School Mornings

When we started homeschooling way back in 1988, I had just graduated with my master's degree in music education.  My oldest child was just in K4 so we took things pretty lightly then, doing some table time learning three days a week, playing lots of games and taking lots of field trips with our large support group in Ft. Worth, TX.

As our two older girls grew, I eventually incorporated our morning time routine which started with a Bible reading or pictorial devotional, Scripture memory, Bible songs and story time.  Our family continued to grow eventually to seven children with an age span of almost 25 years.  Our group time grew as the family grew and as we solidified our homeschooling goals for our children.

For the past 20 years or so, I've begun our school day by reading a chapter of Proverbs to coincide with the date.  If today is April 25th, we read Proverbs 25 and so on.  We also go over Scripture memory, read a chapter from Vos' The Child's Story Bible, read a chapter or two from our current read aloud and then have time for some extras such as poetry, hymn studies, Greek and Latin root review, logic, manners, or our unit study vocabulary words.  Each semester is different depending on how many children I have homeschooling and their grade levels.  Every one participates and the younger ones quietly draw, color pictures relating to our unit study, play with Legos or quiet puzzles.  I try to switch things up and incorporate some movement occasionally, especially on days our grandchildren join us for school.

After our group time we separate with the teens going to the dining room or their bedrooms for independent study and the younger school aged children join me at the school table for math and language.  Kindergarteners and preschoolers who happen to join us have time on the floor with fun learning activities placed on towels.  After 20-30 minutes I change their activities and give them time to move around.

Currently our senior daughter is finished with all her bookwork and is out of the house nannying a few days a week.  When she is home she joins us for our Proverbs reading and memory verse review and then heads off to do some chores or preparing her display for graduation.  On a normal day that leaves me with our two youngest sons ages 12 and 8.  This is somewhat bittersweet to me, but I'm looking forward to studying with them and encouraging them in their Bible and academic studies for the next several years.

Our current readings are from the following books:  the Bible, Vos' The Child's Story Bible, Then Sings My Soul by Robert J. Morgan for hymn study, You Come Too by Robert Frost for poetry study and Boys of Grit Who Never Gave Up from Lamplighter's Rare Collectors Series.

I keep a box or basket next to my chair in our den to keep our current books at hand and I also have the next books we will be reading through in there ready to start.

So, how does the beginning of your school day look?  What books are you currently sharing with your children?

Movies to Enhance Homeschooling

We love to add movies and documentaries to our homeschool.  From movies based on historical fiction to documentaries on history, science and geography topics to great film versions of our favorite British classic literature, we love them all.  And they add to our studies with very little effort on my part.

Jeff has been working with PureFlix in the past few years as he has served as producer for American Family Studios.  Recently I looked over what they had to offer and was impressed with the variety of their selections including many that would be useful in our homeschool like these for history and government or these for science and nature studies.  Take a look at what they have to offer and check into a trial membership!  There are also some freebies to check out.

Making Progress

My sixth child, Jackson, has been a little bit more of a challenge academically for me than my other children have.  Granted, Jackson is only seven years old, but he has had a few learning delays that my older children did not have.  This child loves to work outside and developed control of his large motor skills early.  He was riding a bike without training wheels before the age of 4 and was cutting down small saplings with a hack saw at age four.  Give him a job to do outdoors and he'll get it done.

However, his fine motor skills have been slower to develop and he has some speech delays that I think caused him some delays in reading.  I did have his speech tested just before he turned five years old and the therapist felt that I should be able to handle his therapy at home.  We even found a speech therapy program developed by a homeschooling mother who just happens to be a speech therapist.  We used Super Star Speech for a while and had great results.


I think, though, what has made the biggest difference for Jackson is working to make our school time more focused.  Instead of making daily lesson plans for Jackson, I put all of his school activities in plastic drawers according to subject matter.  I made a list of daily activities that we do together and placed it in his "meeting book" in a page protector.  As we complete one task, I mark it off with a dry erase marker.  Caedmon joins us on much of the work that is oral and has learned much himself.  I don't necessarily follow the order that I typed things up, but we are getting much more done just by having this one checklist handy.  This saves me much frustration and even though I am not making out daily lesson plans we are seeing great progress.  I thought I would share my list with some explanations for you today.

1.  Bible reading-we are reading from The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos.  We read this on the couch with Caedmon.

