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Two of the areas that I felt like I was really lacking in last year were art and music. We are now working on art and music every Monday, so we already got a chance to try out the things that we will be using this year to hopefully infuse more of both into our schooling. (In addition to the beginning of music lessons for both of our boys, which will begin later this month.)
I’ll share later what we’re working on for art, but today, I wanted to talk about our music program.
For music, I bought the book The Story of the Orchestra by Robert Levine. I went through the book prior to the school year, and I realized that it was easily broken up into more than 40 “lessons.” These will represent just a brief introduction to a variety of composers, as well as the instruments found in an orchestra.
One of my favorite parts of this book is that it also comes with a CD. Many places throughout the book, you are instructed to play a certain track. For each composer and instrument, there is a track on the CD. It (the book) often tells you what to listen for as you listen to the piece.
Today, we read the introduction and met “Orchestra Bob.” We also were instructed to read Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries. I enjoyed it, and so did the kids. I’m really looking forward to working our way through this book for a great overview this year.
Anyone want to take bets on how many times this year I’m going to have to hear, “Hey — that’s from Little Einsteins!”
Angie can be found writing about faith, family, and household management, with a little crafting and homeschooling thrown in too, at Many Little Blessings!
This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday.
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chubbycheeks says
How old our your kids. I have a 1st grader and a preK. Would this be too advanced for them? I have been trying to find something for music also.
Amy@Let's Explore says
We love this book, too! We've checked it out from the library enough times that I am ready to purchase one of our own. 🙂
Denise says
Thank you so much for your post. I just ordered it using some gift cards I earned from Swagbucks. This was just what I was looking for to give some structure to our music activities for the year. So glad I found your blog! Thanks again!
Christi says
I am so glad that there are shows like little Einsteins and some of the Barbie movies that use the good music.
However, it drove me crazy trying to convince my daughter that "no, Barbie did not write 'Nutcracker' or 'Swan Lake' and Tchaikovsky did not write it for Barbie either."
Angie @ Many Little Blessings says
LOL Christi!
We totally had the same Barbie/Nutcracker Suite issue here at our house.
Angie @ Many Little Blessings says
@Chubbycheeks — My PreK little gal listened along with us to what I read and then the song. I definitely don't think it would be too advanced for your 1st grader. I'm not sure about your PreK though. But, on the up side, if it didn't work, maybe you could hold on to it for next year, and at least the book is not too expensive (especially for hard cover with a CD). If you weren't sure, you could always wait for next year. Or, get it and introduce it slowly (and use it over the course of a couple of years).
Good luck!
Weird Unsocialized Mom says
That sounds really cool! I'll have to check that out.
chubbycheeks says
Thanks! I just might have to order it 😉
Sewing-Chick says
I'm a music teacher and have a couple of suggestions. One, when your kids reach the age that your local school starts band and orchestra, you should be able to enroll them for just that class (that's what our school does), and some communities actually have homeschool bands (we have that too). Also, check out your library for books on composers. They're a treasure trove! I was able to find children's semi-fictional books on everything ranging from jazz composers such as Duke Ellington or Louis Armstrong, to ballets such as Swan Lake/ Swine Lake 🙂
Melissa says
Thanks for the book recommendation!!
.-= Melissa´s last blog ..Sandstorm in Iraq =-.
Georgia says
Just ordered it from my library! Thank you for this information!
God Bless! ~Georgia