More Haydn Ideas: Food
Haydn was one of the most prolific composers in classical music. I really like his lighthearted look at life -- it shows in his music. He got into much mischief as a boy and it doesn't look like he outgrew it (which means there's hope for my mischievous kids:)). In...
Bella Needs Our/Your Help
Bella's doing great right now, but it needs you, it needs me, it needs all of us. This is one small step towards changing Hollywood, but it can turn to a big one, with our help. If it's showing at a theater need you, please watch it! We're going this weekend or next....
November Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn
Haydn Activity Sheet from Classics for Kids Listen to Haydn's Farewell Symphony and read The Farewell Symphony by Anna Harwell Celenza Listen to Haydn's Concerto in D Major for Cello and Orchestra and read Claude Clement's The Voice of the Wood; other related...
October Music Study: Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt
This week we are listening to Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt. Though I am not particularly enamored of the Peer Gynt story, I have always loved the music! Some ideas to enjoy Peer Gynt: Start out your morning by playing "Morning". Have the kids imagine a sunrise scene,...
October Music Study: Music Inspired by Shakespeare
This week we're listening to Mendelssohn's incidental music for "A Midsummer Night's Dream". There are many Shakespeare-inspired or Shakespeare-related music you can listen to if you don't have this particular album. Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet, for instance, or...
Teaching Music: Sight Reading Chef
I just a found a really nifty online helper that generates sight reading sheets. For those of you teaching your kids music at home, this is a great tool I've noticed my kids need this badly, as do I. And while I could write my own sight-reading sheets, I appreciate...
3-BR, 2-Bath Condo in St. Louis, opposite St. Louis Cathedral Basilica
I'm helping my mom with their condo, so here's the listing. Please forward to anyone you think might be interested -- esp. if you happen to know med students and residents at WUMC. (Note: this is from the original ad so pardon me, it doesn't read like a regular...
October Music Study: Poetry Ideas
Accompany your music study with a reading of Lord Byron's Prometheus or Goethe's.
October Music: For the Young Ones
I'm adding one more resource that may be more useful for those with really young children and are not ready to go into an intensive composer-literature study. Music Education Madness has several suggestions for using literature while teaching music at the same time,...
October Music Study: Where Music and Literature Meet
This month's Composer Study explores music inspired by literature. I am borrowing heavily from our local orchestra's study this month, and throwing in a few ideas of my own: We start off with Beethoven's Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus, the only music for...
Where I Wandered
Betsy Hart's post on educating one's children: the goal is "Heaven, not Harvard" Why I Believe in Homeschooling by Tina Smith The Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood Education Our 16-yo dd attended a Reggio-Emilia preschool and blossomed wonderfully. When we...
The Cooking of Ancient Rome
It's about time we finished our Ancient Rome studies, we've been plugging away at it for several months now. Most enjoyable was our daily readings (aloud) from Famous Men of Rome -- those were some interesting characters and the kids had tremendous fun making up...
Homeschooling with Stamps
When I first came to the US, a good friend who migrated the year before introduced me to stamp collecting. She and I loved the same things: stationery, pretty things, and music, so stamp collecting became another hobby we enjoyed together. Sometimes we'd send each...
Composer of the Month: Johannes Ockeghem
The music you're hearing right now is Johannes Ockeghem's Intemerata Dei Mater. I've been posting at the 4real Forum about this composer and his works which we are studying/listening to for the month of September. Click here for the entire thread, which includes...
Claude Debussy: Golliwogg’s Cakewalk
This week we have been listening to Children's Corner -- a favorite is Golliwogg's Cakewalk. Besides what Classics for Kids offers, some other interesting things I came across when I was looking for more information about this piece: Golliwog's Cakewalk by Charles T....