2.  We read a book together either from our home library or from the public library.  This may or may not be related to our history, science or geography topics.  Caedmon joins us for this time as well.

3.  Scripture review-we haven't been as focused on this as I have in the past with the older children.  I need to get working on this area with him.

4.  We head to the school area and work on some oral drills incorporating songs.  We go over the days of the week and the months of the year.  I have these written on cards and Jackson puts them in order.  We do not do this every day.  We also go over our address, phone number and how to spell our names through song.  Again, we don't do all of this every day, but it helps to review and Caedmon is picking up on all of this as well.

5.  We work on money and time.  We have been using the appropriate levels of the KUMON workbooks for this and he is doing great!  After buying several of these workbooks for Jackson, Caedmon and the grandchildren, I finally decided to have the spines cut off and put them in page protectors so they can be used many times.  These pages are put into Jackson's "meeting book" so they are easily accesible.

6.  Weather chart--we set up a bulletin board using some ideas from confessionsofahomeschooler.com.

7.  Sight word game--I take all of Jackson's sight word cards and make up fun things to do with them for review.  Sometimes we spread them neatly on the floor into equal rows and columns....I call out a word and he finds it.  We may spread out some large alphabet cards and then place the words under the letter they start with (introducing alphabetical order) or I may just have him read each word from the card.  We do not do this every day, though.

8.  Math review--We picked up a fun dot-to-dot book that has each page with dots 1-100.  This has been a huge help for Jackson.  He is almost finished with it and I will be getting him another one with higher numbers.  He also does a facts sheet review page from Math U See and a critical thinking skills page.

9.  We work on a Math U See lesson.

10.  We work on a phonics/reading lesson from Learning Language Arts Through Literature.  

11.  We do one lesson from Life of Fred.

12.  We do two pages in Explode the Code.

13.  We do a handwriting page from Italic Handwriting.

14.  We practice skip counting by 2, 3, 5, 6, and 10.  We count backwards as well.

15.  We look at his calendar in his "meeting book".  We count the days using ordinal numbers.  We count how many days Daddy will be out of town this month and how many days he will be home.  We look at events on the calendar.

Jackson also listen in to the history tapes, read alouds and geograpy lessons that I do with the older children a couple of times a week.  It looks like a lot of work, but with everything organized it only takes a minute to set things out for him to work on.  Some he can do independently while I work on laundry or activities with Caedmon.  Finally, we are making great strides and we are all so excited to see him learning so much.

Multi-Generational School Day

Please don't forget to sign up for the Pick and Draw giveaway here. I'll announce the winner tomorrow!

Blogger seems to be messed up this morning. Please excuse the small print.

Yesterday, Lauren, my oldest daughter, and her three children came to spend the day with us. We are blessed that she lives close enough to bring the gang over every other week or so to visit. Chase, my four year old grandson, loves to come and do school with us, so I had planned some simple activities to do using items from our craft cabinet.

First up after lunch and cleanup we made snowmen faces using paper plates and various foam shapes. I had originally intended to make entire snowmen, but sometimes when you have four boys ages 7, 4, 3, and 2 working together, you change plans mid-stream!! ; ) Here are some of the snowmen faces the boys made....some even have boots made from foam and leftover from Bible school crafts many years ago!

While I cleaned up the sticky, gluey mess, the boys took a sucker break. I am finding that you MUST keep them occupied at all times or things can get out of control very quickly. The suckers kept them quiet and as we don't let them walk around with them...kept them still as well.

Then we had Circle Time. When my older girls were little we began meeting together each morning to go over various facts, read a Bible story, work on Scripture memory, sing songs and read a book. Due to the HUGE age span of my children, I have not been doing Circle Time activities with my own little boys. We do the same things, but not during a set time. My days have usually been focused on the older children and the younger ones have tagged along and I have fit in their activities when able, but now that I will only have two older students, ages 12 and 15, I will be focusing more of my time with the younger ones. So, yesterday, Lauren and I gathered the four boys (and 14 month old Ashtyn Claire was in and out as well) and sat on the floor in a circle. We sang the days of the week, the months of the year, the name song for each boy, our phonics song and much more. As we sang we would either roll a ball to each other or toss a bean bag...trying to keep a little movement going is important for wiggly boys. We sang Christmas carols and finished up by reading a Curious George book. Whew!!

