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.

Feast Day Books to Read During Advent and Christmastide

Picture Books:

December 6:  The Legend of Saint Nicholas by Demi
Saint Nicholas by Ann Tompert
The Miracle of Saint Nicholas (Golden Key Books) by Gloria Whelan
December 8:  Mary: The Mother of Jesus by Tomie dePaola
December 12:  The Lady of Guadalupe by Tomie dePaola
December 13:  Lucia, Saint of Light by Katherine Bolger Hyde
December 26:  Good King Wenceslas by John M. Neale, illustrated by Tim Ladwig
January 6:  The Legend of Old Befana by Tomie dePaola
We Three Kings by Gennady Spirin

Related post: Christmas, Feast Day, and Winter Books

Advent Traditions in Our Home

A few years ago, I shared some of my family's Advent traditions. Those posts can be found at:

The Beauty of Advent
The Beauty of Advent II

Some of the picture books that we read are listed here:
Christmas, Feast Day, and Winter Books
I need to re-organize this list.

Over the years, we have had different Jesse trees. When my two oldest daughters were younger, I had them make a Jesse tree like the one that I made in First Grade.  I cut a green fir tree from construction paper and had them draw, color, and cut out the symbols each day.  When their art work was ready, they would glue it onto the tree.  Eventually, instead of making a Jesse tree, we purchased a small, fake Christmas tree from Michaels. My husband printed the Jesse tree ornament pictures found on the Domestic-Church website and the children colored them and hung them on the tree each day.  I really like the fact that these ornaments have a related bible verse printed below the image.  This year, we will use the Jesse tree kit from Illuminated Ink.  We still need to decide where we will hang the completed ornaments. the Jesse Tree ornaments from the Domestic Church website again.

I hope that everyone has a blessed Advent.

What's Been Keeping Us Busy

Daily Mass whenever possible

Homeschooling

Going to a friend's daughter's wedding



Elizabeth likes to dance and Finnian is usually willing to accompany her.


Celebrating birthdays

Eating birthday cake and ice cream.

Visiting with our pastor and friends

Sports practices and games (Soccer ended on Saturday and basketball started two weeks ago.)

Piano lessons, practice, playing a piece for a "master teacher", and recitals

Violin lessons, practice, and a recital

As the children participate in activities, I am trying to remind them to keep their focus on what is most important: knowing, loving, and serving God.

"One thing is certain: When the time has come, nothing which is man-made will subsist. One day, all human accomplishments will be reduced to a pile of ashes. But every single child to whom a woman has given birth will live forever, for he has been given an immortal soul made to God's image and likeness."

~ Alice von Hildebrand ~

Winning Kick

This fall, Theresa and Brendan played soccer for the first time. On Saturday, their soccer team participated in the playoffs. Their first game went into overtime and Brendan kicked the winning goal.  My husband caught his kick on video and immediately turned the camera off and started to cheer.  As would be expected, Brendan had a huge smile on his face.  We were happy for him and the team.

Violin Recital

After seven weeks of lessons, Bernadette participated in her first violin recital on November 13.  Catherine accompanied her on the piano.  Bernadette played Mary had a Little Lamb and part of Long, Long Ago.  I was happy that she and her sister were able to coordinate playing the latter piece, as it was given to them on Monday, November 8.

Bernadette enjoys practicing and picking out songs by ear. At her last lesson, she started learning to play the G scale and a few Christmas songs. She is looking forward to playing Silent Night and is happy to be able to play Good King Wenceslas.

On another note, I know that Advent only starts on November 28, but I think that it might be time for us to pull out some of our Christmas books, including Good King Wenceslas to complement Bernadette's (and Catherine's) music practice. I am sure that my little ones will appreciate it. 

The Things He Says

Finnian:  "Mommy, for my birthday, I want my friends to come over and watch a movie and spend the night.  That is what they did for Catherine's birthday.  Do you approve it?"

Finnian:  "Mommy, you can't buy your birthday presents because then you will know what you are getting.  Daddy will have to go and buy them.  Patrick, we can go with him."

Picture Books for Ninth Week of Kindergarten

I was waiting to share this list because I have not had time to write about all of the books that we read during week 9. I don't foresee having time to do so in the near future, so I am sharing the list as is.

Every Autumn Comes the Bear by Jim Arnosky

Thanks to Michael O'Brien's A Landscape With Dragons: The Battle for Your Child's Mind, we have been fans of Jim Arnosky's picture books for several years. Arnosky's realistic illustrations intrigue my children and his stories add to their knowledge of nature.  Even my youngest listens to the books and points to the pictures, asking what things are.

Every Autumn Comes the Bear tells of the bear's visit each autumn.  It tells how the other animals hide, but the bear knows that they are there.  With wonderful detailed illustrations and simple language, it shares the bear's actions before "he sleeps all winter long."

Fall by Ron Hirschi

We stumbled upon Fall by Ron Hirschi (a local author).  This book appeals to young children with its warm fall photos.

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World (Dragonfly Books) by Marjorie Priceman









Miss Suzy by Miriam Young










Ox Cart Man by Donald Hall, illustrated by Barbara Cooney

Mary Poppins

Catherine and Bernadette went to a friend's costume party tonight. Catherine dressed up as Mary Poppins.  She called a few minutes ago to say that they were on their way home. I asked Theresa, "Did Catherine say whether or not they had a good time?" Theresa responded, "I didn't have to ask. I know that they did by Catherine's voice. She sounded like Mary Poppins, 'practically perfect in every way.'"