KinderBach {Review}

For the past two months Sir N has been using an online piano program via The KinderBach Online Piano Lesson Membership with Teacher Corner.   This program has been developed by Karri Gregor who has an extensive background in music education, singing, visual arts, theory etc. Karri acknowledged the need of young children to exercise their imaginations while learning music concepts and the parent’s need of appealing material that will hold a child’s interest at home so she developed KinderBach.

What We Did
I started off by accessing the program and working my way through some of the classes until I found the right level for Sir N.  He started with piano last year and has not been practicing for a while.  We used KinderBach to help him remember what he learned and to reinforce music theory. He got to meet the Beat Bug Brigade. Each week he was able to master a new concept through hands on activities. The Beat Bugs are being instrumental in helping him grasp note value.

One of the most valuable aspects of the program is the Teacher's Corner.  Here you will find 

• Story Books
• Three Coloring Books
• Song Books and MP3s to 75 songs
• Teachers Aids
•  Student books, 
• Lesson plan books, 
• Certificates 
• Goal books.  As your student completes a lesson / concept you can mark it off in this book which serves as a visual reminder of  what they have learned and accomplished so far.

Each of the books are in eBook PDF format. You have the option of printing a complete level in one go or you can choose to print each lessons pages as you need them. All of the PDF's are grouped together by level. There are seven levels in total.

Once logged in I used the Learning Center to navigate the levels.  The information map was invaluable to helping me see what we needed to do each week.  There is a colum on the left to mark off each activity so you know straight away where you are and what is coming up.

When you go into each level each week has it's own box containing each days lesson. There are four lessons to a week.  You can go as fast or as slow or repeat any lesson as you want. 

After finding the level Sir N was at we launched into watching the lesson video's and completing the accompanying book work.


Each session was between two and five minutes long.  Teacher preparation time was very little on my part as all the work is already done for you in the video lessons.

Sample music page

Curriculum

• Level 1 - Free sample Student Pages
• Level 1 - Level 6 Full list of syllabus by level.
• The Three R's
  Reading
  Writing
  Arithmatic

Age Range
This online program is aimed at children in the 3 - 7 year old age range.

Cost

• You can purchase an Annual Membership for $130 (currently on special for $95.88 this equates to $7.99/month for a year.)  The annual membership grants you access to six levels of music education.  This includes around 22 hours of video tutorials and interactive pages. This membership includes a Teachers Corner with over $400 worth of books for you to download and use in your lessons.
• You can try KinderBach FREE by filling in the form on the FREE Web Lesson page.
• 3 Levels of Craft & Games
• 5 Collections of Songs which are piano karaoke in style and designed to be used with children who have no musical training.
• Discover KinderBach for your iPad and iPhone.
• Piano by DVD value packages. There are six available levels and each package includes activities, music audio and activity book and parent guide on cd. These packs range in price from $55.95 to $222.88

Connect with KinderBach

• KinderBach on Facebook 
• Facebook for Teachers
• On YouTube.
• GodTube 
• Twitter: @KinderBach
• Pinterest

What We Thought
This program is well thought out and put together. I like the way it uses everyday terminology to help children grasp theory concepts. Little people enjoy movement and the program uses physical movement in order to help children learn the basics of music theory.  The games reinforce learning and the characters are charming.  Young students will benefit greatly from this easy to use format.  Parents without any musical training are fully supported in helping their children to learn to play the piano and understand music theory all from the comfort of their own homes.  You can access the first two weeks of lessons FREE.

One of our favourite things about Kinderbach is that ALL of the video's in the Learning Center are formatted  to play on Mobile Devices.  It's so good to be able to have Sir N at the piano with our Samsung Tab on the piano music stand where he is able to watch and do with it right in front of him. KinderBach Levels 1 to 3 are available in iPad/iPhone apps along with 6 fun iPad games.

If you have young children whom you would like to learn to play the piano I highly recommend KinderBach.

Blessings
Chareen