Meet the Masters- Art Software Reviewed

There are three levels to this software. All of them are available in three different age groups. Meet the Masters comes in levels A, B or C. Each level covers seven masters, except level A.

In level A, students will create a portfolio to store their work. Then six masters are covered. Starting with Van Gogh, the course proceeds to Cassat, Monet, Mondrian, Picasso, and Homer. This is year one.

Level B, year two, covers Remington, O’Keeffe, Hokusai, Matisse, Degas, Kahlo and Wyeth. The techniques and history of each of these masters in studied.

Level C is year three. It focuses on the artwork of Miro, Rembrandt, Bonheur, Lawrence, Calder, Gauguin, and Toulouse-Lautrec. Students create their own artwork based on the techniques of these masters.

Breaking each level down to present the information to different age groups is a good idea.

Each lesson should take approximately one hour. Meet the Masters assumes that one artist per month will be covered. Students learn about each master in a three step process.

Step one, the software takes the students through a tour of the history and time period that the artist lived in. Each artist has a featured work. For example, Van Gogh’s Starry Night is the focus of his lesson. Some masters have audio clips, others do not. A script is provided for the teacher to read. This is where breaking down the software by age group is very helpful. Pre-K students will not have the attention span that high school students have.

Following the tour of the artist, students use their lesson plan to practice some of the artist’s techniques. A printout of each lesson is given to the students so that everyone has their own individual packet.

After completing the lesson packet, students create their own artwork based upon the artist’s masterpiece. For each lesson, materials required are listed so the teacher knows what to have on hand.

It can be difficult to teach about the artists without some background in art. Meet the Masters solves this problem for teachers and parents. The script is written to be read with the online lesson. Support in the form of lesson preparations is given with each master. By reading the guide prior to the lesson, teachers will be prepared and understand all of the concepts to be taught. Even the most un-artistic person can teach this course if they follow the information given.

Meet the Masters is a great value for the money. The cost for a school version depends on the number of computers the software will installed on. This is discussed with a representative from Meet the Masters.

For homeschool and home use, each level per age group is $29.95. If you have multiple children in different age groups, you may want to purchase for the oldest and then adjust the information to meet the younger students’ needs. Home school parents may get a better deal ordering a 3 year subscription through the Home School Buyers Co-op.