homeschooling log 2010: chapter two. music resources.

My friend Candra is starting to do research on homeschooling and asked me if I had a few recommendations for music resources. I felt I was more than qualified to answer this because I

a. love music,
b. have a rich and diverse musical heritage, courtesy of my parents,
c. am a music teacher,
d. have been homeschooling for nine years and as a result have tried/used a lot of stuff,
e. have worked tediously to cultivate an appreciation for music in my children and in others' children,
f. am just cool like that.

I could probably come up with more lettered reasons, but you get the point.

So, I prepared a list on my Amazon profile highlighting some of the resources that have been hits with me and my children. Three things about this list...

1. There are many other things that I have used that I do not recommend, because they're lame. Like some of those Baby Einstein-ish CDs and stuff like that. ( I don't mean to offend you if you like that stuff. I'm sure it's not ALL lame; it just has not been of much benefit over the years at my house, for several reasons.) So those things are not on the list.
2. There is no Classical music or Opera on this list. Because I need to make a separate list just for that. I am, after all, an opera singer. I had way too much to add to the list, so I figured that genre should just have a list of its own. (And yes, children can learn to like this type of music if introduced to it early and with enthusiasm.)
3. There are lots of great "...for Kids" compilations out there. Motown for Kids, 80's for Kids, Hip-Hop for Kids, Broadway for Kids, Beatles for Kids, et cetera. And you could certainly buy those. But why? If I have Stevie Wonder's and The Jackson 5's greatest hits (which my little ones LOVE), all I need to do is go and add more favorites from similar artists off of iTunes. You don't necessarily have to find something geared specifically toward children. A lot of the stuff that you enjoyed as a youth may be what your kids end up loving too; the songs don't have to be re-sung by kids' voices or anything like that. Just play good music for them. (And PLEASE, stay away from that KidzBop crap. Yes, I said it. It's crap. Don't get me started.)

So here's the list.
My kidlets loved this. Loved it. We wore it out last year when we were on the road a lot. They still enjoy it when I play it, even though we don't play it as often.

This one was a big hit too. The entire CD is excellent, but the second half are mostly slow songs so by the time they rolled around my kids would be asleep. Still a great CD though.

Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Prima, Lionel Hampton, Carmen McRae, Blossom Dearie, Louis Armstrong. I really don't need to go on. You get the picture. It's good stuff.

Sweet, mellow music. Great lullabies.

Hip, upbeat, dance-worthy tunes.

I was hoping this CD had a particular song with Alicia Keys on it, but it didn't. No matter. It's still a great CD, and one that my kids enjoyed a lot last year.

I remember watching those Schoolhouse Rock shorts on Saturday mornings in between the cartoons. Good times. And great educational material.

My oldest loved this one when he was little, and learned a lot from it.

This was what my oldest listened to a lot when he was in first grade. He liked it. I had the Subtraction one too, but can't seem to find it on Amazon. It's not as good as the Addition one anyway.

Fun, cute songs that my oldest never forgot. And he's almost fourteen.

Several classics as well as songs that will teach your child the books of the Bible. Also something my oldest has never forgotten.

Such a great worship CD.

"Hey, hey, HEYYYYY!" You should watch it.

One of my kidlets' favorite tunes, "Mahna Mahna," is on this collection. It's also on the For the Kids CD.

Be sure to check out my Listmania list for slightly more detailed descriptions of these items. I say slightly because I had to keep editing them down; they only allow 400 characters max per description. I was getting a little too verbose.

(Aaaannnd I apologize for the small text. I notice when I preview this post that I am somehow writing in Lilliputian font. I can't seem to fix it.)