Classical Music Lessons in the Van

We spend a good amount of time in our van. This morning we had a Spanish class twenty minutes from our house... so, that's forty minutes of time I can use for school! Normally we keep lots of CDs in the van and listen to multiplication tables, geography songs, a variety of instrumental music, and lots of Christian radio. I want to share what we listened to today - because my children both enjoyed it and you can get it at your local library.

Vivaldi's Ring of Mystery is a tale about the famous composer Antonio Vivaldi. The story includes tons of Vivaldi's music and lots of action to keep your children interested. It is part of a larger series entitled Clasical Kids, which includes stories about Tchaikovsky, Bach, Mozart, Handel, and Beethoven. Children anywhere from Kindergarten through eighth grade can get something out of these CDs. When I was teaching public school music we used these in my classroom (generally when I had to have a sub, because they require little teacher direction) and the children always begged for more and remembered the composers year after year.

I had the privelege of attending a workshop led by Susan Hammond, the creator of Classical Kids, about 12 years ago and it left such an imprint on me. I love good classical music, and I love biographies, and Classical Kids is a perfect marriage of the two. My daughter can still sing parts of The Magic Flute by Mozart, thanks to listening to "Mozart's Magic Fantasy" over and over when she was in Kindergarten!

It sure is nice to hop in the car and have some peace and quiet, all the while my children are learning about a great composer. That's a keeper in my opinion!
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