The boys spent some time outside on the trampoline and playing in the leaves. We took popcorn kernels, stale biscuits and cornbread out to feed the chickens and spent some time watching them gobble up the food. While the other boys were feeding, Kaelan took one or two of them into the coop to gather eggs. This is what she found. Do you see that teeny-tiny egg? Never have we had one that small! When the hens first begin to lay, their eggs are small and get bigger with time. The egg next to it is a very large egg.

After dinner we had another Circle Time repeating some of the same songs and activities to get them settled down before they headed home. My hat is off to those of you who have lots of littles with no older ones to help out. It can be exhausting and overwhelming! Planning some simple activities, though, to channel their energy helps to make the day more productive, fun and interesting for all! And this grandmother is so very thankful to have her own little boys and grandchildren to plan fun activities for!

McGuffey: On Diligence

If you are not diligent in the improvement of your time, it is one of the surest evidences that your heart is not right with God.  You are placed in this world to use your time well.  In youth you must be preparing for future usefulness.  If you do not improve the advantages you enjoy, you sin against your Maker.


"With books, or work, or healthful play,
Let your first years be past,
That you may give, for every day,
Some good account at last."

-McGuffey's Eclectic Third Reader

We are using our McGuffey Readers again for our language lessons and it is so nice having such Godly wisdom to glean from as we are learning language skills.   Copywork, dictation, spelling, vocabulary and oral reading as well as some grammar instruction are all included in our weekly lessons, but even more important are these "extras"....Biblical wisdom that is often neglected in modern curriculum.  This week's lesson is on punctuality...another wonderful lesson to learn early in life!

http://www.hiphomeschoolmoms.com/2011/10/hip-homeschool-hop-101811/

Multi-Level Life Sciences or Biology

Caedmon takes a look at the mushrooms we found around our property.  We are still investigating, but I think the orange one is poisonous!

I have finally come to the conclusion that multi-level learning and teaching just works best for our family. It's what we do best!  It's what I love!  It's what I am more comfortable with and it keeps us learning together...as a family!   I don't know why I ever thought that I could move some of my children into textbooks for different subjects and have different science studies going on at the same time.  Just throws my ADD brain crazy! I've been doing great with our history and geography studies--keeping them multi-level for the entire crew hasn't been difficult at all, but when my second son informed  us he felt led to the medical mission field after being inspired by the story of Dr. Ben Carson, it just put me on the Tilt-a-Whirl.   I thought "Oh, my!!  I must put him in a text book so he can be prepared for college!!"

I struggled finding the time in our busy household to check his work, to go over difficult concepts, to make sure he was getting it all done.  You see it is much easier for me to teach multi-level as everyone is around anyway!  I can print off coloring sheets for the little guys (7 and almost 3) and get picture books to read with them.  We can go on nature walks together, finding specimens to study together and then drawing them or taking photos.  My older students (15 and 12)  add higher level work making more detailed drawings with labels, conducting research, learning the vocabulary, reading biographies and writing reports which are all contained in a handy-dandy notebook with dividers labeled for each of the three resources we are using for our studies, a section for notes, drawings and vocabulary and a section for projects and reports.  All of these activities fit us much better and the children are producing their own work instead of filling in countless worksheets, although they will still have a few of those to do as well.

Notebook with dividers for our science studies

The following resources are being used this semester as we tackle the life sciences.   The first resource is part of a series which has now become a favorite for our family.  Short chapters that can easily be read to all within a 30-minute or less time span, wonderfully detailed illustrations that my artistic son is eager to copy for his own notebook and a few questions at the end to check retention.  Also included are some suggested activities and projects to take the learning up a notch for the older student.  Love, love, love this series by John Hudson Tiner!

Exploring the World of Biology: From Mushrooms to   Complex Life Forms By John Hudson Tiner / Master Books Explore biology-life-as God created it! From the smallest (and yet still incredibly complex) bacteria to the largest mammals, students will read about the life of insects, reptiles, birds, and mammals, as well as the science of biology itself. Classification, energy storage, digestion, early biologists, DNA, and other topics are all explored in easy to read chapters that always point the glory of creation back to God. Chapter highlights, illustrations, and questions are included for each chapter. 153 indexed pages, softcover. Line-listed answers included.

