M is for Music

It's about time I'm finally getting back into the swing of ABC's of Homeschooling, it is time for the letter M.

M is for Music

Music in our homeschool falls into two categories; Making Music and Music Appreciation.

Both of my children are currently taking piano lessons. Daughter has taken lessons for about two and a half years and progress through several levels of materials.  She is currently working on learning several pieces by Bach.  This last year she has had the opportunity to play on a radio program as well as in front of several audiences. Son just began lessons this last summer and is doing well. They both had the opportunity to play several hymns before the Childrens' Christmas program at our church.

They have a great teacher who is an accomplished musician as well as a caring teacher. 

For music appreciation we have spent a lot of time listening to classical music form the Classical Kids collection. We all enjoy the stories as well as the music.  We have listened to them so frequently that the kids are able to recognize the composer of many of the pieces they have heard on the CD's. They are also very familiar with the stories. 

The last couple years we have also had the privilege of listening to several different CD's from Maestro Classics. While these also feature classic songs, the music doesn't fall in the category of classical and they focus more on a story then a particular composer. Maestro Classics does have a CD about Handel, but I haven't had the opportunity to listen to it. 

The other part of music education I have tried to incorporate is studying the composers.  We have done some learning about Mozart,Tchaikovsky, and Bach. This involves reading some resources, listening to several selections they wrote, and learning from several websites devoted to teaching kids about music. We have done some notebooking with this.  Someday they will each have a notebook of information about many composers that I hope they will enjoy looking through and remembering the enjoyment they had listening to a variety of music.

Some of the websites we have enjoyed for music are:
San Fransisco Orchestra

Classics for Kids 
 Maestro Classics

Additionally, I would like to spend some time learning about various instruments, particularity those found in the orchestra. Both of the children have expressed interest in learning more about what instruments are found in the orchestra. 

Thanks to  Dawn at The Momma Knows for hosting ABC's of Homeschooling.