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MWeber
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| Posted: Aug 06 2010 at 12:28pm | IP Logged
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Does anyone have this set? I listened to the samples and loved it. But the $100 price tag makes me hesitate (although you can buy individual CDs). My kids really enjoy listening to Psalty (Kid's Praise) and the CD I bought at my son's Vacation Bible School. But I wanted to build up our collection a bit.
Thanks!
Michele
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ekbell
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I have it. This (plus the supplies to go with it) was my major homeschool purchase last year.
I've found that all my children (including the twelve year old!) enjoy the music and the CD's are played quite frequently.
My younger children have also enjoyed their lessons.
They have additional enrichment material available at the Kid's activity section of the website which changes every season. http://www.makingmusicprayingtwice.com/kids-activities which can be used to create more indepth music appreciation lessons for older children.
However, to do the lesson plans as printed you need to invest in some additional equipment (two shakers, one percussion instument and a dancing scarf per person plus a set of bells or equivalent) which does add to the cost.
[There is an equipment guide at their website http://www.makingmusicprayingtwice.com/families/equipment-gu ide ]
They recommend Boomwackers as a bell alternative for active or younger children and I can testify that they are nearly indestructible plus their size and bright colors make them easy to find after the four year old has been into the bag. The only problem is that 'swordfighting' with the boomwackers is apparently irresistable 
There's also planning time needed. I've found that it works best for me if I spend an afternoon every season pulling together my plans.
The thing I like best about the program is that they provide guidelines which make it easy to swap in favorite songs from other places or even to create your own lesson plans. This means that I can look at my other CD's and songbooks to add other songs to our lessons if I desire.
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MWeber
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Thanks! I have all the equipment that you listed, except for the bells. So, I think I understand it, but how many lessons are there? A year's worth that you can just repeat as the child gets older? And I saw in the "child's activities" that there is some stuff about composers and such, but is that also included in the curriculum?
I have been tempted to sign my son up for Kindermusik, since there are classes offered for homeschoolers here. But I don't want him to have too many outside activities, and most importantly, I want much of the music to be Christ-centered. What better way to learn to pray?
Thanks again for taking the time to explain it all to me!
Michele
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ekbell
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| Posted: Aug 06 2010 at 9:44pm | IP Logged
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The lessons are set up on a seasonal rotation to be done over a year. You are expected to rotate through the lessons for each season using each lesson at least twice during that season. The idea is that the children will become familar enough with the music to play with it (making up their own lyrics for example).
The curriculum contains "Classical Variations" simplified versions of Classical works.
It's suggested that you play the original work that the season's "Classical Variation" is based on (outside of lesson time) so that your children can make the connection between their music and the original work. The material on the website is there for families who want to do more.
Each season also contains different folk songs from around the world, hence the Folk Music Focus.
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Lisbet
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We just finished buying the CD's. I bought a few at a time. We listen to these in the morning during breakfast clean up and such. I opted not to go with the lessons plans b/c I often lack 'follow through' electives such as these.
__________________
Lisa, wife to Tony,
Mama to:
Nick, 17
Abby, 15
Gabe, 13
Isaac, 11
Mary, 10
Sam, 9
Henry, 7
Molly, 6
Mark, 5
Greta, 3
Cecilia born 10.29.10
Josephine born 6.11.12
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CrunchyMom
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Lisbet wrote:
| We just finished buying the CD's. I bought a few at a time. We listen to these in the morning during breakfast clean up and such. I opted not to go with the lessons plans b/c I often lack 'follow through' electives such as these. |
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I did exactly this. My boys listened to the sample cd for a year and I finally bought them all at a conference this summer. I just keep out the appropriate seasonal cd, and they listen to it whenever, but often in the morning, sometimes in the car.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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MWeber
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CrunchyMom wrote:
Lisbet wrote:
| We just finished buying the CD's. I bought a few at a time. We listen to these in the morning during breakfast clean up and such. I opted not to go with the lessons plans b/c I often lack 'follow through' electives such as these. |
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I did exactly this. My boys listened to the sample cd for a year and I finally bought them all at a conference this summer. I just keep out the appropriate seasonal cd, and they listen to it whenever, but often in the morning, sometimes in the car. |
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I wish they had a sample lesson from the teacher's manual. I imagine I would lack follow through, as well, which is why I was tempted to sign my son up for an actual class, like Kindermusik. But does he really need to learn music theory at age 5? My dh - who really wants to make sure he learns an instrument when he's a bit older - and I can already tell he has some talent, but I doubt he'll be deprived if we just listen to music at home, beat our little drums, and wait until he's 7 to start him on piano. 