The Lyrical Life Science has been a favorite of mine for years as we have used it to reinforce many of the facts from our KONOS units.  Each "chapter" starts with the facts and vocabulary presenting in songs using catchy folk tunes.  Kind of corny to some, but I have learned through our 23 years of homeschooling that we never forget what we sing!!  There are also several pages of information presented in a easy to digest length along with three pages of worksheets:  one is fill in the blanks to the song which reinforces the vocabulary, another pages covers the topics presented (this week we covered the steps to the scientific method) using matching and fill in the blank questions and the last page is full of essay questions.  You see each page gets more difficult and makes the student think at a higher level.

Lyrical Life Science #1 With CD By Lyrical Learning Topics volume 1 addresses include scientific method, living things, invertebrates, coldblooded vertebrates, birds, classification, algae/fungi/nonvascular plants, vascular plants, protozoa, genetics, viruses, and bacteria. Along with each CD comes a textbook which expands upon the information summarized in the songs. The textbooks, about 100 pages each, are generously illustrated with line drawings and touches of humor. They include song lyrics and simple music. The corresponding workbook lessons offer matching, fill-in-the-blank, essay, and labeling exercises. Answer keys are at the back. Although originally wirtten for sixth graders, the content reflects some of what we find in typical high school life science texts. Whatever level you choose to use these for, they remain supplements rather than comprehensive courses. While this approach is not for all students, it does offer a rare alternative for auditory learners.

Biology 101 is a DVD curriculum that introduces us to biology through the days of Creation.  It is designed for the high school student, but the DVD content is engaging enough for the younger crowd.  There is also some information to read for each section and a quiz as well.

Biology 101: Biology According to the Days of  Creation--DVDs By Westfield Studios Follow the creation story as you delve into the world of biology. Visually rich and designed for students 15 and up and their families, this biblically oriented overview presents biology following the actual creation days. Nine segments are covered on 4 DVDs; a 114 page guidebook on CD-ROM/DVD includes quizzes for the material in each segment. 4 DVDs.

I have used Science Scope for several years .  This book really is a scope and sequence for each of the sciences at all levels.  I simply open it up to the section needed and I make a list of all the activities that we should do and all the topics we should cover.  It is like a checklist for those of us who tend to teach "out of the box"!

Science Scope By Kathryn Stout / Design A Study From Design-A-Study, Science Scope provides a list of skills, topics for discussion, and interesting topics that are part of most science curricula. Use as a checklist to make sure you cover all appropriate concepts; as an overview from simple to complicated science subjects; or as a guide to ensure you're on track for your child's age. Divided into subjects such as "energy" or "Technology" each chapter has sections for each age range with vocabulary, things students should know, and activities. 119 pages, softcover.

We will also be using lots of Dover Coloring books for plants and animals, field guides for trees, wildflowers, birds and more.  We'll incorporate leaf, widlflower and insect collections with lots of opportunities for artwork and reading of biographies of some of the great biologists throughout history.

This week we covered the first lessons from each of the resources shown above.   We learned about mushrooms, read about Louis Pasteur and germs, and have learned all the steps to the scientific method.  We've also done some drawings of mushrooms, added lots of vocabulary words to our notebooks, filled in a few worksheets, and Kaelan and Aaron each are reading separate biographies of Louis Pasteur and including quotes in their notebooks.  I've seen some excitement come back into my students as we tackle science together again and it has been a blessing!  Today, Kaelan and Aaron will tackle the essay questions, finish up the biographies and write a short biographical sketch on Louis Pasteur.  I'll print off some coloring pages for Jackson and Caedmon and tonight we may have some mushrooms on our pizzas!  Here are some pictures of our scientific endeavors this week.

Jackson takes a close look at a mushroom (puffball?) out by the garden.

What a collection...we found all of these in about 10 minutes!!

the orangey-red mushroom sliced in half....doesn't look very appetizing

I think this one, above, is a puffball.  If it were dried out more I think it would have puffed out all those spores when I cut it open.

This one looks more like the mushrooms we eat... you can  see the gills very well.

Caedmon takes another look...so cute!

Now Jackson gets a close up view.  The older two studied them as well....I just didn't get a picture!

Aaron's drawing of a mushroom.  He is also drawing a picture of Louis Pasteur.  He is our artsy child. 

Kaelan's musroom with labels

A page of Kaelan's vocabulary for this week

A page of Aaron vocabulary for this week

http://www.granolamom4god.com/2011/09/elementary-round-up.html

http://www.hiphomeschoolmoms.com/2011/09/hip-homeschool-hop-92711/

Little Boys' School

 Yesterday we had a few extra students in our homeschool.  My oldest daughter, Lauren, had her bi-annual check-up with her pulmonary doctor and we watched her three little ones while she was away.  When I went outside to greet them and get some grandma hugs, I asked grandson Chase, 4,  what we should do.  His response?  "Schoolwork!"  So after lunch and cleanup we proceeded to do just that.

