We recently had the privilege to review a new product from the Sutherland Design Agency, Creative Electives – Intro to 3D Modeling. This high school level online program provides video instruction in 3D modeling.  It helps students to see where 3D Modeling gets its beginning through how it is used in the modern day, what career paths this type of art is used in, as well as teaching your child how to use this art form both in physical format and using a computer.

Creative Electives – Intro to 3D Modeling program is mainly online (you will need internet access for each lesson), but about mid-way through the course you will need to download SketchUp which is free of charge. Other materials that you will also need include a notebook and writing utensil for notes and access to a printer to print out the models that are provided for students to assemble. The cost of an 18 week session is $149.00.

Creative Electives – Intro to 3D Modeling is broken down into eighteen weekly sessions. Each weekly session is split up into three lessons. Every individual lesson features video instruction from Dave Sutherland, as well as an assignment for each lesson. Some assignments include researching various modeling styles further and writing a paragraph about them. Or it could include vocabulary for a particular profession. At the end of each weekly session, there is a quiz provided for the child to take.

At first I was nervous for Joey to use this program. He is very interested in creating models and putting together models. but math is not his strong point. I was afraid he would get very frustrated through the planning stages. When we got started, I made sure to sit with him. I had him keep his notebook by his laptop while watching each video session. He was able to take notes as he listened. The video sessions are short. At the end of each video, Dave gives the student an assignment. All videos so far have been under 15 minutes in length. So I haven’t had to worry about his attention span. This makes the program perfect for those who may struggle with ADHD/ADD. After sitting with him and showing him how to take notes on what Dave was saying, he has been able to work independently. This has been wonderful for me, since I am just not a fan of this type of creativity. I am just no good at it.

Joey is able to work on Creative Electives – Intro to 3D three days a week as part of his regular daily tasks. The good news is that Dave does not leave parents wondering how to grade the quizzes or how to track what their student is doing.  There are printable grade sheets, a syllabus, and even quiz answer sheets for parents to use. I found it easiest to print the weekly quiz for Joey so that I can attach it to his notebook, and I have something to show his assessor this summer. This definitely helps with the additional record keeping for homeschooling a high school student.

It does take a few weeks to get to the most exciting part, the actual building and creating.  So Joey was a little bored in the beginning just learning terminology, but he did enjoy learning about the paths that are available for students who decide to follow this career choice.

Creative Electives – Intro to 3D was created for high school level students.  Joey is in 9^th grade, and I think freshman through senior level students would enjoy this course and learn quite a bit. There is an amazing amount of information provided in this program. I agree that high school is definitely the level to be using this, it could be very overwhelming for anyone younger, unless they are advanced.

Creative Electives – Intro to 3D helps to provide parents with an option to fulfill those needed high school electives, without the stress of hunting down places to take their students.

There was only one big improvement that I would like to see before Brayden will be using the program. For the cost of the 18 week course, I would love to see the quizzes online and self-graded. Even with the answers provided for the parents to do grading, there were many times that I wished I could simply have printed off his quiz already graded and attached it into his notebook. The cost is a little high for some families, even a multi-payment option would be nice to make this choice a little more budget friendly.

We are excited to continue using Creative Electives – Intro to 3D Modeling. Joey has made it up to the actual building and creating part of the program. This is a program that I would recommend for families to use. I foresee Brayden enjoying this program also.

If you are looking to continue to introduce your child to future career options, building their confidence in their math skills, or if they just enjoy models or love to create, then Creative Electives – Intro to 3D is definitely something that you should try.  I cannot wait to see what other options they start offering.

-Product review by Renita Kuehner, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, April, 2016