Not formal, but here is a great little booklet that teaches about the elements and principles of design. http://www.awesomeartists.com/ART/AWESOMEARTISTS_PDFs_ETC/ABCsOfART_BOOKLET_Color_ElementsAndPrinciplesOfDesign_2015.pdf BTW, It is easy to break down and create art lessons from the elements and principles of design using youtube and links found on the internet. Here is how I use it. Example: Element #1 Line 1. Learn about Line: https://youtu.be/SFTkg3mpP3w 2. Recreate the line posters from the above booklet. 3. Make a contour line drawing. https://youtu.be/RpZ1TwGaugM https://youtu.be/oPM9FBPf7OU 4. Make a continuous line drawing; https://youtu.be/2t_evhNwAjo 5. Make a blind contour drawing. https://youtu.be/KoGAXg6m4Gc 6. Make a drawing that emphasizes line quality. https://youtu.be/MRL7gvbZudw 7. Draw with cross contour lines. https://youtu.be/QiPT75pHL_8 https://youtu.be/YiMmYQ52QgE 8. View works of art that show line: Link: http://artcuratorforkids.com/artworks-that-show-line/ 9. Make line drawing Doodles - Flowers https://youtu.be/hgdK3L7SMP0 Faces https://youtu.be/O5u1apUkYV0 Harry Potter https://youtu.be/f5VEu2SfhhY etc... 10. Make Zentangle line drawings - https://youtu.be/qBwHUKHUdD8 ​https://youtu.be/ycsONJVXcac Honestly, a whole year could just be spent exploring line and drawing simple line drawings (doodles) in a sketchbook. : ) I also agree with shinyhappypeople. Just jump in and do art. Draw, paint, etc.. every day. : ) It doesn't need to be difficult. Just a sketchbook and a box of art supplies. If you pick up mixed media sketchbooks they can also paint in their sketchbooks. For art history, YouTube has loads of great videos. I love the videos from Goodbye-Art Academy https://youtu.be/ibp_i7bekQU BTW, when your children are older, here is one of the helpful sites I recommend. It is a fully designed art curriculum for JH and HS: http://juliannakunstler.com/class.php#.WRnJb2grKCg (scroll down for courses) HTH

I like Dive Science. Each week the student learns thought text, lectures, and labs. Practically any text can be used with the curriculum. He also provides an online text can be used instead. Here is the link to the site. http://www.diveintomath.com/earth-science-7th-8th-grade/

You may want to pick up some gesso in the future. Gesso is used to prime canvases, but can also be used to prime almost any surface for painting. It can even be used to prime regular sketch pad paper, so that it can be painted on. Other surfaces you could have her try painting on is cardboard, paper bags, and wood. Here are a couple of YouTube videos that describe the how and whys of gesso. ,

I mostly use the videos on The Virtual Instructor site. He has free videos of the elements and principles on his YouTube channel. Here is one on line . If you search YouTube, you will find loads of helpful videos to choose from. Awesomeartist.com has a great booklet on the elements and principles. http://www.awesomeartists.com/ We copied the the information into our sketchbooks.

This is what I do. I do purchase a membership to The Virtual Artist, but videos can easily be found on YouTube. Some favorite sites: The Art of Apex - http://artofapexportal.weebly.com/how-do-i.html, Student Art Guide - http://www.studentartguide.com/, The Art of Education - http://www.theartofed.com/ The easiest way to find a lesson or project is to go to Pinterest and search. I am planning a unit on printmaking right now, and have found a wealth of help on Pinterest and YouTube. Below is a table (I am not sure it will post) of a portion of our Drawing and Painting scope and sequence. It didn't post properly. Here is a link. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1u_XBJnvUZxRN9KYEFHhRW6pYuG3G2fi-GxcEJI6R-bw/edit?usp=sharing

He may want to start with student "classroom" grade acrylics as he is learning. I use the ones from Blick Art for the art class I teach. 6 pints for 27.00 I can't find the video, but I once ran across an wonderful acrylic artist that used mostly craft paints like Folk Art to paint by choice. Perhaps it would work for your son.

Hunter, have you ever heard of Don Marco the master crayon artist? I am amazed with what he can produce with crayons! http://www.themastercrayonartist.biz/

For fantasy, have you ever read The Obsidian Trilogy? The series has been around for a while, but is one of my all time favorites by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory.

I really enjoyed the Unbounded series by Teyla Branton. She also writes under the name of Rachel Ann Nunes. I am currently reading her Autumn Rain series, and it has been an okay read. Both of these series are clean reads that I feel comfortable recommending to my daughter.

