Draw Write Now

[m0mmaBuck]

Does anyone use this program? Opinions?

 

I am considering for DS for art as well as penmanship practice.

[Cindyz]

:bigear:

 

I just bought the set on Amazon but it's back ordered. I'll be interested to hear what others have to say!

[Food4Thought]

I have several of the books. My kids both love them. I use them mostly for art. DS6 has fine motor issues and handwriting is difficult for him, so I use the books to get him more interested in putting pen to paper. I don't use it for the handwriting/copywork, just for the easy-to-follow drawing instructions.

[plain jane]

I really like these books and have used them for 5 years now. I do a variety of things with them. Sometimes it's just a regular how-to-draw book that the kids pull off the shelves when the want to draw a picture.

 

I used the books in K and had the child do the copywork to work on penmanship. I ask the child to pick one picture to draw, have them draw and color it, then I'd use StartWrite to have them do the copywork under the picture.

 

I've used it as a simple introduction to writing their own sentences. Again, they would choose a picture to draw (or sometimes I'd just assign it to them) and then I'd require they write one to four sentences about the picture (depending on age and writing ability). I didn't expect a lot other than the sentences having a capital letter, an end mark, and that they were related to the picture they drew.

 

I've also used the pictures as drawing prompts. When my oldest was old enough to do some creative writing, I'd have her choose the topic from one of the books. She'd draw and color the picture, then write a short story about the picture or a short descriptive paragraph about the animal that she drew, depending on her mood.

 

I think the books are well done. The drawings are nice, accessible to younger kids to replicate, yet not too babyish. I liked the copywork sentences, but most of all I really liked the versatility of the program. It's been used consistently over the last 5 years and for me it's definitely a must-have.

[sunnyca]

I've owned these for 11 years and used them with all my kids in many of the ways already listed here. I just have to say that my youngest, an upcoming 8th grader, refuses to allow me to sell the set. They sit on our shelf and she pulls them out at random throughout the year. It was well worth the investment.

[bbsweetpea]

I have the set and we love them. My daughter gets excited when she see's one of the books pulled out.

[twoxcell]

We have them all, and they are great. We used the animal books a lot last year. This year we are using the USA ones to go along with US history.

[tjlcc]

I've used it as a simple introduction to writing their own sentences. Again, they would choose a picture to draw (or sometimes I'd just assign it to them) and then I'd require they write one to four sentences about the picture (depending on age and writing ability). I didn't expect a lot other than the sentences having a capital letter, an end mark, and that they were related to the picture they drew.

 

Thanks for this idea. I've never have my kids do the copywork as I knew it would turn them off. They would enjoy writing their own sentences though.

 

Draw Write Now has been wonderful for us. While we were studying space travel, we used one of the books to draw an astronaut. When we finished our Squanto read-aloud we drew natives, tepees, etc. Ditto for our early American history studies.

 

I've also given these books for birthday/Christmas gifts.

[Annabel Lee]

Ditto what they said. I picked up book 5 at Value Village for $3 just to check it out. I am so impressed! My thoughts were to use it how Jane described, for writing composition & art practice. My guys are both into cursive (by choice - go figure), so they "translate" the manuscript into cursive using a formation chart.

[gpsings]

We have collected several of the books, but I use them for supplement. They are a really neat way to learn to draw!

[unity]

I have a bunch of the books, and they do have their place--like when a child really wants to know how to draw the likeness of something specific. But I think as far as actual art instruction, they are far inferior to programs that teach artistic concepts and develop creativity. Draw Right Now does not teach concepts like color, line, perspective, etc. Nor does it teach creativity in any way. It does teach step-by-step directions on how to copy specific images.

 

I would personally rather get a handwriting book that has my preferred style, and then add in an art program that teaches fundamentals of art, rather than rely on this series to cover both bases.

[Staceyshoe]

We have a couple of them that we use as an art supplement. (Our main program right now is "How to Teach Art to Children" by Evan Moor.) Ds really enjoys having a completed drawing that is what he considers to be a success. (He is fairly frustrated with his fine motor skills.) We don't use the handwriting portion because he does WWE, and I don't want to overload him with writing.

