Frequently Asked Questions
Homeschool/Individual FAQs:
- Is this a full art curriculum? How long can my child use this at home?
- I'm not familiar with art, what do I need to know?
- Why not use textbooks to teach art?
- Can I use geeART with multiple children from different age groups?
- If I have more than one child, what are the advantages of purchasing multiple licenses?
- I'm not comfortable with computers. Is this complicated?
- How do I pay for geeART?
School FAQs:
- How can I assess my students' progress?
- Can I use GeeGuides across different grades?
- Will I, as an educator, be instructed on how to use the GeeGuides program?
- Does the GeeGuides program have to be used in the art room? Are the activities messy?
- Do I need a license for each student or can I use one license for a whole classroom?
- How does my school pay for GeeGuides?
General FAQs:
- Does the GeeGuides program offer a cross-curricular emphasis?
- Can students with differing artistic abilities use GeeGuides?
- Does GeeGuides meet any education standards?
- Why is art education so important?
- Will there be any inappropriate images that might offend students or parents?
- How does the geeART product relate to the other GeeGuides products?
- What are puzzle pieces and artist cards?
- Will this run on any computer? Will our Internet access work?
1) Is this a full art curriculum? How long can my child use this at home?
We realize that each home education environment is unique, so we have structured our program to be self-paced. There are 16 lessons and each lesson thoroughly covers art concepts using sayART™, seeART™ and doART™. Subscriptions are based on a yearly cycle… but you and your child determine the speed at which you work through them. Please note that access to the lesson modules for a homeschool or individual license is received through a subscription release, and accounts are active for one year from the date the license is registered online, not from the date of purchase.
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Don't worry. There is no need to have previous art education experience to use geeART. The online format is easy to use for both the child and the parent. The program is structured so that your child can use it without parental supervision. For additional assistance, however, we include an online instruction guide.
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The technology involved with GeeGuides takes learning to the next level. Our web-based program is interactive and uses high-quality animation that brings art to life. With our three components, sayART™, seeART™ and doART™, your students or child can experience art more completely…specifically, the language of art, the meaning of art and the child's own creative expression. At GeeGuides, we also think it is vital to engage children emotionally, (for example, with humor, confidence and curiosity), as well as cognitively. Research has proven this technique to greatly enhance knowledge retention.
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Absolutely. All of the geeART lessons are targeted for students of any age, while those 7 and older will likely be able to do the program more independently. Please note that if you are purchasing licenses for more than one user, you’ll need to ensure that each user has an individual license, and in turn, a unique username and password. The geeART program exclusively adjusts to each particular user’s learning speed and style. Because the software understands and interprets your personal learning style, if multiple users access the program with the same username, the learning experience is compromised. For these reasons, we highly recommend one license for each user.
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By purchasing multiple licenses, you are then able to assess each child's progress instead of just obtaining an unspecific, generalized result. Since there may be differing ages in the same family, multiple licenses allow children to work on separate lesson plans simultaneously. This also allows children to work at their own pace and exploration, which is crucial to aesthetic learning development. There are also incentives, such as artist cards and puzzle pieces, that students earn as they go through the program and they will also be able to store their artworks in their personal art "Portfolio." Lastly, you can access each student's specific assessment, or challenge, scores.
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The online format is easy to use...for both the child and the parent. The program is intuitive and designed for easy navigation and functionality. However, there is an online instructional guide to give you the "how-to's" on using geeART so you can become familiar with the unique features of the program, including the digital paint program and accessing portfolios and assessments.
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Please visit our Store page to order geeART. We accept credit cards, money orders and personal checks. Please note that the program is available for home use through a subscription-based release. You will receive an email welcome package with your login information and some initial instructions after purchasing your license(s) on our web store or over the phone.
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8) How can I assess my students' progress?
The GeeGuides program tracks how far a student has progressed through the curriculum. A student's successful completion of online activities is rewarded with advancement to new content, which allows GeeGuides to track learning growth and provide teachers with customized reports of assessment and achievement for each student.
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Yes.
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The online format is easy to use… for both the student and the teacher. For additional assistance, however, we include an online instruction guide which gives you the "how-to's" on using geeART, and comprehensive, easy-to-follow lesson plans.
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geeART can be used in the art room, the regular classroom, or the computer lab, or really anywhere you want to teach. The program offers a wide variety of doART™ activities, using both traditional and digital media. Some of the activities may be better suited for the art room, but many can easily be done in a regular classroom or computer lab. You pick the appropriate lesson plan for your situation.
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If you are purchasing licenses for more than one user, you’ll need to ensure that each user has an individual license, and in turn, a unique username and password. The geeART program exclusively adjusts to each particular user’s learning speed and style. Because the software understands and interprets your personal learning style, if multiple users access the program with the same username, the learning experience is compromised. Additionally, assessment, reward and student portfolio features will not be accurate for individual students and their progress. For these reasons, we highly recommend one license for each user.
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Please call our customer support team to submit a PO at 888-375-0560, or to learn more about grants or our fundraising kit. We accept credit cards, money orders and checks.
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14) Does the geeART program offer a cross-curricular emphasis?
Yes. Incorporated into the geeART lessons are cross-curriculum exercises. These activities allow you to integrate the arts across several other subject areas, including science, history and language arts.
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Yes. Students of all artistic abilities can learn from geeART. The program explores a wide range of art concepts with fun, interactive activities, allowing students to learn at their own pace. Plus, each lesson module has a variety of doART™ lesson plans, which allows you to select the appropriate activities for your students.
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The GeeGuides curriculum meets National and State Standards for Art Education, which were established by the Consortium of National Arts Education Associations, and also meets the guidelines outlined in the National Technology Plan.
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Art is an essential part of any child's education. It is just as important as reading, writing and mathematics. Art fosters creativity, flexible ways of thinking and builds self-esteem. Studies have shown that students exposed to the arts did better in other subjects, on tests and were less bored in school. We, at GeeGuides, feel strongly about the importance of art education and that is why we created our program to teach visual arts to children in a meaningful and comprehensive way.
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We understand parents' and schools' concerns that certain works of art might be inappropriate for young children. We carefully select and display art that is appropriate to ensure a safe and fun environment for all users.
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The geeART program is a complete, stand-alone package with three components, sayART™, seeART™ and doART™. In addition to this, however, we encourage teachers and/or parents to explore museums with the students because there is no substitute for experiencing original art in person. We do our best by providing a Virtual Gallery, which displays the various artworks explored in each lesson and give the user more information about the piece, such as at which museum it is housed, the artist and the time the piece was created. At participating museums, students have the chance to continue their lessons by studying specific works of art displayed in the museum.
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Each student is awarded for successful completion of the online challenges in each of the lesson modules. They earn puzzle pieces and artist cards as they go, which are automatically stored on their account. The puzzle pieces are collected, and at the end of the 16 lessons the students are instructed to put the puzzle pieces together to get a fun, animated surprise. Additionally, students earn artist cards, which feature an artist, one of their artworks, information about the artist as well as a fun, and sometimes unknown, fact about the artist. These cards are also stored in the student account for later access and are stored by time period. Once the student collects all the artist cards, an extra card is unlocked with another fun surprise. These features encourage students to learn and complete the online assessments, which helps lead to learning, retention and motivation.
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21) Will this run any computer? Will our Internet access work?
geeART runs on both Windows and Macintosh computers and requires the free Macromedia Flash Player. Also, we recommend that you run geeART with a high-speed Internet connection.
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