I Can Do All Things (ICDAT) - Users answer questions

[cbollin]

I Can Do All Things - Does it continue in ECC?

I read it is a 3 year art program. Since the Hazells write suggestions for following it through the Adventures program, do they also write it into ECC and CTG curriculums? Thanks!
Kim

Kim,
I Can Do All Things is not scheduled in the TM for ECC, CTG. Why? Because ECC, CTG, and RTR were developed before Adventures.

There is a note in the ADV TM that suggests that if you wish to continue to use it beyond the ADV year, then it should be easy to do so in summers, or free time. I'd like to also add that it could be fun to use on light and independent Fridays during ECC. If my memory serves me this morning, in ECC the art time is more of craft projects (versus drawing, painting lessons) related to the country or culture you are studying. So -- I think it would be easy to add this book in.

It all depends on your 5 y.o. If you see that she is not ready for the book, don't worry about it. On the other hand, she may do great with it. My oldest was not ready for the formal art lessons when I tried ICDAT with her. My 2nd child did fine with it.

crystal

[tiffany]

Has anyone worked through this art program and have any opinions/advice to share? I just purchased it and plan to start it next fall with my 5 and 7 year old girls who will be in Adventures and MFW K.
Thanks!
Kim

Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 9:16 am
I really like this program. My 6 and 9 year old are using it now.

I did purchase a copy for each child. If you already have it in your possession, you'll notice that for many of the pages you are completing something the author has started in the book. I found this particular curriculum to be difficult to do in a sketchbook. You can make copies which I think is a wonderful thing for the publisher to offer. For me, I like having a bound copy with all the pages attached instead of loose ones that I have to file or hole punch.

Your 5 year old may or may not be ready this year. Just depends on her abilities at this age. The practice lessons in the beginning of the book will be a good way to decide if she is ready.

Hope you guys have a great time with your MFW curriculum!

[Fly2Peace]

Posted Tue Apr 11, 2006 3:13 pm
My now 8yo dd enjoyed it during the initial drawing... I did the assignments also. I thought as we progressed and got to painting she would like it more. That has not been the case. However, I am no longer doing it with her. Just expecting her to do it. I wonder if me getting out my supplies and joining in again would make the difference...

I will admit though, I started college as an art major, yet did not enjoy art myself until high school. So, maybe it is genetic. :)

[cbollin]

Can we pick & choose art lessons?

It says in I Can Do All Things that:
you may develop your art curriculum by going in and out of the chapters.

However, I think you might want to try to do the "practice drawing exercises" early on. You wouldn't have to do all of them, but I have a feeling that it would benefit the student to at least try those practice drawing things alongside whatever you do.

The ADV tm schedules it to go in and out of chapters and not every week is every day for I Can Do All Things-- just those few couple of weeks where the practice drawing things are done are like that. As you get further in the ADV tm there are more suggestions of how to schedule the book to individualize it.

And yes, there is enough to do in the book that it doesn't have to all be done in 1 academic year.

-crystal

[cbollin]

Alright... I am getting geared up for fall and trying to see what I need for Adventures vs. what I already have. I have I Can Do All Things, but it is the 1996 version (yellow cover with black writing). Would I be able to use this? I did not know if the revised version had any "newer" information/exercises or if it was basically the same as the older version's content and lessons. Thanks!

I have the 1996 edition and a newer version.

The 1996 does not include the first 26 or so pages of Introduction Practice Drawing lessons. So the page numbers will be quite different from the manual and the student will not have those practice lessons.

And at the end of the newer edition of I Can Do All Things there is a section of Studying the Masters. In the 1996 edition this section is just a list of possible paintings/artists to study. In the current edition it at least gives you a black and white art gallery and information about the paintings in that gallery. In the 1996 edition -- that wasn't there.

The other lessons are the same.

After the introduction lessons, the TM guides you through so that you offer a variety of lessons from week to week. In other words, you don't do all of the drawing lessons, then do the painting lessons, and then the markers or whatever it is. You rotate through the lessons.

hth

and don't forget to order a set of paint/marker cards if you need them.
-crystal

[MJP]

Hi! I just received Adventures in the mail. I did order an extra pack of paint cards. Now that I have the book, I see that if it's to be used with more than one child, I will need to photocopy the entire book! I'm thankful to not have to pay for an extra book, but that sure is a lot of photocopying. It's 261 pages long. Won't that take hours to photocopy?

Excited but overwhelmed,
Jessica

There were a few pages I copied, but we mostly used a sketchbook. It worked well. I have no regrets. I am pleased not to have had to buy a second book.

[JoyfulinHim]

We have one copy of I Can Do All Things, and the children just draw the lessons on blank paper and put it in their art binder. They don't mind at all.

[erikdeb]

I saw that there are videos that go along with this book. Has anyone used them??
Are they worth the money?? Thanks!!