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Lisbet
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| Posted: Aug 07 2010 at 4:11pm | IP Logged
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That is very much what we do around here. We just enjoy all kind of music, listening, singing, tapping a beat, etc... then when the children are around 7 or 8 they give an instrument a year or two or more.
__________________
Lisa, wife to Tony,
Mama to:
Nick, 17
Abby, 15
Gabe, 13
Isaac, 11
Mary, 10
Sam, 9
Henry, 7
Molly, 6
Mark, 5
Greta, 3
Cecilia born 10.29.10
Josephine born 6.11.12
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KauaiCatholic
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I will be teaching this for CCD starting this Sunday, so I don't have any real-life experience yet. but I agree with what's been said so far: my kids have enjoyed having this music on in the background. and while we have a bunch of Kindermusik CDs and the like, I really appreciate the Catholic aspect of this.
I can give you some outlines from the teacher's manual. the structured lessons are set up to be daily (15-20 minutes) or weekly (45 minutes to an hour). they also encourage "unstructured" lessons tailored to your family if you prefer that, and offer many suggestions for that approach.
here's a daily lesson from ordinary time, fall:
1. "Good Day" (the song every lesson starts with)
2. prayer: Magnificat
3. sit and sing or creative substitutions: "Sissy in the Barn"
4. spoken rhyme: "Old King Cole"
5. rhythm patterns
6. shaky eggs: "Hamaba"
7. scarf dancing: "My Bonnie"
8. tonal patterns
9. "God Bless" (closing song)
here's a weekly lesson from Lent:
1. "Good Day"
2. prayer: Agnus Dei
3. sing with rounds: "Come Follow Me"
4. sing with substitutions: "My Little Rooster"
5. tonal patterns
6. spoken rhyme: "Here is the Church"
7. rhythm patterns
8. shaky eggs: "Tingalayo"
9. instrument play: "The Old Woman"
10. scarf dancing: "Turn Around"
11. tonal patterns
12. group dancing: "Standing in the Need of Grace"
13. bells: "Hot Cross Buns"
14. prayer: "When Jesus Wept"
15. "God Bless"
it's a pretty big manual: 274 pages. in addition to a lot of explanations and options, there are 2 pages for each song from all of the seasons/CDs. the first has ways to use the song, both formally and informally; milestones to observe; and cross references. the second page is basically the sheet music, decorated with different types of artwork. (the second page alone, divided into booklets for each seasons/CDs, is what the children's songbooks are made up of.)
I hope this helps. as you can probably tell, I am pretty excited about this program. I just pray it goes well for preK CCDers, who have never had a class of their own before so we have no idea how many will show up! 
OK, this is already long, but on a side note in response to your last post, I want to say that while I have a musical background (10 years of piano lessons, 7 years of flute) I don't think it's possible to overstate the value of just having a mix of simple instruments available (hand drums, rain sticks, castanets, any sort of bells) for free play. I keep an eye out at thrift stores and yard sales for affordable but good quality stuff that I don't have to worry about when kids whack 'em. we have a basket in the living room for it all, and that's the first thing visitors gravitate to. making musical noise is one of the true joys of childhood, IMHO. we'll start lessons someday but in the meantime they're having fun.
enjoy the music, whatever you decide to do! 
__________________
 Viviane
Grateful mama of Jonah Augustine ('01), Sophia Marie ('05) and Luke Dominic ('10)
We can do no great things; only small things with great love. -- Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
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MWeber
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Wow Viviane. That is so incredibly helpful - thank you! We too have a basket of instruments, next to the basket of scarves. My 18 mos old just discovered the harmonica, and when she made her first "music" with it...the expression on her face was priceless.
What a brilliant idea for Pre-K CCD! So much different than the typical curriculum. I think the most beautiful thing about the manual (and CDs) is how it corresponds to the liturgical year. I am excited. 
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SusanMc
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I've been eyeing MMPT for months now and am ready to take the plunge. Just wanted to bump this up to see if anyone who has been using the program since August has a review/experience to add.
