessons, frugal and allergy-friendly recipes, and all things practical at Hodgepodge. She and her husband, Steve, are also owners at Curriculum Choice and Habits for a Happy Home.



Our Nana and her family have always been artistic folks. Her given name is Lucia, and she was awarded a wonderful art scholarship from the Rockefeller Foundation in her sophomore year of college. But love intervened and she married, had babies, and left the scholarship behind. For years she and one of her sisters painted murals in schools and for the children’s ward in our local hospital. She started pastel lessons three years ago, finally finding what she calls “her art.” She is on a mission to share just how satisfying, cost effective, and easy pastel painting is.

P.S. Tricia is generously offering a special discount on her new book, A Simple Start in Chalk Pastels, to our readers—use discount code USAB to receive a $5 discount when you buy the E-book here!