Interactive Homeschool Edition
K-8th grades
Review by Shay Seaborne
Art can enrich our lives in surprising ways, well beyond the enjoyment of simple viewing. A short while ago, my children and I experienced this when we felt as if in a scene from a Mary Cassatt painting. A field trip to an opera house brought to mind recent explorations of Cassatt’s work, especially the piece titled “At the Opera.” Our study of the painting made familiar to us the sweeping curve of the balcony rail, the stage below, and patrons inspecting each other across the span of the opera house. Visiting the opera house brought the painting to life, and knowing about the painting, and the painter, brought deeper meaning and enjoyment to our life experience.
Caitlín, Laurel and I came to
this understanding of Cassatt and her painting via “Meet the Masters Home School
Edition,” an art curriculum and CD ROM adapted from the original program, which
was developed for school use in 1985.
This is no ordinary art appreciation curriculum. It promotes
understanding and enjoyment through observation, history, biography, narrative,
music and hands-on experience. Each of the 3 levels includes a variety of
masters and styles, and the full curriculum presents a pleasingly diverse and
colorful palette including Alexander Calder, Georgia O’Keefe, Henri Matisse,
Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Marc Chagall, Winslow Homer, and twenty-one other
artists. The program helps the student to understand the artist, the artist’s
subjects, style, and medium—inspiring an appreciation at a level unattainable
through mere bookwork.
Meet the
Masters
activities include sketching, sculpture, portraiture, tissue collage, Asian
brushwork, cut paper designs and more. These contain exploration in resist,
wash, texture, shadow and light, contrast, symmetry, color value, patterns,
movement, abstract composition, realism, Impressionism and others.
As a structured curriculum,
Meet the Masters provides a script
for the “teacher,” which instructs the parent in what to do and say, and
includes the expected response from the children. Neither of my unschooled
daughters enjoyed this, and much preferred that I modify what I read, to make
the wording less “school-like.” Fortunately, homeschooling parents tend to know
their children very well, and the program easily allows the parent to skip or
adapt passages, as appropriate for the children’s comprehension and interest
levels.
Although, we used the Level 2
Curriculum, aimed at grades 3-4, even my younger daughter, age 8, felt some of
the program was well below her level. Caitlín and Laurel
were uninterested in some Meet the
Masters projects, like the making of a paper palette and an artist’s
portfolio. However, the girls found most of the activities attractive, and some
engaged them deeply. The children’s favorites were the truly creative
explorations in the artists’ techniques, which, while implementing a particular
style, allow a great measure of freedom in how one may use the method and media
toward individual expression. For instance, Caitlín created her own rendition of
Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” using black paper and—instead of the recommended oil
pastels—gel pens. This resulted in unique artwork, and an object lesson on why
oil pastel was the called-for medium. (The tiny tips of the gel pens require
much greater effort to use in this manner, and oil pastels create a more vivid
design.) Laurel fancied other explorations, such as the cubism and “balancing
color, line and shape” projects in the Picasso and Mondrian segments,
respectively.
In addition to presenting the
curriculum, Meet the Masters.com is a discount art supply store that includes a
photo and description of each of the reported 40,000 items. The span of
materials is broad, including portfolios, art posters, tools, books and videos,
textiles and dyes, and supplies for painting, sculpting and ceramics,
printmaking, and even framing and matting. The easy-to-use catalog makes it a
snap to find and order supplies.
Meet the
Masters is a
unique curriculum that helps the student understand a broad range of artists, the
artists’ subjects, styles and a variety of media, inspiring appreciation through
total experience. A newly updated version of the curriculum will be released in
August. The publisher states that the changes will
include 4-color printing for the entire curriculum; more fluid transitions from
one learning step to another; easier navigation through the CD-ROM; and
simplified instructions for implementation. This promises a commendable program
made even better.
Meet the Masters
331 W. Paseo De Cristobal,
San Clemente, CA 92672
Phone: (949) 492-1583 Fax: (949) 492-9381
http://www.meetthemasters.com/
Meet the
Masters
units may be purchased one level at a time or packaged together for a discount
of 20-25%. Single unit: $85.00 See a
free preview of Meet the Masters,
plus examples of artwork created by children using the curriculum, at the Web
site.
© 2001-Shay Seaborne. All rights reserved.