Finally, a comprehensive art curriculum at a low price for junior high and high school homeschoolers! This unique curriculum focuses on the building blocks to create a well rounded and challenging program. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/tuningfork/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Fri, 16 Feb 2007 10:49:00 -0600 Fri, 16 Feb 2007 10:49:00 -0600 Hello again,   Let me begin by expressing my profound respect for anyone who can keep on top of the blogging regularly!   I admit, I have been getting caught up with reading other's writings and have been falling behind in my own.  But let me continue with an update on where we're at with this new book. Art Elements-Book One   This is a very exciting time for us at Tuning Fork.  The first book, Art Elements, is in its final stages of editing!   Our hope is to have the book published and ready for sale early summer 2007.   Specific dates aren't in site yet, but our goal is to have the class available for use during the 2007-08 school year.    It feels like everything is coming together all at once as we finish up work on this book as well as focusing on the development of our Website.  This too should be up and running shortly.  I'll be sure to let you all know when its going!   In the mean time we currently have a promotional packet available explaining more about the company and what is involved with the curriculum.  Also included in the packet is a complimentary sample of the Art Element's textbook.     Please feel free to contact me here at HSB if you would like to sign up for our mailing list.   We would be happy to send you our sample packet free of charge as well as keep you posted on  future events and upcoming books!    During my reading yesterday I was struck by these beautiful words         "I pray you will live this day in the freedom of His truth."  The thought has been such a blessing to me.  I pray the elegance and power of knowing His truth fills you with love and joy! -Iza     http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/tuningfork/286326/ Fri, 16 Feb 2007 10:49:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/tuningfork/286326/ Who and What:  A short introduction Hello to all homeschool enthusiasts!   My name is Iza Aleckson and together with my husband Luke, I have created a small business developing arts curriculum under the name "Tuning Fork Educational Media."  Our purpose is to create an outstanding visual art curriculum intended for junior high through high school aged homeschool and private school students.  We are getting very close to publishing the first book in a series of educational art curricula entitled "Art Elements".   I am so excited to share the progress being made as we draw closer to this goal, but for now let me share with you the why and how of this exciting endeavor. The How and the Why:  A personal story When I think back, I see now how I was being prepared for this role ever since I was a child.  From K-12th grade I attended a very small Christian school.  Being in a small private school can be very similar to what I imagine the homeschool experience to be.  We had one teacher that taught all of our classes as well as multiple grade levels.   When I reached junior high I was introduced to the PACE system of learning.  For those of you not familiar with this, it is where the school subjects are broken down into chapters or "paces" and each student works independently on their own work.  This system of education also allowed for more classes to be put together into one space.  In my case, we had 7th-12th grade in one room.  What makes my story even more like homeschooling is the fact that when I was in 9th grade my mom became the teacher or "supervisor," and stayed as such until I was graduated.  I feel its important to share this background with you because it plays such an important role in my current occupation.  Just as in homeschooling, our school faced a number of difficulties when trying to teach art as a class.  First off, being such a small school means you have very little budget and art books can get very expensive.  More often than not we would end up spending "art class" in high school with a mom that would volunteer  her time to teach us how to sketch.  By this I mean no criticism of the volunteer.  In fact, it is exactly this kind of giving heart that makes me so passionate about what we're doing now.  But the fact of the matter is, compared with the attention my other subjects received, art class was severely lacking in formal structure and real substance. Along with budget issues were other concerns directly related to Christianity and art as a serious subject.  Even if there was  a strong art curriculum available  at a very low cost, they were still lacking as far has having a Christian viewpoint.  I also watched as my mom (the supervisor of 6 grades) struggled to teach such a wide variety of classes.  As far as art went there was also the basic reality of just not having the time to devote to developing her own art class. Through the next years, after I had graduated high school, I watched my friends and family struggle with these same issues over and over again.  It had long been my desire to affect some change in the system but--although I was studying art in college--I felt that writing such an intensive curriculum was still out of my reach.  Again and again I am reminded of the biblical idea of the weak being made strong.  It was through my weakness that God decided to work!  In my second year of college I met and later married my husband Luke, who just happened to also be studying art.  In 2004 we moved to Chicago IL where he had been accepted into one of the top graduate programs for sculpture at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.  Our first year there was spent sharing an apartment with a roommate who just happened to have her degree in, what else, ART!  It was during this time through various miraculous means that the desires of my heart began to blossom into physical ideas and slowly started to come into full fruition. Where and When:  The ubiquitous cliffhanger questions Whew...that was a long one.   Thanks for letting me share with you the beginnings of what I consider one of the passions of my heart.  Well, that is the general foundation of our project and I look forward to going into some of the details (such as where and when) of the curriculum next time. -Iza http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/tuningfork/276719/ Mon, 29 Jan 2007 13:53:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/tuningfork/276719/ From Tuning Fork Educational Media: An affordable art curriculum intended for 7-9th grade homeschoolers!   Offering much more than your typical crafts based art education.  Combined hands on activities and substantial art history sections create a well rounded, informational art class.  Taught from a Christian perspective, the text is thoughtful and applicable to students' lives as they are challenged to think about and discuss meaningful issues behind art movements and pieces.  This text introduces the elements of art as students explore their presence in historical artworks as well as application sections where they can use what they've learned to create new art works!       http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/tuningfork/275055/ Thu, 25 Jan 2007 17:46:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/tuningfork/275055/