I’ve been working hard to incorporate fine arts into our homeschool days and, while I’ve done pretty well with art, I’ve needed help with music for a long time. I read music well enough, but I’ve often found myself unequipped and unsure of how to best approach music appreciation.
(I received this product for free and was compensated for my time, but I was not required to write a positive review. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own! See disclosure for more information.)
I found a great place to start with music appreciation last year, but still felt like I could be — and maybe should be — giving my kids a chance to dig deeper into the world of music. The opportunity to check out Zeezok Publishing’s Music Appreciation for the Elementary Grades came at the perfect time!
A look at Zeezok Publishing’s
Music Appreciation for Elementary Grades
We’ve been using the Music Appreciation for the Elementary Grades collection for a few months and it has far exceeded my expectations! Here’s what the set includes:
- A Student Activity Book
- Lapbook CD-Rom
- Music Discs
- 7 Composer Biographies
Kids start each week by reading from a composer biography and reviewing the information through comprehension questions in the student book. Throughout the rest of the week, they visit positive character traits from the composer, and points of interest. The other weekly student book activities vary, but include word searches, copy and memory work, and music fundamentals.
This full-color student book is comprehensive, engaging, and fun, but it’s much more than music. These lessons highlight music through the lenses of historical context, geography, science, and more. This variety makes all the difference!
The lapbook CD-Rom and and music discs round out this collection and equip homeschool parents with everything needed for teaching music appreciation. No more searching for that musical selection on YouTube and sifting through ten different performances to find what you actually need. Just pop in the CD and play the professionally recorded track referenced in the lesson. Can I get a hallelujah?!
As for the lapbook disc, what a fantastic tool! My son isn’t a lapbook fan, but I’m keeping it in a safe place for when my daughter gets a bit older. Not only does it contain everything needed to create the lapbooks, it has clear instructions and tons of example photos. I love that there’s no guesswork on the lapbook aspect; the hard part is handled!
I also appreciate the balance between composers and musical fundamentals covered through Music Appreciation for the Elementary Grades. The lessons thoroughly showcase composers, their lives, and their contributions while also introducing musical concepts and instruments. It’s a great blend and my kiddo said this blend keeps all of this new information from overwhelming him.
A Flexible Approach to
Music Appreciation
One of the perks to Zeezok’s approach to music appreciation is the flexibility it provides for homeschool families. This is a program that allows parents to be as involved as needed, but also allows plenty of independent work for kids if that’s preferred. Also, the composer biographies are perfect for kids to read alone, but would also work well for read-aloud time.
There’s financial flexibility as well! Music Appreciation for the Elementary Grades can be used with one child or with all of your elementary children at the same time by simply purchasing extra student books. All of the other materials in the set can be easily shared.
If you have more than one elementary-age child, teaching the same music appreciation lesson to all of your kids just makes sense. It’s a better use of your time and your financial resources!
Being able to reuse most of these resources also works well for a family like mine. My kids are five years apart and my daughter is still a preschooler, but Zeezok makes it easy to reuse these fantastic resources. Once she’s a bit older I’ll only need to purchase a new student book, pull my other resources from this collection off the shelf, and let her dive in. What a huge budget-saver!
Bottom line: Zeezok’s Music Appreciation Collection is worth every penny! Between the high-quality group of products and the flexibility needed for homeschool families, I can’t think of a better way to teach music appreciation to elementary-age children. If you’re looking for a music appreciation plan you can trust, look no further!
Ready to introduce your kids to Zeezok Publishing’s Music Appreciation for Elementary Grades? Head to the Zeezok site to learn more.