Music Resources that Make Great Gifts

Cedarmont Kids - Toddler Tunes: My parents-in-law gave this and two other Cedarmont Kids videos to my three oldest children when they were five and under. All of my children have enjoyed watching these DVDs and singing the familiar songs.

Classical Kids: Collection: My sister-in-law gave these to our family as a Christmas gift when we only had two children. They have been listened to repeatedly over the years. I am thankful that she introduced us to this wonderful series.

Music Masters Full Set of 18 CDs: I first read about these CDs in Laura Berquist's Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum. I checked them out from the library several times and finally purchased them from Adoremus Books last year. My children like listening to these and definitely learn a lot, but they prefer the Classical Kids CDs mentioned above. Adoremus has the best price that I have found on the Music Masters set.

Opal Wheeler's books about musicians. Opal Wheeler wrote numerous children's biographies about various composers, including Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Handel, Haydn, Thcaikovsky, and more. Thankfully, our library carries most of these books and they have always been available to check out as needed.

Piano Explorer Magazine: My daughter's piano teacher introduced us to this magazine. It is a great little magazine that includes:

• Composer biographies
• Music history
• Instruments
• Theory, practice tips, composing ideas
• Beginner's Corner
• Music Corner (featuring student compositions)

This month, my daughter (and the rest of us) are learning a little bit about Brahms. The subscription is inexpensive and costs even less when ordered at the group rate.  Their website contains supplemental information for the composer, including Youtube links to performances of the various pieces that were written by the composer.