[Chris in VA]

I have a bunch of the books, and they do have their place--like when a child really wants to know how to draw the likeness of something specific. But I think as far as actual art instruction, they are far inferior to programs that teach artistic concepts and develop creativity. Draw Right Now does not teach concepts like color, line, perspective, etc. Nor does it teach creativity in any way. It does teach step-by-step directions on how to copy specific images.

 

I would personally rather get a handwriting book that has my preferred style, and then add in an art program that teaches fundamentals of art, rather than rely on this series to cover both bases.

 

:iagree: Dd likes to use these, but I think of them as "art copywork." They do not teach the fundamentals of drawing or art in general.

 

I remember an incident with dd when she was a first grader. She was quite frustrated that she couldn't draw a person like she wanted to. So I pulled out our art calendars (where I get prints), and showed her 4 or 5 famous artists' drawings--Picasso's Nude Descending...(cubism--very geometric), some Monet (impressionism--sort of blurry), and some others. I said hey, there are lots of ways to draw, not one right way.

 

DRN teaches one right way--it's good to expand the viewpoint.

 

But it's also fun to copy a drawing and feel good about that, too.

[Annabel Lee]

I have a bunch of the books, and they do have their place--like when a child really wants to know how to draw the likeness of something specific. But I think as far as actual art instruction, they are far inferior to programs that teach artistic concepts and develop creativity. Draw Right Now does not teach concepts like color, line, perspective, etc. Nor does it teach creativity in any way. It does teach step-by-step directions on how to copy specific images.

 

I would personally rather get a handwriting book that has my preferred style, and then add in an art program that teaches fundamentals of art, rather than rely on this series to cover both bases.

 

Whoops, I suppose I should have specified that. I don't use it to teach art fundamentals. It's just an add-on to our U.S. history, to help them do illustrations for their narrations. We use other art programs for our "real" art.

[mom2boys030507]

We have used books 7 and 8. These worked great for a change of pace for my son, as his copy work. It also really encouraged him to start drawing pictures. Up to the point of starting these a year ago not much was recognizable in his drawings, now I am able to name most things. My son is a lefty and would rather write stories than draw them. That is fine but these books helped him learn some basics of how other people draw pictures. Now I need to start a more formal art program with him but that is another topic.

 

-Karen

[easygoer]

I love them; I agree they are practicing skills for writing and sketching (vs art.)

 

They are helpful for fine motor skills, too.

 

I've found some of their books lists a nice surprise, too. In the first book the read-alongs they suggest for the barnyard were great.

[m0mmaBuck]

OP here.

 

My thought was that they might be a nice supplement to his penmanship/writing program (which he hates) as well as a way for him to learn how to draw a few simple things with success. He can write neatly, he just doesn't see the point. I thought that the books may show him that sketching is similar writing. If you want the picture to look the way it does in the book, you have to draw it the way it is in the book. If you want your writing to look look the way it should, you have to form your letters the way they are meant to look. It sounds like these books will help.

[easygoer]

I think honing the right-brain skill of looking at a shape and making the same form on your paper is great for both sketching and penmanship. That kind of careful practice will help both, and the authors make that point nicely.

 

Throughout the series, they give many helpful discussions and suggestions for noticing lines and shapes that make up the things we see, composing your drawing, choosing a perspective and color blending.

 

ETA: It's certinaly not a comprehensive program in art fundamentals, but taken as a whole I don't sell it short as a sketching program for kids. IMO, it does move beyond copying the individual scenes, even if the presentation sort of belies the depth.

Edited July 10, 2010 by easygoer

[unity]

OP here.

 

My thought was that they might be a nice supplement to his penmanship/writing program (which he hates) as well as a way for him to learn how to draw a few simple things with success. He can write neatly, he just doesn't see the point. I thought that the books may show him that sketching is similar writing. If you want the picture to look the way it does in the book, you have to draw it the way it is in the book. If you want your writing to look look the way it should, you have to form your letters the way they are meant to look. It sounds like these books will help.

 

It sounds like you have just the right expectations for this series. That is how we've used this program with success here. At some point this kind of sketching is an extension of handwriting skills, and it is also great for developing skills of observation. Like, how far along the back does the mane reach? That sort of thing. I guess, upon reflection, that is an artistic skill! :) Anyway, have fun with it!