Peter and the Wolf

I remember as a young child listening to Peter and the Wolf on a record. Yes, that was a long time ago! So when I found out I would be getting Peter and the Wolf to review from Maestro Classics, I was thrilled.

What it is:

Maestro Classics has a series of CD stories that introduce children to classical music through these stories. The music is performed by The London Philharmonic Orchestra and each CD  contains an activity booklet with information pertaining to the story, composer, and musical piece.

The three main goals of Stories in Music are:

1. To expand listening horizons.

2. To develop listening skills and accumulate musical memories.

3. To encourage adults and children to listen to music together.

 

What We Thought:

We loved it! I know the importance of introducing children to classical music, but I admit that often takes a backseat in our homeschool. I just never seem to get around to it. With this CD we were able to have a complete mini-unit at our fingertips. All my kids enjoyed listening to the story. We listened to how the instruments portrayed each character. The CD had additional tracks that were a cool addition to the story: the life of the composer, a Russian Peter, The Magic Maestro Talks about Peter and the Wolf, Peter and the Wolf without Narration, Invitation to Grandfather’s Party and Kalinka ~ dance along. Tucked in the CD case was a 24-page activity booklet with information about the composer, a short music piece, music terms, fun activities and more. I felt that Maestro Classics made it so easy for me to enjoy and talk about this musical piece with my kids. I hope to add more of these CD’s to our collection soon.

These are the current Stories in Music available:

• Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel – timeless classic story
• Peter and the Wolf – every child should own this great work
• Tortoise and the Hare – a very fun version of this tale
• Juanita the Spanish Lobster – sassy and funny from an English composer
• Swan Lake – some of Tchaikovsky's most beautiful music
• Casey at the Bat – everybody loves baseball, right?
• Sorcerer's Apprentice – magical story and exciting music
• Juanita la langosta española – great for anyone speaking or studying Spanish

You can listen to a sample and see what the activity booklet looks like for each of these cd’s on the homepage of Maestro Classics (click the image above).

Maestro Classics
Ages: 5-12
Price: $16.98 or 3 cd's for $45.00

For More Maestro Classics Reviews See:

Disclosure: I am a member of TOS and I was given this product free for review purposes only. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Scripture Songs

Over the past couple of years I've been trying to be more intentional at memorizing the Word along with my kids. I've found that for us, the easiest way is to sing a song.

Songs for Saplings: This is a wonderful cd for toddlers and preschoolers. The songs are up-beat and easy to memorize. I'm going to be using this with my 3yr. old and 1 1/2yr. old. Carisa over at Totally Tots has created printables to go along with each of the songs. Such a time-saver for me!

I have spent the last couple of days trying to find a song to use with our co-op. Usually I try to get the main song for the semester to go along with the verses we are memorizing. This sememster we will be studying and memorizing Romans 12: 9-18. So far I haven't come across any songs that fit, but I'm still looking (so if you know of any, please let me know!) I wish there was a resource where you could type the passage and it would link you up to all the songs and printables for that verse (not a project that I'll be spear-heading---just a wish ;) )

Anyway, while searching I came across the Seed Family Worship Collections. Oh these are awesome! I have all of them on my wish-list! Very up-beat, contemporary scripture songs.

Seeds of Courage
Seeds of Faith
Seeds of Praise
Seeds of Purpose
The Power of Encouragement

Another big plus is that on their website they have free printable memory verse cards and checklists to go along with each album.

Another favorite resource has been Scriptunes. Over the years my kids have been involved with Upward basketball and cheerleading. Each participant was given a Scripture-song CD. We loved listening to the songs! The only problem was that the only way to get the CD was if you were involved with Upward. Just recently though, Mike Blackwood has made Scriptunes available for purchase online! I was excited to find this information out since we are missing one of the CD's.

God Prints is another wonderful scripture song series. There are 3 different cd's: Totally Tangerine, Radical Raspberry, and Great Grape. I picked songs from the three and made my own compilation on Itunes.

Do you have any favorite Scripture songs? I'm always looking for more to add to our collection.

Toddler School 4/20-25

Sunday is recap day at the Tot School website. Click on the link above to see what others are doing.

I am so thankful for good friends and groups to learn with together. Most of the formal activities that we did this week, we did during our co-op group.

One of DD#3's favorite thing to do is dress-up. Whenever we go to our co-op group, she is in dress-up heaven! On this particular day she sported the fluffy bunny ears and the superhero cape.

Lil Sis even joined in the dress-up fun! She looks like she's ready for a showdown ;)

DD#3 has been interested in learning body parts. I tried to explain that we have a heart inside our body. She listened for several seconds, but had more fun talking into the stethoscope instead. :)

In our co-op group, the little ones do a few music activities each week. DD#3 absolutely loved using the different rhythm instruments. She did a pretty good job with those rhythm sticks! My friend does a great job working with them. We try to do something music-related each week at home too---even if it is just singing and marching to the beat. (I've posted some helpful music links at the bottom)

I thought about doing this transferring activity with her this week, but passed. The last time she scooped the dried peas into various containers, she had more fun intentionally missing the containers. Peas bouncing off the cookie tray all over the table and the floor fascinated her. I think she missed the point of the activity :) I may reconsider and add this in her workbox for this upcoming week since we'll have some nice weather. Now I know to move this activity outside.
~Maureen

Preschool Music Links

I go here often to find rhymes and songs

More songs and activities
Music Activities