About Home School ReviewsCurriculum, teaching aids, online resources -- they abound for the Home Schooling family. Budgets are usually tight, making each purchase count. Home School Reviews come from our Shiloh Home School, as we check out some of the resources available to home schooling families, giving detailed, comprehensive descriptions of the product and our honest opinions about the quality of the product, based upon the price.
"All children are musical. Therefore, all children--even those who may have a physical, cognitive, or neurological impairments--can benefit from a rich music-learning environment."
Ever have a song stuck in your head and you can't get it out? That's what happens with the Music Together: Family Favorites songs. But these songs aren't annoying ones. These are fun ones.
Check it out for yourself! I dare you to not like them or find yourself singing them later after just a few times of listening to them. :)
One month of using this CD and we have the songs stuck in our heads--in a good way. We sing them in the car, cleaning up toys, and even around toothpaste at night.
All home schooling Mamas of preschoolers and even Kindergarten are going to want this program, as well as Mamas of special needs children. My children fell in love with the music the first time I introduced it to them in the car, and in their car seats, their little bodies began to jam. Used at home, with motions, movement, and instruments such as metal coffee cans, wooden spoons, maracas, tambourines, and the like, and the enjoyment scale has been off the charts.
The philosophy of Music Together is that all children are musical and they will blossom in a supportive music environment. Children can learn music as well as they learn talking and walking, when given the opportunity to do so. This opportunity does not involved a static sitting and listening to songs and then singing along, but rather a rich experience of moving to the music in all different ways. Actually experiencing the music. Creative actions are emphasized, as they flow out of the child's imagination and ingenuity, not instructions. Relationships are built through the music and movement as a means of communication.
I also loved the concept of SQ--the Silly Quotient. Children are silly and this program allows them to be that way. This lends to their absorption of music.
If we had to choose which song was our favorite, we'd be hard pressed to do so. Miraclegirl liked the "pretty songs" with the "pretty voice". Bubbles liked all song that he could bang "drums" too. As a teaching Mama, I liked all of them simply because they break out of the norm of regular old music and gave us an environment of rhythm and play. There are little ditties that make use of words like "splishing and splashing, splishing and splashing", there are instrumentals with different instruments to be heard and played, there are lullaby type songs, and there are songs with catchy tunes, rhythms and words.
In addition the music CD there is an accompanying songbook. This gives, not only the music for the songs but activity and movement ideas to go with the songs, as well as the notations for the music, such as key, pitch, and meter. It also lists what instruments are used on the CD, from piano and guitar to cowbell and wood blocks.
Miraclgirl's take:
I like the music. Especially the lullaby one about seashells. She has a pretty voice. I want a voice that pretty.
Is it worth the fee?
Absolutely!
It not only introduces music, it provides a parent-child, or teacher-student experience that builds a relationship---and I can honestly say, it is not an annoying music CD for parents to have to pop in and play with their children while becoming a part of it with them.
I give it a 5 out of 5 rating and plan to use this throughout all our school years of Shiloh.
The Music Together Family Favorites CD and Songbook Combo is available for a special price of $39.95 (a $5 discount) and if you use the coupon code “Schoolhouse” at checkout on the Music Together online store, you can save an additional $2 on your purchase.
For more reviews, check out the TOS review post on this product.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this product for review purposes, made possible by:Music Together
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