Beyond the Stick Figure Art School - Beyond the Stick Figure Complete Drawing Course 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.



Art can be a subject that is difficult to teach.  We had a chance review the Beyond the Stick Figure Complete Drawing Course PLUS 3 Bonus Courses from Beyond the Stick Figure Art School.  This program helps even the most art challenged individuals and gives them confidence and skill.

With Beyond the Stick Figure Complete Drawing Course students and adults are given the opportunity to get lessons that can take their very basic attempts at drawing and turn them into realistic masterpieces.

There are more than 180 individual lessons that are online video based.  Each lesson is short (so great for short attention spans), and depending on the section you are using, each "day" or lesson can continue to build on another.

Included in the course are techniques in drawing, using watercolor, acrylic, and even 3D with clay.

Beyond the Stick Figure Complete Drawing Course is suitable for all ages, even adults.  In several of the videos that we watched, she even made suggestions for new artists so that younger kids will not get overwhelmed with too large of a sheet of paper.

The materials needed vary per the project that you are doing.  There is a small investment in Prismacolor markers for the drawing projects.  You will also need water color and acrylic paints and paper to match as well.  Ms Sally wants to teach young children how to use these better made materials.  During her lessons, she reminds the students to listen for the click when they are closing their markers.  

I have been enjoying Beyond the Stick Figure Complete Drawing Course right alongside the girls.  The first section includes a drawing book that you can download and print to use along side.  

We have been moving slowly through the course, and I really like how the teacher encouraged the students to look around themselves.  I know my circles are not as perfect as daVinci could draw, but this inspired me to doodle more.  Art is something I love, and now I have found myself doodling more.  The girls are sketching more after going through the first two sections of the course.  Caty is just randomly sketching (for fun...lol), and Lydia has begun tackling illustrations for a story that she is writing for 4H.  

It is encouraged for families to purchase the Prisma markers, but do not let this stop you.  Prisma markers are affordable.  But I found for the short drawings, I was able to use regular markers.  The girls both have the bigger Prisma sets, and Caty does have a Copic set, but I didn't want to invest in a large set for myself until I knew if I would use them a lot.  I was able to work alongside them.  My colors may not have been the same, but I did alright.

That brings up another plus for this program, younger students can work alongside older students.  This program is great for families with multiple grade levels.  Art can easily be done together and does not need to be overwhelming.  Art needs to be fun and not forced.  The simple and fun projects can really draw even the most art resistant student into the mix of learning.

The girls and I look forward as we continue through Beyond the Stick Figure Complete Drawing Course.  The easy to use web classroom is great.  And the girls love building their art portfolios.

Several members of the Homeschool Review Crew were given the opportunity to review Beyond the Stick Figure Complete Drawing Course in their homes.  Click on the link below to see how they used this program and how they felt about it.

Fermentools Starter Kit 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 wanted to make saurkraut, but have felt it was an overwhelming process.  We got a chance to review the Starter Kit from Fermentools.  This was such a super easy process, and my husband is in love.

The Fermentools Starter Kit arrives with the basics to start fermenting your own foods.  Fermenting foods is a centuries old procedure to preserve food, and also give your body maximum health benefits from what you are eating.  Our kit arrived with a bag of fermenting salt and the basics below.

There is also a short instruction book to get you started.  We provided the food and the wide mouth glass canning jar.

Joe love jalapenos.  So we started with a basic jalapeno coleslaw.  I cheated and bought pre-shredded coleslaw.  Then I mashed and mashed, and lets just say this took a little while.  As you mash the coleslaw you are breaking out the natural juices by adding the pink fermenting salt (included in the Starter Kit) to the mixture.  I'm going to say it was a good 20-30 minutes.  Joe and I took turns.

Then we added fresh sliced jalapenos to the mixture and continued to mash it some more.

You could see the cabbage juice starting to break down in the bowl.  This was not an instant process.  It did take a little while.

I don't know if it was the cabbage slaw we used, but I took the advice from the instruction book and we added some filtered spring water to the mixture.  Included in the Starter Kit is a glass disk.  This disk is called a glass fermentation weight and it's made specifically to fit inside a standard wide-mouth Mason jar.  I wondered why I would need that.  You can see in the picture that you use that as a weight to keep the cabbage mixture below the water/juice line.  I added the special Airlock system, the stainless steel lid from the Starter Kit, and the rubber stopper (also included).  The whole process to get this first batch going took us a little over an hour.

And then the killer part starts......the waiting game.  You can eat this in as little as a few days.  But for a good kraut, you should be patient and let it sit in a cool, dark place for at least 3 weeks minimum.  This was the jar after 3 weeks of patiently sitting on the counter.

