Cummins Life: Music Appreciation Book 2: for the Middle Grades by Zeezok Publishing Review

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Music Appreciation Book 2: for the Middle Grades by Zeezok Publishing Review

For the last few weeks we've been studying Frederic Chopin with a homeschool music program, Music Appreciation Book 2: for the Middle Grades by Zeezok Publishing. This program is specifically geared for students in 5th-8th grade.

Our Books

Closer look at the student book.

This program is based on the Great Musicians series of biographies. We received one student book and the following nine composer biographies: Frederic Chopin (Early Years), Frederic Chopin (Later Years), Robert Schumann and Mascot Ziff, Adventures of Richard Wagner, Stephen Foster and His Little Dog Tray, The Young Brahms, The Story of Peter Tchalkovsky, Peter Tchalkovsky and the Nutcracker Ballet, and Edward MacDowell and His Cabin in the Pines. We received physical books for all except Peter Tchalkovsky and the Nutcracker Ballet which we received the eBook for. While students can read these biographies themselves, this curriculum is meant for parent involvement.

The nine biographies cover seven different composers during this program. You will spend 5 weeks learning about Chopin and 4 weeks for every additional composer for a total of 29 weeks. The biography books explore the people, places and events that influenced these amazing composers and the music they created. All important details are included and the books are factual. I like that the books include written music as well.

Found in Frederic Chopin (Early Years)

The Student Activity Book includes a variety of topics and activities from history, grammar, geography, concert etiquette, character trait studies, comprehension questions, quizzes and a lot more! The organization and flow of the book is great. I love that the final activity for each composer is a quiz. And following the completion of the material for each composer you will find the answer key for the activities before moving onto the next composer. I like this set up.

Above you can see our Chopin quiz.

Following the composer quiz, you will find the answer key.

The student text includes "app alerts" or QR codes that can be scanned for more information. QR codes, or quick response codes, can be utilized by scanning them with an app on a mobile device or tablet.

Chopin QR Codes

There are also QR codes for all of the music in the books. We simply scanned them on our phone app and listened to the music. The QR codes and app website allow for easy access to all the songs, interactive quizzes and additional links as well. Easy peasy.

Music is really important to both David and I. We both were taught music appreciation when we were younger and we have high value in it. This is one of the reason our kids participate in homeschool band as we wanted them to learn how to play a musical instrument. So, it's great to find a program that helps teach our kids to have their own appreciation for music as they learn about classical music and the composers.

I love that this program is user-friendly and can be used for multiple age groups. This works well for our family. I also appreciate that it is geared for a variety of learners - auditory, visual and kinesthetic which again works well for us. I'm thankful for such a rich, homeschool music program to use with my family. I'm looking forward to pressing on in our music studies.

I also want to note that each student will need an activity book as it is a consumable product. A lapbook and coloring book are also available for younger and/or hand-on learners. Additionally it should be noted that this program meets all the national standards required for music appreciation accreditation!

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