Just found out about Complete Curriculum. http://www.completecurriculum.com/ It is only 39.95 for a yearly family membership. It looks like it covers all levels K-12 for Language Arts, Math, Science, and History. There would be printing costs involved, but I can see that if it is done decently it would be a blessing for many. Here is the link to the Cathy Duffy review: http://cathyduffyreviews.com/grade-level-packages/complete-curriculum.htm If it were paired up with library books, I bet it would work just fine.

We also use thevirtualinstructor.com. The instruction is top quality, and a subscription is only 37.00 per year. There is also a lot of free content on the site and his youtube channel. Speaking of YouTube, there are wonderful instructional videos on every art medium. I teach an art class to a group of Jr High/High School kids each week, and have have successfully integrated many YouTube instructional videos into the curriculum. I embed the videos into a private blog that has been created for the class, so that the children are not subjected to the sometimes inappropriate images on the sidebar. This guy's (award winning illustrator, Shoo Rayner) YouTube channel is fun for younger kids I also love this book for daily sketching - How to Draw Cool Stuff by Catherine V Holmes http://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-Cool-Stuff-Teachers/dp/0615991424

We've had some success with Talking Fingers. We use it for review and fluency. I also liked the fact that they are learning how to type in this program.

I think my kids would have an excellent education if I packed the following items. The homework books are very thin, so I think all the below would fit well. Edit: I checked the size of a carry-on and it is much smaller that I thought (22" x 14" x 9".) I will try and trim my list. Math: Saxon 8/7 (Basically all pre-algebra material is covered) Saxon Algebra I & 2 Understanding Mathematics from Counting to Calculus Everything you need to know about Math Homework History/Geography: Everything you need to know about World History Homework Everything you need to know about American History Homework Everything you need to know about Geography Homework An Atlas CHOW The Usborne Encyclopedia of World History Edit: U.S. History for Dummies Science: Everything you need to know about Science Homework The Usborne Science Encyclopedia English Everything you need to know about English Homework - by Zeman and Kelly Grammar & Diagramming Sentences - by Gianni DeVencentis-Hayes The Elements of Style by Strunk and White Small Dictionary and Thesaurus Literature: Pride and Prejudice Lord of the Rings Series I would wait until the end to see if I could shove in other classics. Phonics: Ordinary Parent's Guide to Reading or Alpha-phonics The Writing Road to Reading One of the many children's storybook compilations I own. Spelling: Spelling Power Bible: The Bible Egermeier's Bible Story Book Edit: How to Read the Bible book by Book: A guided Tour by Fee and Stuart Music: The Celebration Hymnal Tin Whistles Art: One of the Art History Compilations I have Art Pencils, Crayons, water color sticks/crayons, water-brushes (the kind you fill with water), scissors, and Sketchbooks Extras: Whiteboards and Markers (Now I am feeling bad for not having slate and chalk.) Paper, pencils, sharpener, and erasers That's it. I can't trim anymore! I'm breaking the rules and having each person carry a book in their hands. Also, my purse will have books in it. I am clearly not a minimalist when it comes to home school books, but thanks this was a wonderful exercise. : )

This! I thought my son (9) would never learn to read before we switched to Rod and Staff. We were totally phonics, and it wasn't working. I have since learned that my son struggles with dysphonetic dyslexia. Had we continued on the phonics only road, I'm not sure he would have ever learned to read well. He is still behind in reading but progressing well. Rod and Staff is very strong in phonics as well. It has a different series of books just for phonics instructions. The phonics is going slow for him, but he can decode words slowly now. The reading is purely based on sight words in the beginning, and assumes knowledge in phonics (from their program) as they progress. Each day they have Sound words (using phonics already learned), Key words (based on prior words learned), and learn words (sight words.) The nice thing for us is that because of the sight word approach, the reading curriculum ends up being above grade level. This (so far) is allowing his reading level to progress at a faster rate than he would with some other programs.

Well I have been blessed with a MIL that is a sweetie-pie, but sometimes she can be clueless. She was raised in a time when it was thought important to marry young. She asked when I was going to send my oldest to school? The funny thing is that she was not concerned about his education she was just wondering because, "Well, how else was he going to meet a girl to marry?" She also doesn't seem to understand age appropriate content. For example, when the TV show Glee first came out she was so excited to chat with my 10 y.o. daughter about the show. Why in the world would I let my 10 y.o. daughter watch that show? :scared: For a period of time I had to block her email messages, because she kept sending me dirty jokes. My husband was horrified!