Dawn K Homeschool

Papa Haydn's Surprise: The Life and Times of Haydn Set to Music  by Ann Rachlin was surprisingly wonderful!  My ten-year old son exclaimed twice while listening to is, "This is really interesting, Mom."  This audio download (which I copied to a CD and played in the van) presents a biography of Haydn along with stories of some of his most notable pieces all narrated by Ann Rachlin while Haydn's music plays in the background.  Oh, and see how cute the vintage recording is!    These are very similar to the Classical Kids audio presentations but, in my opinion, less involved and chaotic due to fewer sound effects and characters. According to her website ( http://www.annrachlin.com/ ), "Ann held her popular Fun With Music sessions in London for forty years where thousands of children from all walks of life, representing more than 24 nationalities, were introduced to the wonders of classical music through her imaginative storytelling set to the music of the great...

I finally finished typing up our composer study for the upcoming school year.  Please pardon any typos.  I read over it many times, but it was a rather exhausting (yet exhilarating) project.  I have included recommended books, CDs, videos and music appreciation lessons. click here for download

I have been collecting resources for our first few weeks of homeschooling, and I've spent part of the weekend looking through our read-aloud books for science, history, artist study and composer study. I just love this part of homeschooling -- learning along with the boys! So, I was trying to figure out how much time I wanted to devote to reading about Venice since we are studying Vivaldi this year. The Classical Kids teacher's guide for Vivaldi's Ring of Mystery (which you can and sample here ) stresses the fact that V stands for Vivaldi, Violin and Venice. After reading that, I decided I wanted to spend a little time learning about Venice. We have encountered the importance of Venice several times when studying Marco Polo, the Renaissance, and this year Monteverdi and Vivaldi. One book I have considered is Vendela in Venice .  I have really enjoyed reading it so far.  I have been learning so much about its culture, history, art, food, transportation, architecture, etc....

Here is the resource list for the four Baroque composers we will study this upcoming year. Download the pdf file here . We will study Handel, Vivaldi, and Bach.  We will also listen to music by Monteverdi, Purcell, and Pachelbel (earlier Baroque composers).

Chris Rice: the Living Room Sessions -- Christmas

This song just makes me happy -- it has for years, but I have to admit I could not make out very many of the words. There's some lazy vocal action, but the song itself lifts my mood. So, I thought I'd post the lyrics for any of you who, like me, really have no idea what the song is about other than that it is a happy song. Reading the lyrics, I think of my kids growing up, of our homeschooling journey, of how I know that each of our boys has something special to give to the world, to others with whom they will be in more intimate contact, and also back to their Creator. I also think of myself -- that I am blessed and have much for which to be thankful. I also hope that I give back to the world, to others and to my Creator during my days here on earth. These are days you'll remember. Never before and never since, I promise, will the whole world be warm as this. And as you feel it, you'll know its true that you are blessed and lucky. It's true that you are touched by...