Ugghh, I am so late in getting this to you. My apologies to all…
I must say, as a person who does not have an inkling of musical talent in my body, I often neglect the musical aspects of my children’s education. It’s just a sad fact. But over the years I have found a couple of resources that were worth their weight in gold to me. Meaning, my poor kids would have a horrid knowledge of music if it weren’t for these few items!
Recently, I was given one of these golden nuggets and it has become a favorite in my house.
Maestro Classics (formerly Magic Maestro Music in case you’ve heard of them) has a wonderful series of cd sets called Stories In Music. Each set features a classic forever-loved tale set to beautiful music performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Stories such as Casey at the Bat, The Tortoise and the Hare, Peter and the Wolf… told in a fun new way with imagination and joyful enthusiasm by narrator Yadu.
We received the Tortoise and the Hare cd set. Bonnie Simon does a fantastic job transforming the short fable into a fun 20 minute piece that captures the kids attention and keeps them smiling and laughing all the way through. (okay, I may have been laughing along too, but don’t tell)
While the musical story alone is wonderful, it’s the rest of the cd contents that really set this series apart from all others. The compact disc also includes:
- tracks that expand your knowledge of the story
- an extra music track featured in the story
- more information about the music, the instruments and the inspirations straight from the composer himself. He discusses how the music tells the story and invites you to listen again to the piece with your newfound information
- the final tracks invite you to sing along a fun new song you learn from the original piece.
The booklet insert isn’t just your usual credits, either. It’s filled with fun puzzles, games, lyrics and music that go right along with the cd contents. It contains useful information about orchestras, music notes and even scientific information about animals featured!
I absolutely love this set. My kids remember the music and can recognize the pieces when they hear them. The booklet makes it fun for car trips too. The sound quality is superb, the graphics are top notch. This series was put together very well and you would not be disappointed AT ALL. I can’t wait to get some more of these!
Each set is $16.98 but you can get a discount by purchasing 3 cds at a time – $45.00 with the coupon code MAESTRO45 I’m thinking about getting the whole set for a complete year’s worth of music curriculum!! Don’t forget to check out their website. There’s a ton of good things there as well. You’ll find some other special products for purchase and even some lessons for teaching a couple of the sets in the series! I do hope they do this with all the cds. What a wonderful aid to the homeschool these would be!
Really, go listen to the samples NOW!
Sara O’