A Young Scholar's Guide to Composers Timberdoodle Review

I was really excited when Timberdoodle asked me to review A Young Scholar's Guide to Composers.  We really love music and have it going almost all the time.  We listen to all kinds of music from classical to pop to country.  I really do mean that we listen to all kinds of music!  So when I was given the chance to get some history added in to our listening pleasure, well can it get any better than that?

A few years ago I taught a class on music history and this curriculum would have saved me so much time.  I would have had all the resources and information at my fingertips rather than chasing it all down on my own.  If only I had known...

But anyway.  Now I know that Timberdoodle has an amazing study on composers I will be telling everyone about it.  It is amazing!  There is so much included in this curriculum that I'm not sure you can get all the information the first time through.  In fact, I'm pretty sure that you could do it several times and pull more out of it each time. 

This is one of those studies that falls into the Classical method and can be used for several levels of learning, so if you have multiple kids in multiple grades you can still use this curriculum to its full benefit.  I love it when a curriculum helps me in my homeschooling efforts.  :-)

Let's get down to what is in The Young Scholar's Guide to Composers.  First of all there is a letter to the Teacher.  Don't skip this letter!  There is very useful information in there that will make you life a little easier while teaching this material.  Next up is the Introduction.  This is a "must read" section as well.  The how's and why's are addressed in this section as well as a way to schedule your week.  If you are like me, then having this schedule listed out will be uber helpful.  I am so appreciative when a curriculum writer gives me some help with scheduling-not that it has to be done that way, but a place to start is helpful.  There are many more helpful suggestions in the Introduction, so don't skip this part either.  ;-)

Another section I just loved was the Student Introduction.  It is written to the students and will help them start to get a grasp on what they will be learning and why.  I think when  curriculum writes an introduction to the student like this, they already have a leg up on the competition.  Students want to be talked to not talked "down to" and this introduction definitely assumes the student is serious about learning.

 
This program includes:

• 32 Weekly Lessons
• 26 Bios of Famous Composers
• 6 Eras of Music Explained
• Easy-to-Use Comparative Timeline
• Easy-to-Use Maps
• Composer Info-Cards & Game Directions
• Note-taking Pages
• Quizzes
• Answer Keys
• Listening Suggestions
• Intricate Coloring Pages
• Resource Books

Sounds like a lot, doesn't it?  Well, it is! 

Now, this study is geared for 4th-8th grades but it is easily adaptable for older and younger grades with very little extra prep work.  It sells for $31.50 on the Timberdoodle website.  But you can also get it at the Bright Ideas Press website.  This is a whopping 298 pages of material set up and ready to use.

Even if you don't have music lovers in your house like we do, this study will be useful and enjoyable as a means of studying music and its Creator.  I highly recommend this study of composers. 

If you want to check it out for yourself, head on over to the Timberdoodle website or the Bright Ideas Press website and read more about it.  While you are surfing the web checking out this awesome study, don't forget to check out the Music for Homeschoolers page at Timberdoodle and to ask for a FREE catalog!!

The coloring pages are wonderful!  They give just that little bit of extra to the studies and really bring the lives of the composers into focus.  They help to make it "real." 



 
 



As a member of Timberdoodle's Blogger Review Team I received a free copy of A Young Scholar's Guide to Composers in exchange for a frank and unbiased review