Thursday 21 March 2013

Children's Music Journey {Review}

Have you heard of Adventus? Neither had I until recently. I am so excited to share about their products with you today.  One of the things I've been wanting to do since I was in high school is learn to play the piano! MusIQ HomeschoolTM has two excellent products for learning to play the piano: Piano Suite and  Children's Music Journey.  Sir N has been using Children's Music Journey and recently completed lesson 19 after beginning with the program three weeks ago. He begs me everyday to do his piano lesson.  I have not had one negative comment about practicing and his enthusiasm has not diminished.



Using Children's Music Journey Volume 1.
Miss Melody
{Practice Room Supervisor}
  • Each lesson opens with a 30 second piece of music composed by a famous composer who also happens to be their teacher. 
  • The 'Teacher' is a famous Composer who builds a great relationship with the students.  Sir N so enjoyed his first lesson he did a second one straight away! And he talked about it all evening with Paul.
  • The Composer shares insight into his music at the start and during his lesson too.  I like this feature as it compliments our Composer Study.
  • Consistent instant feedback.  This feedback is always positive and moves your student forward even when they make a mistake. At first I felt I needed to sit next to Sir N and coach but I soon realized that if he makes a mistake the 'Teacher' will correct him immediately.
  • Lesson one is learning high and low notes using graphics.  It feels very slow after doing traditional music lessons with my first two. After a few lessons I realized that the sequence and speed is perfect because the nature of learning to read music is in itself challenging.  This method ensured success and because of this Sir N was happy to practice and do lessons. It was slow enough that everything learned was reinforced and he did not have to undo wrong learning.  As soon as he successfully completed a lesson and practice he was able to do the next lesson and build his knowledge base.
  • The lesson ends with three minutes of the opening piece of music.
  • From here Sir N proceeds to meet with Miss Melody for practice.  Miss Melody teaches: theory, aural training, hand position, practice of lesson and music composition.
  • After this Sir N is allowed to play in the games area.  Each game is geared towards reinforcing what has been learned in the current lesson. He loves the rhythm games and has enjoyed playing the aural training games. He loves finding the buried treasure and recently added in catching falling leaves via the keyboard key names. 
  • Sir N's next favorite 'room' is the library where he regularly explores pieces of music by famous composers. 
  • Some days he meanders to the composition room and records his music.

Features
  • Choose your keyboard
  • Set an individual pin to use for each student
  • Three mode settings for the program ( Free, Normal, Strict )
  • Choose your students Avatar (16 options)
  • See at a glance which lessons / practices have been completed.
  • Be taught by a famous composer.
  • Miss Melody supervises practice sessions.
  • Lesson and practice lessons are linked {Miss Melody reinforces what was learned in the lesson.}
  • Introductions to famous classical pieces of music.
  • Over 200 pieces of classical music introduced to your children as they learn to play the piano
  • An improvisation room where the students play and record music.
  • A Games room with ten games
  • A library where you can listen to your own compositions, learn more about a composer, redo a lesson, research, learn to play area, Listening area getting to know the introduced pieces of music. learning library where they practice music reading / playing 
Games
  • Games unlock as the students skill base grows via their lessons
  • Some games are to practice music notation and reading (reading and discriminating)
  • Some games are for aural training (listening and discriminating)
  • Rhythm practice game
  • Note letter game
  • Aural game hear the note play the note
**Cost
This program is quality and excellent value for money and time.

A complete overview of each volume is available at MusIQ HomeSchool 

    • Volume 1 $69.95 (25 lessons) {CD or Download}
    • Volume 2 $69.95 (35 lessons) {CD or Download}
    • Volume 3 $69.95 (35 lessons) {CD or Download}
    • Purchase a 3 volume set $179.85 (save $30) {CD or Download}
    • Monthly Subscription $10.95($131.40 per year)
    • FREE 7 day Trial available

      Homeschool Early Curriculum
        • Year 1 Quick Start Bundle {CMJ 1 + Lesson Plans + 49 MIDI keyboard} $199.95
        • Year 1 {CMJ 1 + Lesson Plans} $89.95
        • Year 2 {CMJ 1 + Lesson Plans} $89.95
        • Year 3 {CMJ 1 + Lesson Plans} $89.95
        • Monthly Subscription $10.95
        • FREE 7 day Trial available 
        • Year 1-3 Bundle {CMJ 1, 2, 3 + Keyboard + Level 1 lesson plans} $309.95 (Save $60)
        • Year 1 Lesson Plan $29.95
        • Year 2 Lesson Plan $29.95
        • Year 3 Lesson Plan $29.95
          ** All prices quoted are correct at time of posting.  It is the responsibility of the purchaser to check the cost before purchasing. Prices are subject to change without notice. All prices are in US $.

          Extra's

          We are having an amazing time learning to play the piano. I wish I had known about this program 10 years ago when my first two were homeschooling. If you are wanting your children to learn to play the piano I highly recommend investing in Children's Music Journey.

          Blessings
          Chareen

          Photobucket

          Tuesday 19 March 2013

          Homeschool Daily Schedules

          Personally I have a love hate relationship with home school daily schedules.  On one had I know how valuable they are and on the other they annoy me endlessly.  I love flexibility to the annoyance of my family, who do not cope with sudden and unexpected change. I have spent the last year without a formal written schedule and the fruit of this decision shows my time has not been as productive as when I have used a written formal schedule. At the moment I have the skeleton of a schedule brewing in my thinking. I have baulked at creating a schedule partly because of Sir N's make up.  He thrives on schedule but if anything changes even by one minute the world comes to an end and I end up spending hours trying to calm him down and get back on track.

