Mom of Many: Music Appreciation Book 2: for the Middle Grades from Zeezok Publishing: A TOS Crew Review

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Music Appreciation Book 2: for the Middle Grades from Zeezok Publishing: A TOS Crew Review

Music Appreciation Book 2: for the Middle Grades from Zeezok Publishing

I love it when we can combine subjects, teach and enjoy them together. Lately, we have been using Music Appreciation Book 2: for the Middle Grades from Zeezok Publishing not only for some exciting music appreciation, but also some great read alouds that incorporate history and more into our days!

Music Appreciation Book 2: for the Middle Grades is a full multi-sensory program designed for your 5th-8th graders. What makes this so unique is that it combines a couple of key components together to introduce us to the lives of several famous classical composers.

The key component to this curriculum is the The Great Musician Series Biographies:

Frederick Chopin, the Early Years

Frederick Chopin, the Later Years

Robert Schumann and Mascot Ziff

Adventures of Robert Wagner

Stephen Foster and His Little Dog Tray

The Young Brahms

The Story of Peter Tchaikovsky

Peter Tchaikovsky and the Nutcracker Ballet

Edward MacDowell and His Cabin in the Pines

These are softcover books, written by Opal Wheeler and illustrated by Christine Price. Each of these books are intended to be read while the student is completing the Student Activity Book. They are very well-written stories, true living books to introduce us to these amazing composers.

The Student Activity Book is a 315 page, full-color consumable workbook for your student. Each composer is covered in 4 weeks of activities. (Chopin's life is covered in 2 books - Early Years & Later Years).

I love how well-designed this program is! Each week focuses on several key components like Comprehension Questions and listening to music tracks on the Music Appreciation App. This is the coolest part of the program - simply scan a QR Code printed on the workbook page, and you are taken directly to the internet - to hear the music, see the sights, or dive deeper into history, geography, or music theory. WE LOVED it!

The Student Activity book is filled with QR codes. The program also focuses on Vocabulary, Character Qualities, and Music Theory. In addition, throughout you will find Tidbits of Interest to spark more learning, recipes, and journal prompts & writing ideas to record in a Journaling Notebook. They suggest a regular notebook, or 3-ring binder. Lapbooks and Coloring pages to accompany the program are sold separately.

Each composer study ends with a quiz - which can be taken in the Student Activity Book, or by using the QR code - your student can take it online. Answers are included at the end of each section, no need for an additional teacher's guide.

We loved the multiple ways to experience the music of these composers! It truly fits all the varieties of learning styles I have under one roof. We enjoyed the Biographies all together as family read alouds, and listened to the music together. My hands-on learners loved getting to cook, and create in the kitchen together. My visual learner loved working in the beautifully created workbook.

I loved that the program encouraged us to want to know more. More about the history, geography and lives of these truly fascinating men. The focus on their Character Qualities gave us plenty of family discussion topics as we studied together.

Looking ahead, we get to experience the orchestra (several of my children are part of orchestras), learn about American history, create our own music, experience The Nutcracker (my ballerinas are leaping for joy) and much more. It's going to be a great year!

This program is sure to be a BIG hit!

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