Have Yourself a Musical Little Christmas

It’s that time of year. :) If you haven’t quite finished your Christmas shopping yet and would like to consider some musical instruments as gifts, I have a few recommendations for you. 

In general, you’ll find that instruments sold in a kit marketed towards young children are not going to hold up well, and, generally speaking, don’t make the beautiful musical sounds. Quality instruments made by makers such as Nino, Hohner, and Remo tend to make much better music and hold up better to use throughout the years. 

I’ve compiled a list of instruments that have held up well in our home for the past few years, as well as a couple recent discoveries. Next week, I’ll do another post with resources for learning about composers and music history. 

First Note Melody Harp

approx. $45

M received this for Christmas when he was almost 5. I would say it’s best for ages 4 and up. You’ll need a reference for keeping it in tune - a piano or even a smartphone with a tuning app. 

Woodstock Pipedream

approx. $50

Little Miss A received this last Christmas at 19 months old. It was an instant hit. Because it is based on the pentatonic scale it is not possible to play dissonant notes. They can, however, still play loudly :) This is an instrument we keep out at all times in our living room and is played by adults and kids alike as they pass. 

Remo Floor Tom

approx. $30

Remo makes great drums for kids. They sound just as nice played with a mallet as they do played with hands - a great, mellow sound. They make them in several sizes and price points. 

Nino Wood Frog Guiro

approx. $25

Who doesn’t want to play a wooden frog? Actually makes a ribbit sound! 

Nino Egg Shakers

approx. $8 for 4 eggs

We’ve had these for a number of years in our home. They’ve been great for pleasant music making….and held up to being chucked across the room :) 

LP Santana Chick-itas Shakers

approx. $4 for a pair

For the youngest musicians, these are basically shaky eggs with a handle. They come in several colors. We have red ones that are used in the preschool music class. 

Movement Scarves

approx. $20 (can get them for less at Oriental Trading)

These are similar to what we use in the preschool class. They also double as great ninja headbands :)  We do have some of these at home, but have actually gotten more use out of play silks I dyed with Kool-aid a while back. 

Hohner Wooden Calves

approx. $6 for pair

A simple, clear sounding instrument. 

Nino Caxixi

approx. $9 - many price points available

We actually don’t have one of these at home, but I just added a couple to our co-op collection recently. There are many styles and types available on Amazon. I think they’re a great sounding instrument that looks interesting and will fit in nicely in a home environment. 

Rhythm Band Handbells/Deskbells

approx. $50 for 8 bell set, approx. $135 for 20 bell set

This is a link to the 8 bell set. We’ve had a set of handbells for a few years, but they always make me so nervous that someone is going to get clocked in the head as the kids swing them. These are great because they can be used as either desk bells or handbells. Right now, all 3 kids, ages 2 1/2 to 7 1/2 are VERY interested in them, and I don’t see that interest fading soon. I actually ended up ordering the 20 note set because they were trying to play songs they knew and needed a wider range of notes to play the full melodies. You can also start with the 8 note set and add the expansion sets separately as the kids get older. 

Do you have any winning instruments around your house that you can share with us? 

Books and Resources

As autumn comes to a close, I thought I'd return to this space and share a few things that have been working around here.  Last week several moms gathered and shared ideas and suggestions for working with the curriculum and homeschooling in general.  It was such a fruitful evening, and I was reminded of my hope that this space might be a place to share those ideas, albeit without the wine and chocolate!

With labels by year (this is Year One of our 3-year cycle) and subject, the resources we share now can continue to bless moms who join us down the road.  The blog is not password-protected, but it is unsearchable. 

We have enjoyed some fun supplementary reading this fall in addition to The Heroes of Israel in the Schola Rosa suite. 

My kids really loved the Gilgamesh Trilogy by Ludmila Zeman as we studied the Ancient Sumerians.  The story is well written and the artwork is beautiful.  The borders of the pages show cuneiform design and characters.

As we studied Ancient Egypt the kids really enjoyed Ancient Egypt: Tales of Gods and Pharaohs.  It is a fun book, and although its busy, cartoon-strip style isn't my favorite to read aloud, the kids loved it.  It covers all of the Pharaohs mentioned in the timeline, as well as some basic Egyptian mythology.

We also read Casting the Gods Adrift by Geraldine McCaughrean, a short novel about a young boy working for Pharaoh Akhenaten.  It provides a very good picture of Egyptian life and beliefs, and uses the tension between the traditional Egyptian polytheism and Akhenaten's monotheism as the dramatic focus of the story. 

We are also reading A Child's History of the World by V. M. Hillyer.  We are a little behind the history memory-work, and I find that his concise, simply-worded summaries are a great way to remind us of what we have been studying.

We use the timeline figures from www.homeschoolinthewoods.com to create a wall timeline, and I have been using some of them with my 4th-5th grade class at co-op as well.  They can be printed in a variety of sizes, including a full-page coloring sheet.



My girls love completing the Latin Root word searches that Sandy shared with us last week.
 
I have always used Start Write software to create handwriting worksheets for my kids.  Since I didn't love the sheets provided by Schola Rosa, I have continued making my own, and I think this has really helped our poetry memorization.  Basically, on Sunday night I print out four copies for the week, and they copy the week's poetry memorization every day.

I also like the geography quizzes at www.lizardpoint.com.  They don't include everything on the CCMemory lists (deserts, for example!) but are a great quick and independent way for the kids to review countries and hydrography.

I supplement our math with the fact drills at www.xtramath.org, and on Ursula's recommendation just ordered the first book from the Life of Fred series.


So, what's been working for you?  I have already enlisted Sandy to do a post sharing all of her great music history and listening resources.  Share in the comments or send me an email and I can add you as an author to the blog.