This is now a hit.  Joe really likes his homemade jalapeno sauerkraut.  I'm going to need to keep a batch in rotation as he eat this.  And best of all, he is getting better health benefits than all the store bought probiotics that he was taking before.

The Fermentools Starter Kit took away my fear out of getting started in making my own sauerkraut.  This is really a very simple process!!!  Now to try other foods!

As a special for our readers, Fermentools is offering a discount of 15% off orders if you use the Coupon Code:  Crew2020 before June 30, 2020!  I plan on ordering an extra couple kits so that I can try more foods at the same time.



Several members of the Homeschool Review Crew were given the opportunity to review the Fermentools Starter Kit.  Click on the link below to see how they used this product in their home and what they thought of it.

Everyday Education, LLC. - Perfect Reading, Beautiful Handwriting 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.



There are many different phonics and handwriting programs that are available.  Recently we had the opportunity to review Perfect Reading, Beautiful Handwriting by Caroline Joy Adams and published by Everyday Education, LLC.

Perfect Reading & Beautiful Handwriting was written as a program to teach both reading and writing.  It breaks down teaching letters and blends into 60 different lessons.  It can be used with pre-readers through school age children who may be struggling with letter sounds and reading.

Janice Campbell is a homeschool mom who used Perfect Reading & Beautiful Handwriting for her oldest child.  She loved the simplicity of the program and the ease of use.  When it came time to use it with her second child, she discovered that the program has gone out of print.  She couldn't find a program that she liked as much as Perfect Reading & Beautiful Handwriting.  She worked to revise and re-release this book so that other families could benefit from it as much as they had.

The forward in Perfect Reading & Beautiful Handwriting does a wonderful job to help parents who are new to teaching phonics and reading.  They give a suggested schedule on how to use this book with their student.  As you can see, each lesson takes very little time.  So it's perfect for short attention spans for both the young and old.

Each lesson is written in italic manuscript, and silly sentences are used to not only practice their reading, but also allow students to work on their handwriting.

The lessons are easy to use.  We used Perfect Reading, Beautiful Handwriting as spelling practice for Caty.  Since she is already reading well, we used Perfect Reading, Beautiful Handwriting as a way to remind her about the blends and sounds when spelling.  We practiced a lesson usually over a 2-3 day period, depending on if she struggled with spelling.  As we all know, reading a word does not mean that you can spell a word.  I think by reviewing the letter sounds and combinations it helped remind her how she 

We used the word blends to practice her spelling as she went through and worked on her handwriting skills.  She actually did not whine at all since we were really able to combine in two subjects into one.  The page of writing was really not long at all for her.  So it was great on those days where she was struggling with mood and attention span.  And the way the practice pages are written, she is able to see how the letters should be formed and the spacing that is needed. This is great for students who have learning disabilities.

We received the PDF file for Perfect Reading & Beautiful Handwriting.  It was very easy to download and print off as we did the lessons.  You can purchase it in either printed form ($29.00) and eBook for $27.00.

I love the simplicity of the pages in Perfect Reading & Beautiful Handwriting. There are no cartoon characters or pictures distracting your student.  When a student has ADD or attention issues, too much on a page can cause a sensory issue.  This makes the pages perfect for students with special needs.  

We are going to continue using Perfect Reading & Beautiful Handwriting.  If you have a student who is struggling and needs a little push, I highly recommend giving this program a try.  It really reminds you that you do not need difficult to get fantastic results.

Several members of the Homeschool Review Crew were given the opportunity to try out Perfect Reading & Beautiful Handwriting from Everyday Education, LLC.  Take some time to check out this program and others that our members were given the opportunity to review.

Celebrating Star Wars Day

The kids love when we celebrate things like Star Wars Day or April Fools Day.  I had to cram in some fun foods for this great day.   Now I am not a Star Wars fan the way they all are.  But I try to make it a fun day.

They were allowed to watch Star Wars cartoons/episodes or movies all day.

I had surprises for them on the table.  They thought these little Light Sabers were cool.

For Snacks they had Light/Dark side doughnuts.

 And a Snack mix of

Light sabers, Ewoks, Millenium Falcons, dark side orbs, Princess Leia buns, and Star ships.

I woke them up to theme music on all the Alexas.

For breakfast I pulled out this fun...

Even had fresh Bantha milk for them.

I found Star Wars socks for the girls and I.

Storm Trooper brownies

I served them Roasted Porg for lunch.

They had roasted Porg for lunch, Yoda ears, Tie fighter pasta, and Ray's Portion bread.

with some Yoda punch.

And there was even Sarlacc pit cake.

They enjoyed the surprises....and another Star Wars Day 2020 is in the books.