Vida Winter Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 I loved doing Kindermusik with my oldest when she was young and I think we even kept all the materials. There is no such program in our area now. Short of trying to recreate it from the former materials, is there anything else out there that is easy to implement? Actually my youngest is 7, so above a kinder level would be okay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 I don't know if I am way off, because I never did Kindermusik, but have you looked at Kinderbach? It is a homeschool video program. My girls did it at co-op. Maybe it has something you need.http://www.kinderbach.com/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 It's not quite the same but I liked this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolradio Poke around here. Look in the 'early childhood' section and the "dance' section. For a 7 year old I would look at esp. Let's move and Time to Move. My kids LOVE these. When ds2 was a toddler and preschooler we did the "listen and play' and 'playtime' almost every day. My older son will still join in for 'time to move' Check it out. Some of it is available as a podcast and some is only to be played via BBC radio on the computer. The 'lessons' are only about 20 mins long and I routinely include them in our school day. They make a great break for the kids while I make lunch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 Lol, posting again. I am finding some really great kid podcasts that are about movement. I am listening to 'CBeebies music and music' and I see 'Cbeebies Jump up and Dance." I think my youngest will really like these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 I've just bought this but haven't had the brains to read through the lesson plans yet. Hopefully I'll sleep tonight and read it tomorrow! I borrowed the picture book from the library months ago and it was just too cute. I don't know the first thing about music, so a little book telling me the names of the symbols in cute story format sounded good to me. The fact that I only had to pay domestic postage, for once, was a bonus! :) Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vida Winter Posted October 28, 2011 Author Share Posted October 28, 2011 Thank you all! I'll be looking into these suggestions.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 I loved doing Kindermusik with my oldest when she was young and I think we even kept all the materials. There is no such program in our area now. Short of trying to recreate it from the former materials, is there anything else out there that is easy to implement? Actually my youngest is 7, so above a kinder level would be okay. Dana, I bought Making Music, Pray Twice and it reminds me a lot of Kindermusik (which I also did w/my oldest when he was 5-7.) I spent about an additional $50 on instruments (the bulk of which was on a drum). My little girls love it (even my 9 yr old.) http://www.makingmusicprayingtwice.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amazzie Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 I second Making Music Praying Twice. It is made to do at home. My 8yo sings and plays along, so your 7 yo should be fine, but there is no music reading component. Every song is included on the cds, so you don't have to be able to read music. It's also includes a few Catholic prayers and songs, which might be a plus or not, depending on your family. If, on the other hand, you want to include music reading and solfege, Musikgarten curriculum can be bought without being an affiliate teacher, but you really need to have basic musical skills to be able to teach it. And it's meant for a class, so it's not as easy to teach, IMO! Oh, and it's expensive, at least compared to MMPT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 Lynn Kleiner's Kids Make music is similar, and has a DVD available which may help. Music for Little Mozarts, if you actually get the teacher's guide and use the lessons and discovery book is very similar, and since it's written for piano teachers, while it has a group option, it also can be used 1-1. I've been involved with various curriculum projects for Kindermusik International, and I've suggested that a homeschool curriculum in a box, based on the one that we have available for preschools/head start programs, would be wonderful. The preschool program is designed for teachers who are not trained music teachers/musicians, and has a lot of support on audio CD and DVD that studio classes don't have, but the same sort of activities, and I believe, with a revised teacher's guide designed for homeschool parents, it would be a great resource for home use or for preschool/K co-op groups-and that it would let us get the program to parents who otherwise wouldn't be able to do it with their children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizaG Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 (edited) We have Making Music Praying Twice, and IMO it's best suited for small children. If your youngest is 7, I'm not sure if it would be the best fit. But the suggested age range is the same as Kindermusik, so it might be fine depending on what you're looking for. Another suggestion would be First Steps in Music for Preschool and Beyond by John Feierabend. We don't have this one ourselves, but we have his corresponding book for infants and toddlers and it's very good. Pedagogically, it seems a lot stronger than MMPT. It doesn't have religious content (at least, the toddler book doesn't), which is a down side for us, but might not be for everyone. If you're interested in a course that's designed for the elementary level, our 6 and 7 year olds are currently doing K12's Beginning 1 Music, with the younger ones joining in where they can. It's somewhat pricey and some of the music selections aren't that great IMO, but the lesson plans are very easy to implement and the children are learning a lot from the singing and rhythm games. At the other end of the spectrum, Enki has some lovely music and movement resource books and CDs. The recordings are very well done, and the activities incorporate sensory integration principles. They're not open-and-go at all, though. You'd have to choose the specific songs and activities you want to use, and plan out the sequence. Good luck with your decision. I'm a bit of a music curriculum junkie, but you probably can't go wrong with any of the suggestions in the thread. :) Edited October 30, 2011 by Eleanor fixed link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vida Winter Posted October 30, 2011 Author Share Posted October 30, 2011 Thanks all, for the additional suggestions. I have come so close to purchasing MMPT but was afraid it was on the "too young" side for my 7yo. I'll take a look at it again - wish it wasn't so expensive - perhaps there is a copy for sale on ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizaG Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 (edited) Thanks all, for the additional suggestions. I have come so close to purchasing MMPT but was afraid it was on the "too young" side for my 7yo. I'll take a look at it again - wish it wasn't so expensive - perhaps there is a copy for sale on ebay. The songbooks have something for all ages. It's just a question of what level of participation would be best suited to the children's abilities. Have you looked at the sample lesson plans? Lots of egg shakers, dancing with scarves, nursery rhyme and fingerplay type stuff, with prayers and short hymns mixed in. If you're comfortable with improvising, you could keep the songs the same and change the activities to something more suited to older children. Tapping out rhythms, call/response, more specific ways of dancing, etc. I'm not familiar with Kindermusik, so I don't know how they do this. (Our children did Music Together when they were very young, then did Kodaly-based singing classes from age 3.5 until they got too old for the programs in our area. Feierabend and K12 both use Kodaly principles, which is a major reason why I chose to go with them.) Or maybe you could borrow a few preschoolers to round out the group, LOL. Edited October 30, 2011 by Eleanor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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