A Lovely Music Appreciation Curriculum from Zeezok

There are so many things we'd love to teach as we homeschool, but so often the subjects we consider to be "extras" get squeezed out. For some, music appreciation is experienced between worship music on Sunday mornings and movie theme songs during family movie night, but is never touched upon with any gusto. And that's a shame.

My degree is in music. I studied classical voice, opera, and musical theater for four years at a music conservatory with a very good reputation. I love this subject, but of course realize that not everyone shares my love of classical music or any knowledge of it at all. You might be one of those people, unable to recognize the difference between pieces written in the Baroque, Romantic, Classical, or Modern periods. Those terms might even be completely new to you!

Disclosure: I received this product for free and was compensated for my time to use and review the product. All opinions stated here are my own.

An Elementary Music Appreciation Curriculum That Delights!

And that's where Zeezok Music Appreciation sweeps in with a delightful approach that doesn't require anything from a parent other than the ability to read and listen. For a mom or dad who knows nothing about classical music, it's a perfect program. For the parent who has a vast knowledge, it's still excellent, and here's why:

Using living books with lively stories, Zeezok is easy and entertaining to read.
The books cover 7 major composers: Bach, Beethoven, Paganini, Mozart, Handel, Haydn, and Schubert
CD's are included with the program, and the books tell you exactly when to play each track. This is a great advantage, because you don't need to search for examples of each composer's pieces, and the text is grab and go: simply read and push play when prompted.
An interesting and fun student activity guide provides hands-on learning that helps reinforce what's being studied.

**With lovely and lively illustrations, the stories are fast-paced and interesting.**

What Else Does Zeezok Provide?

But when do you find the time to add yet something else to the list of great stuff to study? For us, Zeezok is a perfect fit for Circle Time. Because there isn't a deadline for a subject like music appreciation, we've taken the program at a leisurely pace, reading the first book over the course of about 3 weeks. Both my 5th grader and my 2nd grader like all of the activities in the activity guide, and the've had fun creating lapbooks, too. What else is covered in the activity guide?

reading comprehension questions for each chapter
character qualities of the composer
relevant geography
musical terms
instrument studies

Zeezok Music Appreciation has been a winner here, and I can easily see how it has recently won two 2015 Practical Homeschooling Magazine awards:

1st Place Music Appreciation – Great Musician Series (the biographies the curriculum is based on)
2nd Place Music Appreciation – Music Appreciation for the Elementary Grades

What Does the Zeezok Program Include?

When you purchase the whole program, here's what it includes:

The student activity book
5 CDs of music from all the composers represented
A disk of full-color lapbook printables
7 composer biographies

I'm now at the stage of homeschooling where I'm purchasing and holding onto products that I would like to keep to do someday with my grandchildren. Zeezok Music Appreciation is one of those products that meets my future grandchild stash standard!