I'm excited to add more structured music time to our days!
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MWeber
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Susan - let me know how it goes! I do plan on purchasing the whole set for next year but haven't done so yet.
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Michele
Mom to ds (2006), dd (^2007^), dd (2009), & dd (Dec 2010)
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Maggie
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We have had it for over a year now.
I do not think the $100 price tag is worth it. I did see it go on sale briefly last year just a couple months after I bought it...I think it went down to $75-80 (very temporary)...I was hitting my head on the table.
However, my children thoroughly enjoy it, and it is a permanent fixture to our morning basket.
I would encourage haggling. I had read somewhere else that someone had seen them at a convention and got a fabulous deal there...so it is always worth asking.
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Wife to dh (12 years) Mama to dd (10) ds (8), dd (1), ds (nb) and to Philip Mary (5/26/09), Lucy Joy (12/6/09), and Margaret Mary (3/6/10) who entered Heaven before we had a chance to hold them.
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SusanMc
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Whoops! Already ordered it. But I used the 15% off coupon at Adoremus books (ends today) plus $10 off using Google Checkout so it totalled about $80 with shipping included. I'm happy with the price as long as we use it!
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atara
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MWeber wrote:
What a brilliant idea for Pre-K CCD! So much different than the typical curriculum. I think the most beautiful thing about the manual (and CDs) is how it corresponds to the liturgical year. I am excited. |
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I'm going to check this out again. It also sounds like a good program for music at summer bible school. I wish you could piece meal it - buy the CD's or mp3's I wanted. I have tons of CD's with folk songs. And I use anything by http://www.happalmer.com/Hap Palmer for motion/movement with music. It's the Catholic songs for children I have trouble finding.
http://brotherfrancisonline.com/
Brother Francis DVD series is great. My son learned the Our Father and he is 2!
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MWeber
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Brother Francis looks so cute. Where did you purchase the DVDs?
I still haven't made the plunge with regard to MMPT. We love Wee Sing and Kids Praise, but like you, I have trouble finding fun Catholic music.
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Michele
Mom to ds (2006), dd (^2007^), dd (2009), & dd (Dec 2010)
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atara
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MWeber wrote:
Brother Francis looks so cute. Where did you purchase the DVDs?
I still haven't made the plunge with regard to MMPT. We love Wee Sing and Kids Praise, but like you, I have trouble finding fun Catholic music. |
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I purchase them on their website. There are two DVD's. You can also purchase the mp3's of many songs. I put the many of them on mp3 and we listen in the car. He sings along. Brother Francis are his FAVORITE DVD's.
I also HIGHLY recommend Steve Green's "Hide Em In Your Heart" CD/DVD set volumes 1 and 2 The songs are strictly bible verses that we all need to learn. They are so well done. I'm a musician and music teacher so I am VERY picky about the quality of singing and music he listens to in addition to the content.
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SusanMc
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Just checking in after using MMPT for three months now. We do it once a week and invite a few other Catholic families to join us. It has made a HUGE difference in so many ways.
My 3.5 year old has shown a marked improvement in basic music skills like tonal and rythmn awareness and general knowledge of different types of music. While I like the Wee Sing, I find that all their music is rather simplistic. Many of the tunes with MMPT have complex rythmns or intervals which really train your child's ear to appreciate different types of music later on.
As a sidenote, the informal classes have been a great jumping off point for identifing future fellow homeschoolers, evangelizing various aspects of the faith to lapsed catholics, and much more.
I really can't say enough good things about this program.
__________________
Mom to two dear sons, '07 and '08.
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atara
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Susan,
I think you have sold me on this! Would you say this is helpful with a summer bible school program as well? It seems to adapt to a group setting while retaining it's Catholic emphasis. I like the movement involved as well.
I agree with your intelligent assessment about Wee Sings.
THANKS! 
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SuzanneG
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I have been thinking about this program for several months now. I'm thinking it would be such a great fit for my oldest music-loving daughter to be in charge of....organizing, making sure we do it, leading parts of it. I can see it being such a nice already-laid-out-thing for my olders to do with the littler ones.
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Suzanne in ID
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Mom of 7 (Girls - 14, 12, 11, 9, 7 and Boys - 4, 1)
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4Real Forums : The Arts in the Everyday
Topic: Making Music, Praying Twice
