Comments on: A Young Scholar’s Guide to Composers: Review

By: Homeschool Curriculum: 4 Moms, 35 Kids | Raising Olives

Homeschool Curriculum: 4 Moms, 35 Kids | Raising Olives — Thu, 13 May 2010 11:39:02 +0000

[...] Composer Study by Bright Ideas Press – little ones (2-6) listen to music [...]

By: Amy

Amy — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:05:15 +0000

Thanks so much for the Ambleside link! We just started a composer study last month, and I plan on blogging about it soon. Anyway, I thought I had been all over ambleside.com and yet, somehow, I had missed that page. I’m so excited about all of the wonderful links there! Thank you!

By: Alice

Alice — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:39:19 +0000

Thanks so much for the link and the advice! I will look into the Ambleside Online studies right away!

By: Raising Olives

Raising Olives — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:59:50 +0000

Hi Neeley, Nice to meet you here on Raising Olives. Thanks for the link. I’ll have to check that out.

By: Raising Olives

Raising Olives — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:56:12 +0000

You can certainly use this with a 5 year old, but he won’t get most of what is being taught. He would be able to do the map work and probably the timeline (with help), but he won’t be getting the concepts. The composer cards would be over his head and much of the reading.

Here’s my thought. Our children 7 and younger are only listening to the music and the reading. However, even Colby (3) recognizes Handel’s Messiah and Vivaldi’s Spring. If you purchase this now, I would plan on only doing the reading and listening. That said, if I were you, I don’t think I purchase this if my oldest was 5. I’d let my kids listen to, dance with and enjoy music and then if a few years I would definitely get this study! There really is a lot of meat in this study and while younger children can certainly learn something about the composers and will enjoy the music, it is not focused on them.

I would suggest you visit Ambleside Online and look at their composer studies. These are free and you could probably get exactly what you want for your 5 year old without overwhelming him with too much.

By: Raising Olives

Raising Olives — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:45:32 +0000

We stick this in during our Sonlight or group school time. We listen, read and do the comprehension questions together. We listen right after our Bible reading, so the little kids can have a coloring page just like the big ones. Afterward I assign the timeline, map work and composer cards for the children to complete later in the day. (They don’t do all of that on one day, just one of those each day for 3 days.)

I have a post coming up about our specific Sonlight schedule. (It’s already written, so you probably won’t have to wait months for it.)

By: Neeley

Neeley — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:20:03 +0000

Hi Kimberly,

I am finding your blog to be so enjoyable. One of my faves. I emailed you regarding your bunks last week. I teach in the public school system. We have just piloted a program very similar sounding to yours. Here is the link: http://www.capesymphony.org/cape-symphony-orchestra-musicworks.asp It is so enjoyable to me to know that our students, grade prek-3 are exposed to these composers on a daily basis. The music is superb. I will let you know as the year progresses, what we find. Keep up the great work, Neeley

By: Alice

Alice — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:11:27 +0000

Kimberly, how young is too young for this study, do you feel? I know you said grades 4-8, but my eldest is about to turn 5 and we are already trying to do some sort of music appreciation type of study during school. He loves listening to music of any sort, and will talk about how it makes him feel and what it makes him think of, and he asks more questions than I know answer to, about the composers. I read what is on the CD cover, but it’s not very much. This sounds like what I’m looking for, but it seems to suggest that he’s way too young for it yet. What would you say, having tried it out? Like Colby and Nicholas, my 3- and 1-year-olds would just enjoy listening whilst playing, or rocking with me, but my 5-year-old is eager for more than just listening, and I’m interested to know more about this product now that I have seen your review!

By: MomStarr

MomStarr — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:23:58 +0000

This sounds like something I have been looking for. When did you incorporate this into your day?

By: Anita Chamblee

Anita Chamblee — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:05:47 +0000

Thanks for this review! I was just looking at this in the Timberdoodle catalog yesterday. My dh and I both have master’s degrees in music and I have, at times, done composer studies mainly using Color the Classic and The Gift of Music. This looks like it would be a great addition to our collection. I can always add more coloring pages from the Color the Classic series. I think I will be ordering this for next semester!

By: celee

celee — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:32:11 +0000

Sounds good, I’ll have to check it out. Thank you for the info! I have a very musical family.

By: Tristan from the Crew

Tristan from the Crew — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:00:47 +0000

We love this one too! I agree, it is great to have the whole family using it together – I nearly cried when I saw it had coloring pages, that is just what I needed for busy little hands (even if the pages occasionally ended up as paper airplanes after they were colored).