Review: Draw Write Now

Draw Write Now has been one of the best resources that we’ve added to our homeschooling shelves. The full set of eight books took some work to find in Canada; however, they have been well worth the cost and effort.

Draw Write Now was designed by a teacher who empathized with the frustration that her Gr. 2 students experienced both when trying to draw and with seemingly endless handwriting drills. Recognizing that drawing and handwriting use many of the same skills, she developed lessons that combined the two.

The result is a simple, gorgeous book that helps children see how they might go about drawing something from life. Here’s a sample page:

A full-colour sample drawing is presented with informative copywork. Then the main feature of the drawing is broken down in to simple drawing steps.

In our home, we’re using the books to learn about seeing shapes and drawing them. (The girls are learning italic handwriting, so the handwriting element in the Draw Write Now series isn’t that relevant for us.)

We’ve combined Draw Write Now with our science program, which we’re conducting along the lines of The Well Trained Mind recommendations. For the next 3-4 months, we’re studying animals. On science days, we read about an animal in a children’s animal encyclopedia. The girls then tell me one to three things that they’ve learned about the animal while I scribe their summaries on a notebook page for them. Then they get to draw the animal, which is where Draw Write Now fits in.

When we first selected animals to study, I chose ones that I thought would be interesting to learn about. It turns out, however, that it’s not that easy for a child to draw, say, a scorpion from an encyclopedia picture. It quickly became apparent that the girls had way, way more fun when the animal we studied was also one that they could look up in Draw Write Now.

This is science on a day when Mommy figured out that it was a good idea to learn about animals that were also in Draw Write Now.

It’s wonderful to see how this book seems to free them to become better observers. They are becoming meticulous about matching and blending colours; they love seeing the shapes in an animal (“Look! His nose is like a triangle!”); and they are very proud to produce recognizable animals in their notebooks.

I need to point out that Charlotte is trying to use two pencils simultaneously to get just the right tawny shade for her lion.

Today Tasha took it to a whole new level, tucking a Draw Write Now under her arm as she headed off to her room for quiet time. She emerged an hour later with this:

Tasha's drawing inspired by Draw Write Now

The drawing is wonderful. I am concerned, however, that the mother hen is in the middle of her chatty chicks and is yelling, “Stop!” I’m sure that there are some psychological implications that I just don’t want to explore right now.

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For my fellow Canadians …the full series of Draw Write Now is available at Blue Mantle and The Learning House.