Naps were out for the two year olds.  Usually fighting like cats and dogs, Elisha and Uncle Caedmon were caught peacefully sitting together on the couch looking at books.  Caedmon is a whole 5 months older than Eli.

Chase and I worked on tracing his name for a little while and then I broke out the pattern blocks.  I know we have had these blocks for at least 20 years now....and still use them weekly!  I had Chase sort the blocks by color and then I made a simple picture and had him copy it to the side.  I then placed a few blocks in a row and had him copy.  That was a little more challenging for him.

You can sense his deep concentration. ; )

A pretty flower that he said looked like WalMart.  Does WalMart have a symbol like this?

And while I was working with Chase, Jackson took a break and did this!  Yes, seeing my boys upside down and sideways is not that unusual...even during school time!

Elisha and Caedmon eventually settled on the rug to play with a huge box of Duplos.  I have a rule that the Duplos (or whatever they are playing with) must stay on the rug.  Yeah, right!

Caedmon was caught in a thoughtful moment.

All the little boys moved to the school table.  Jackson was instructing Caedmon in putting together a puzzle (no instruction was needed, but he is the big brother).  Chase was matching patterned four leaf clovers in a file folder game that I printed from a website.

Busily occupied with learning activities

Elisha is putting together a circus puzzle that is over 20 years old!

 

Fun times with the boys!  So grateful to have the opportunity to teach my own little boys and occasionally the grandsons as well.

Music Appreciation Resources

I have to admit that I have a natural inclination for gathering up resources for our homeschool and especially love music history and appreciation resources as I have a master's degree in music education.   Here are some of the resources that we have used and loved in the past few years.   I have to admit that we do not own all of the composers audiobooks and all of the Opal Wheeler biographies, but will be adding some more to our home library soon.   The following are affiliate links, so if  you purchase any of these I will get a small percentage as a commission.

We will be starting back with our composer studies in the next few weeks.  The older boys will be away from home working with their dad on filming project for a couple of weeks, so we will start back up after that is finished.


These Mr. Pipes books written by Douglas Bond cover the music through the history of the church.  We have read most of these out loud as part of our group studies and I have to admit that we really liked them and I, myself, really learned a lot about what makes a good hymn.

Mr. Pipes and the British Hymn Makers By Douglas Bond / Christian Liberty Press An understanding of the great hymns of the Christian faith is often lacking in today's generation; convey the fabulous glory of hymnology as Mr. Pipes escorts two young Americans around England, learning about hymns and Christianity wherever they go. 242 pages, softcover.

Mr. Pipes and Psalms and Hymns of the Reformation By Douglas Bond / Christian Liberty Press Follow Mr. Pipes throughout Europe as he accompanies his two young American friends on a tour of the famous hymn writers. Examining the significance of worship and the godly traditions they're built upon, this book aims to rekindle a genuine interest in the traditional hymns of the faith. 240 pages, softcover. Grades 7-10.

Mr. Pipes Comes to America By Douglas Bond / Christian Liberty Press Cultivate a love of traditional hymns in your young believers as they follow Mr. Pipes from his cozy English cottage to America! From Plymouth to Amesbury, Princeton to Boston, Mr. Pipes leads Annie and Drew on a delightful historical adventure, teaching them about the lives and music of John Eliot, Phillips Brooks, John Greenleaf Whittier, and other great hymn writers. Includes music and lyrics. 194 pages, softcover.

The Accidental Voyage: Discovering Hymns of the Early Centuries By Douglas Bond / P & R Publishing Get ready for a great story about two American teens traveling in Europe with David McCallum, an English organist known in his parish as Mr. Pipes. During a series of hair-raising adventures across Europe, Mr. Pipes introduces Annie and Drew to sixteen hymns from the early centuries, and to hymnists Ambrose of Milan, Bernard of Clairvaux, St. Francis of Asissi, St. Patrick, and more.

A Young Scholar's Guide to Composers is what we are currently using in our studies.  Timelines, biographies, musical selections and coloring pages make this guide a great multi-level teaching tool.