          Today at our home school mom's meeting we discussed the chapter Inconstant Kitty in A Charlotte Mason Companion it could not have come at a better time. It always amazes me how these sorts of things 'happen' across my path when I need them the most.

          "Every lesson must have its own time, and no other time in this world is there for it. The sense of the preciousness of time, of the irreparable loss when a ten minutes' lesson is thrown away must be brought home." - Charlotte Mason Companion page 93

          Dangers
          There are many hidden dangers to having a formal schedule. I have found often times we purchase a curriculum and feel driven to check every box in order to say we have achieved X,Y of Z. Or we say I have paid good money for that I will use it. Often times this is much to the determent of our home atmosphere. I have learned that a home atmosphere determines the length of a home school journey.

          However the counter balance is "What you are allowed to meander through all day, you will; what must be done, is done." - Charlotte Mason Companion page 92.

          Another danger is becoming a slave to the schedule and loosing all sense of flexibility.  A Schedule can be your ruling tyrant or active servant. Over the years I have found that it is important to keep it in the appropriate place of servitude. Sally Clarkson says: "There are many varieties of personalities and possibilities of home organization, Each of us simply has to find the combination of routines that suits our lifestyle and desires."The Mission of Motherhood.

          Home school groups / friends can be another source of danger. At times there can be a sub culture of comparison within many home school groups. Over time I have come to understand that this happens because as home school mothers we feel inadequate. So we constantly compare ourselves and what we are doing with what others are doing.

          For many years I did this (and sometimes still do) and the result was constantly changing my home school to look like someone else's. The fruit of this is adding in many excellent ideas that were working for other families and in the end I had so many things I was doing I couldn't possibly do them well. There just were not enough hours in my day to do so. I constantly have to prune in order to do a few things really well rather than a myriad of things at 25% capacity.

          Consider
          When setting up your individual schedule keep in mind your own families needs and character.  Trying to adhere to someone else's schedule is a recipe for an unhappy home. Remember your children are being tutored therefore they do not need to have a six hour school day.  Typically a 7 year old can learn a full day of school in 2-3 hours. In the high school years an average of four hours is all that is needed. Here are a few things to consider when formulating a schedule should you choose to have one:
          • Your personality and those of your spouse and children.
          • You spouses schedule and needs
          • Learning Styles
          • Family needs
          • Break times
          • Deadlines
          • Extra curricular classes (children's, yours and your spouse)
          • Ages and stages of your children
          • Your personal style.
          • Why ? What's your motive for that choice? 
          • Know your purpose. 
          • Consider all or your priorities.
          • What are your goals ?
          • Limit and cut back on all fronts because everything takes longer than you will expect.
          Remember a schedule needs to grow and change with your family.  Your children are growing, changing and maturing. What is working well today might not work so well in six months time. Take regular time to reevaluate your schedule and tweak it to suit your family.

          Methods
          There are many methods of structuring your day out there.  Here are some ideas for you to consider when developing your schedule

          On the WWW
          Last thoughts

          Once you have structured your plan and have embarked upon your new adventure be aware that you will need to make regular small course corrections to stay on track.  The winds of time, health, seasons, understanding and interruptions will blow. On occasion the storms of life may blow you off track so it is imperative to take some regular time to course correct and refocus and move forward.

          Blessings
          Chareen

          This week
          • Bernadette shares I've got Rhythm and wonders if you could ask for anything more?
          • Julie has a Highhill Education Daily Schedule and uses spreadsheets to keep organized and help her children become more independent.
          • Hwee shares about their Daily Schedule or Lack thereof and talks about their journey from being formally structured home schoolers to find their loosely structured approach.
          • Savannah shares Our Daily Schedule including daily life, meal planning, school and all the extras
           ---ooOoo---

          Linking with
          Hip Homeschool Hop Button The Homeschool Village

          Title Image Courtesy of Stuart Miles

          TT - Katie and the Waterlily Pond

          This week ...
          James Mayhew


          • Format: Paperback
          • Number of Pages: 32
          • Vendor: Orchardbooks Publishers
          • Publication Date: 2011
          • ISBN: 978-1-40830-464-8
          • Author  James Mayhew
          • Illustrator: James Mayhew
          I love this series of books about Katie and her grandmother who visit the people in famous paintings and go on amazing adventures. In this book Katie goes on a voyage of discovery through five Monet Masterpieces as Katie takes art lessons with the master. The books ends with details about all the paintings shared in the book. This book lives up to the reputation of the others in the series.

          1. Katie and the Sunflowers
          2. Katie's picture Show
          3. Katie Meets the Impressionists
          4. Katie and the British Artists
          5. Katie and the Mona Lisa
          Blessings

           Welcome to Tuesdays Treasures.  I started these posts as a way of sharing great books in honour of my friend in New Zealand who would arrive with the treasures she had unearthed at her weekly trip to the library!

          There are so many wonderful books out there hiding on shelves so I invite you to blog about a book on your shelf, one you're reading or one you found at the library and add your post to Tuesday's Treasures Resource Link Up below.
          Please link to this post. 

          A Button for you.
          Please copy and paste the code below
          Pop on over and see what others are sharing.
          Add you link below

          Every bed of Roses

          --oOo--