My ds and I LOVE the DVDs! I bought mine off of ebay, don't remember how much for, but they were definitely worth it here! He is maybe about 1/3 done with the book, and it's been so easy. I'm not an art person, nor am I great at actually "teaching" ds to do things, so these DVDs have really helped him learn the lesson without me having to know what I'm doing/be able to explain it to him.

I'd bet a lot of it depends on personalities, but at our house, they are great! I wish there was a set for God and the History of Art.

[amelasky]

We purchased them also, and felt that it was money VERY well spent. Our daughter has loved using them, even two years after Adventures.

[LA in Baltimore]

Although they are not needed to complete the program, we LOVED using them!
We have used the videos with all four of our children and would highly recommend them.

[gratitude]

Hi, did you do the I Can Do All Things art book or no? I have three kids in 2nd grade, so I'm not sure I want to spend $40 for each kid at this point. I'm willing though, if people think it was worth it.

My ds7 has done approximately 8 - 9 lessons in I Can Do All Things art book, so we are only in the early part of the book.

He really likes doing the art. He wasn't drawing much before the Drawing book that we did for MFW 1. Since doing those drawing lessons, and now continuing with I Can Do All Things my ds7 can draw! He drew a Viking ship last week (on his own), complete with nails in the boards and details and water, etc. I have never been able to draw, so I really appreciate this side of MFW. They have given my ds a gift of drawing that I never could have given him.

My ds6 just started the MFW1 Drawing book, and is already drawing better at 6 than I can.

So, yes for us the MFW art books have been a gift and well worth the money. They draw the attention and focus of two very active boys; to see these boys sit down and focus and quietly draw is in itself a gift. I think this has been very good for them.

If you haven't done the MFW1 Drawing book you might want to call the office and ask if you should start with it. I know my ds7 is using the skills he learned in it to do I Can Do All Things.

[beaglemamma2008]

We did art for about 7 or 8 weeks, then I dropped the ball.

Dd loved it, though, so we plan to work on our lessons over the summer.

And just to clarify, it won't cost $40 per child. You'll just need to purchase one $40 book, then purchase the paint and marker cards for each child, and copy pages as needed for the drawing and colored pencil lessons. (There ... can you breathe better now?! )

[amelasky]

Is all of ICDAT used in Adventures? I noticed on the How Great Thou Art website that it is a 3 year program.

Thanks
Lee

Not all of it us used in ADV. We continued to use it over the summers following ADV. My daughter loved it too much to stop using it.

[Cyndi (AZ)]

We are doing CTG this year and have been using God and The History of Art. It has been going fine but I think I have decided to do the art program from ADV. I originally purchased the DVDs for ICDAT but never got around to using the program.

So, my question is for those of you who have an ADV TM. (I no longer have my TM. Since I only planned to use it once, I passed it on.)

1. Are all of the lessons scheduled?

No

2. Are they all scheduled in order or do they skip around? For instance; pencil lesson, then colored pencil lesson, then marker lesson, then paint lesson.

They skip around, like you said. Changes every week.

3. Are they pretty much scheduled twice a week the way it's scheduled in the CTG TM?

3 times per week

[cbollin]

Tammie,
no need for the ADV manual for ICDAT. just use your DVD's and do the lesson plans that Barry Stebbing suggests on the dvd's. don't worry if it's not how marie would do it. you'll be fine.

I don't know if it would help or not.. but this is on the FAQ page on mfw's website.

The Adventures Teacher's Manual encourages you to help foster your child's love of art by keeping the atmosphere light and positive. After the Introduction to Drawing is finished, the lessons will begin to alternate weekly between remaining chapters or topics. The lesson plans schedule 3 lessons per week. I Can Do All Things will not be completed during this year since it contains over 180 lessons and may be continued into the summer or the following year if you choose. We encourage you to do art at least once a week to develop some of the skills presented in the book. Continuing through the lessons to introduce different aspects of art is an important part of his education. By doing so you may find that your child is not really interested in drawing, but loves to paint.

[beaglemamma2008]

Hi Tammie! We weren't very faithful to complete our art lessons in Adventures last year, but we did do enough that I remember the way it was scheduled.

The year started off with lettered lessons (Lesson A, Lesson B, Lesson C, and so on). We did one a day until we completed all of those. After that, we spent a week on each medium, rotating as we went (a week on Drawing, a week on Colored Pencils, a week on Markers, a week on Painting). It's really up to you how many lessons you do each week. You can choose to do only one drawing lesson the first week, which means you would pick up with Drawing Lesson #2 next time you rotated to that medium, or you can choose to do the first five drawing lessons the first week, in which case you would pick up with Drawing Lesson #6 the next time you rotated to that medium. Each week you just pick up where you left off in that medium last time.

As for the DVDs ... like I said earlier, we didn't make it through all of them, but from what I could tell, all of the lessons are demonstrated on the DVDs except for those initial lettered lessons. Hope to help!

[jasntas]

Thank you to all of you for your replies!