A Young Scholar's Guide to Composers By Melissa E. Craig & Maggie S. Hogan / Bright Ideas Press Introduce your students to the music, life, and times of famous composers! With this user-friendly resource, reluctant and enthusiastic musicians alike will enjoy learning about Mozart, Beethoven, Joplin, and others. This creative curriculum features 32 weekly lessons; 26 biographies; easy-to-use maps; a comparative timeline; information cards; games; note-taking pages; quizzes; answer keys; listening suggestions; coloring pages; and suggested resources. Grades 4 to 8. 299 pages, softcover.

We don't have all the CDs in the set, but do have several and my children of all ages have enjoyed and learned a lot from them.  The audiobooks tell an interesting story about the featured composer that will keep the listener engaged throughout.  Musical selections are also included.

Beethoven Lives Upstairs         - Audiobook on CD By Classical Kids / Children's Book Store Dist. In this tale of genius and childhood, an eccentric new boarder turns a young boy's life upside-down.  Ludwig Van Beethoven has moved in upstairs!  Young Christoph exchanges letters about the chaotic arrival of Mr. Beethoven and learns to appreciate and understand the great composer and his music.  The CD features over two dozen excerpts from Beethoven's music including the Moonlight Sonata, Symphonies #5-9, Fur Elise, Pathetique Sonata, Flute Serenade, and Minuet in G Major.

Daydreams and Lullabies      - Audiobook on CD By Classical Kids / Children's Book Store Dist. Follow a young family from playtime to dream time through the nursery, the park, the streets of Olde London and off to bed. Newborns to 90-year-olds will enjoy this magical mix of classical music, classical poetry and poems written and performed by children.Daydreams and Lullabies features a rich variety of the great classical lullabies, rounds for family singing and traditional English songs. Includes the music of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Vivaldi, Schubert, Pachelbel, Tchaikovsky and Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel.

Hallelujah Handel        - Audiobook on CD By Classical Kids / Children's Book Store Dist. In 1750, George Frideric Handel gave musical history's greatest gift - his Messiah - to an orphanage in London. From that city's dark lanes comes Thomas, a boy who sings like an angel but will not speak. Finally the boy is healed with the help of Maestro Handel, Katarina (from Vivaldi's Ring Of Mystery) and the power and glory of the music. Includes more than two dozens excerpts of Handel's music, including the Sarabande in D minor, Water Music, Music for the Royal Fireworks, Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, Harp Concerto, oratorios, operas, and of course, Messiah.

Mozart's Magic Fantasy        - Audiobook on CD By Classical Kids / Children's Book Store Dist. The Story: With magic bells and flute, Sarah and the dragon find their way from the Queen of the Night's realm to  Sarastro's castle. Together they help Prince Tamino find Princess Pamina and the bird-man Papageno find his Papagena.  The Music: Features Mozart's best known arias, originally translated and freshly recorded with child-appropriate verse. Lyrics enclosed.

Mozart's Magnificent Voyage       - Audiobook on CD By Classical Kids / Children's Book Store Dist. The Story: The Dream Children are about to be written out of Mozart's most famous opera. In the hopes of changing their fate, they enlist the help of the composer's young son Karl. Together the children embark on an incredible journey that takes them back in time to Mozart's childhood and ahead to the future. Along the way, Karl comes to understand his father's legacy of timeless music.  The Music: More than 2 dozen excerpts of Mozart's music, including Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, the Clarinet Quartet, Flute Quartet, Horn Concerto, Symphony No. 1, Ave Verum Corpus, Piano Sonatas, Concerto k.467 and "twinkle" Variations, plus several excerpts from Mozart's best loved operas.

Mr. Bach Comes to Call       - Audiobook on CD By Classical Kids / Children's Book Store Dist. The Story: After the dramatic send-off of his music into space about Voyager II, Mr. Bach, along with his magic orchestra and choir, drops in on a little girl as she practices piano.  The Music: Over 2 dozen excerpts, including Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, Brandenburg Concerto #5, Flute Sonatas and Badinerie, Air for the G-String, Goldberg Variations, piano minuet and preludes, organ music and Choral Cantata #78

Tchaikovsky Discovers America       - Audiobook on CD By Classical Kids / Children's Book Store Dist. Tchaikovsky arrives in New York for the grand opening of Carnegie Hall in 1891. It's all aboard for a fun-filled musical adventure to Niagara Falls. During his trip, the great composer shares stories with a young family about his music, his life and his fear of conducting. In the end, both the composer and the family discover something about courage and about themselves. Includes more than two dozen excerpts of Tchaikovsky's music, including The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake, The First Piano Concerto, String  Serenade and 1812 Overture. Also included is a musical mosaic of well-known American music of the time, including ragtime, spirituals and popular folk classics.

