Anyone use Professor Carol for music classes? Thoughts?

[Trilliumlady]

I recently came across an email for Professor Carol online music classes.  I see I can sign up for a free trial which gives me access to the first unit of each lesson, and am planning on doing this, but am wondering if anyone on here has used her.  We are using SQUILT now but it feels we might be aging out of her’s pretty soon (7th/5th/3rd).  I’d appreciate any thoughts on Professor Carol from those who’ve BTDT.

[Momto6inIN]

I haven't used her stuff, but I saw a talk she gave at a convention and she was wonderful! I keep hoping one of my kids will want to do her Discovering Music curriculum in high school but so far no takers.

Hope you get some responses  😊

[Trilliumlady]

Oh, this is making me excited...... any input on ages?

[Trilliumlady]

Bumping once for good measure, just in case anyone else has input!

[Trilliumlady]

Awesome, thanks for the MP tip.

[Random]

Are there any updates on this?  Anyone care to review it? 

I'm considering Discovering Music as a class for my rising 10th grader who is not academically inclined and wants to work his construction job 30 hrs/week all school year long.  This might be what is best for him, so I'm open to it.  I'm rethinking what I already planned in favor of something lighter.

I've read on the board this program wouldn't count for a full high school credit, which might be just what he needs?  I'm considering having him listen to the audiobook of History of the Middle Ages at the same time (we did ancients last year).  He's not generally complaint with school.  I need something engaging and that would hopefully expand his horizons and show him there is beauty in the world that he hasn't seen or considered.  It also needs to be something I can supervise and not teach (I'm willing and able, but we are dealing with oppositional defiance disorder).

Is this program enough to be a light history course?  Is it interesting?  Is it as beautiful as it appears to be?

 

ETA: I just realized this posted on the K-8 board. Drat.  I'd still like reviews from users.

Edited July 12, 2021 by Random

[lanabug]

I'll be the dissenting opinion. I had such high hopes for Discovering Music. It looked like exactly what I wanted for a high school humanities class at co-op- art history, Western architecture, music appreciation, a little bit of European history - it looked fantastic from the samples! But when we started watching the videos, it was *incredibly* boring. Professor Carol's convention talks and the podcasts I've heard her on are fantastic. She's obviously extremely knowledgeable and passionate about her subject. I'm not sure why it doesn't translate into her curriculum.

I think it would easily count for a half credit and could count for a full humanities credit if you used more of the assignments in the curriculum. I don't think I'd give a history credit though. It's not an open and go curriculum, there is some teacher prep time.  I thought the videos would be more visual of art and architecture, as well as listening to the music, but it's mostly Professor Carol on camera lecturing. It would be nice if the required listening pieces were included on a CD or downloadable MP3, but you have to source those yourself (although she does have recommended sources like NAXOS).

Overall, I think it could be an excellent course for a high school student who is interested in a Western Civ/Humanities type course. But it would probably take more planning and prep than I wanted to devote to an enrichment co-op class. I may revisit it for my own high schoolers to see if I can tweak it to suit my purposes.