We have begun the A-Z lessons and have been completing at least one a day. My kids have even been asking what their art lesson will be for that day before we even get to it. I am looking forward to starting the DVD lessons when the A-Z lessons are complete. (I have been doing the lessons along with the kids.)

I plan to alternate the lessons as Marie suggested. Mr. Stebbing also suggested this in the intro of the first DVD.

Thanks again!

[tabby]

Hi Tammie,

I don't have specific answers to your questions but just wanted to add that I am using ICDAT for my ds (2nd) instead of GHA in RtoR. I found that it is going well working through the begininning lessons, A-Z. We do it whenever GHA is scheduled (x2 a week).

My daughter had only completed the begininning lessons when we through ADV. They laid a good foundation for her and she is able to do GHA successfully. My son, on the other hand, needed some of those skills before trying to do GHA. We will finish the A-Z lessons and then I will probably start picking lessons to do, maybe even allow him to do some of the lessons I think he could handle in GHA.

Blessings!

[gratitude]

Do I need to copy the pages out of the book for the first couple of weeks?

I CAN DO ART is layed out as follows:

*First 106 pages are for drawing. These pages are assigned to be drawn right onto the pages in the book. They can be copied for additional students instead of buying an additional copy of I CAN DO ART.
*Pages 107 - 196 are first marker card assignments and then paint card assignments. When you buy a single copy of I CAN DO ART it comes with one set of marker cards and one set of paint cards. These assignments are then done on the hard card stock cards rather than onto the pages inside the book.

How many students are you using it for? If you are using it for your 10 and 6 year olds and bought one book you would copy the first 106 pages for drawing and then buy an extra set of paint/marker cards from MFW for pages 107 - 196. Does this make sense?

The other option is to buy one book for each child, and each individual book would then be drawn directly into for the 106 pages of drawing and come with a set of paint and marker cards for the second half of the book.

I choose the second option of buying one book for each of my 3 oldest. However, the other option of copying 106 pages and buying an extra set of paint and marker cards for each additional child would certainly work.

I hope this helps.

[laurelmarie]

I bought a drawing pad for my dd and one for me. We just draw the lessons right on the drawing pad. It is working fine. I might have to draw a prop or predraw a figure for her to work on but it just takes a moment or two to set the page up. I bought a drawing pad that can be used with wet or dry media.

[cbollin]

Our box arrived this evening!

And I am slightly confused with art ("I can do all things")...I thought each child was to have their own paint/marker cards, share the book. However, in the Adven. manual it says to either photocopy the first chunk of the book or buy a book for each child??? Um. Help. I'm also wondering how much my 6 yo will enjoy this? Again, I know the cover says 6 and up, but it looks challenging?? Thoughts?

on the website it says

The book becomes a portfolio as the student does his work right on the heavy-duty pages. Purchase additional books or photocopy the book for additional children in your family.

options
*With 6 y.o.... copy a little as you go and see how it works out with this student.
*buy extra copy later
*in some families, it has worked to try to have both students work from the book and draw in a drawing tablet. I hear that works better in the God and History of Art book...

[4monkeyz]

Oops. My mistake. I missed that in the catalog. &)

So...If I may, let me ask another question, or two. What have other families done? Purchased a book for each child or made photocopies? Has anyone tried this with a 6 yo old??

[afelton]

What have other families done? Purchased a book for each child or made photocopies? Has anyone tried this with a 6 yo old??

Here is what I did. I bought two books. One for 7 yr. old and one for 5 gonna be 6 yr. old. I also bought extra paint and marker cards for 3 yr. old. I didn't want to spend time copying 100 pages!

[Poohbee]

I used one book and made photocopies as needed. I used ICDAT this year with my 7 y.o. dd who is not artisically inclined at all. I rotated between the practice exercises at the beginning of the book, the colored pencil lessons, the marker lessons, and the painting lessons. We did it twice a week, one week doing drawing, the next week doing colored pencils, etc. Some of the lessons were frustrating for my 7 y.o. because she puts too much pressure on herself, but I just encouraged her to relax and do her best.

I love the variety of skills introduced and practiced in ICDAT, and it includes some wonderful beginning art skills! I would certainly try it with your 6 y.o. and see how it goes.

[jabec]

I used ICDAT last year (not MFW, just the art curr). I used the DVDs also, though.

We REALLY enjoyed it a lot! They learned and grew so much in their drawing skills. My kids were 10, 7, 6, and 3.5. My then 6 yo got a little frustrated at times because he is perfectionist, but my 3yo still did 90% of all the lessons...sometimes with me doing part of it for/with her. She really writes/ copies things well, and I think a lot of that she learned from this program.

I'd say if your 6yo old has any motivation or desire for artsy things, he'll do just fine with all of it. I made copies...of everything- I saved the originals so I can copy again some other year. Marker and paint cards I just copied on card stock. If you can buy cheap black ink, it is a lot cheaper than buying more books.

HTH