The Gift of Music gives biographical information about many composers.  I have used this along with other studies as we learned about specific composers.  Probably written more to the 12-15 age group all can learn from and appreciate the information shared that gives insight into many of the world's composers beliefs about Christ.   My music loving 15 year old has been reading this book for his own enjoyment in the last few days.

The Gift of Music: Great Composers & Their Influence   By Jane Stuart Smith & Betty Carlson / Crossway Books & Bibles "The arts are not extraneous . . . but a vital and essential part of our existence," write the authors. This stimulating overview integrates the biographies, beliefs, and music of 45 composers from Schutz to Shostakovich; and suggests recommended reading and listening to expand your students' understanding and appreciation of great music. Joyously written from a Christian viewpoint. 317 pages, softcover from Crossway.

What a treasure trove of great reading for the younger crowd!!  I originally found these books by Opal Wheeler at our local library sale and was able to purchase several old volumes.  How wonderful that Zeedok Press is now republishing them!!  I didn't include links, but there are also study guides to go with each book.  

Sebastian Bach, The Boy from Thuringia Study Guide By Judy Wilcox / Zeezok Publishing, Llc This study guide accompanies Opal Wheeler's sold-separately Sebastian Bach, The Boy from Thuringia. Timelines, additional illustrations, tidbits of information, and reading comprehension questions are included. Answers follow the questions with referenced pages numbers where the answer can be found. 32 pages, softcover. Grades K-6.

The Young Brahms - Hardcover By Opal Wheeler & Sybil Deucher / Zeezok Publishing, Llc The story of young Brahms, children will love the vivid descriptions of his childhood, from his family to his music lessons, his inspiration and dedication. A wonderful living book you'll want to have on your shelf for history, music, and other unit studies! Vintage pen-and-ink illustrations bring charm to the text, and included selections allow musicians to perform some of his works. Hardcover, 126 pages. Grades K-6.

Joseph Haydn, The Merry Little Peasant By Opal Wheeler and Sybil Deucher / Zeezok Publishing, Llc Give your children a love for Haydn's compositions with this simple biography. From his boyhood to his early education to his adult life as a famous composer, this is one living book you'll want to have on your shelf for history, music, and other unit studies. Vintage pen-and-ink illustrations bring charm and whimsy to the text. 118 pages, softcover. Ages 8-12.

Franz Schubert and His Merry Friends By Opal Wheeler & Sybil Deucher / Zeezok Publishing, Llc A detailed biography written for children, this story of the brilliant, young, and mischievous Franz Schubert is the perfect introduction to the young composer's life. Learn how the "Unfinished Symphony" was left incomplete not because of any tragedy, but because his friends were starting for a picnic when he was in the middle of it; his pranks and escapades; and all about his beautiful music. Numerous selections are provided, including the March Militaire, the Moment Musicale, the theme of The Erlking, the Cradle Song and several more. Vintage pen-and-ink illustrations bring charm and whimsy to the text. 124 pages, softcover.

The Young Brahms By Opal Wheeler & Sybil Deucher / Zeezok Publishing, Llc The story of young Brahms, children will love the vivid descriptions of his childhood, from his family to his music lessons, his inspiration and dedication. A wonderful living book you'll want to have on your shelf for history, music, and other unit studies! Vintage pen-and-ink illustrations bring charm to the text, and included selections allow musicians to perform some of his works. Softcover, 148 pages. Grades K-6.

Robert Schumann and Mascot Ziff By Opal Wheeler / Zeezok Publishing, Llc This engaging biography will become a favorite on anyone's shelf! Learn about Schumann's happy life, and how his inability to play perfectly due to one of his fingers helped to fuel his compositions. Vintage pen-and-ink illustrations bring charm and whimsy to the text. 157 pages, softcover. Musical selections are included, with track numbers referencing the sold-separately companion CD.

We have used a few other musical resources through the years and I will share them at a later time.  If  you haven't included music appreciation or history in your homeschool, please consider doing so!  God did, indeed, give us the gift of music and it is such a wonderful way to add beauty to your home.

http://ateachingheart.com/2011/09/07/mozarts-family/