Classical music for kids! Maestro Classics can help you introduce your family to classical music. Their mission is to cultivate a love of music through education and joyful performances. Their selection of CD's are geared towards ages 5-12 and their parents. The three major benefits that Maestro Classics claims to offer are to:
- expand listening horizons
- develop listening skills and accumulate musical memories and
- encourage children and adults to listen to music together
Maestro Classics has 9 CD's in their collection.
Titles include: Peter and the Wolf, The Soldier's Tale, The Story of Swan Lake, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, My Name is Handel: The Story of Water Music, The Tortoise and the Hare, Casey at the Bat, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, and Juanita the Spanish Lobster. You can purchase each CD separately for $16.98 or an MP3 download for $9.98. You can also save some money and purchase the complete 9 CD selection for $128.00. There are other set options to select from. Click HERE to see everything.
I was given the opportunity to use The Story of Swan Lake in exchange for this honest review. Let me start by telling you what was on the CD and what came with it. As you can see in the center of the picture above, the case is beautifully illustrated and colorful. A 24-page activity book included with the CD contains a biography of Tchaikovsky, information on acoustic and electric guitars, sheet music and words for a sing-along song, explanation of major and minor keys, puzzles and more. Children can also join the Kids Club for more learning and fun. Check it out HERE. The total play time of the CD is almost a full hour. It includes a narrated version of the classic tale, additional tracks about Tchaikovsky's life, a heavy metal version of the main theme, and the "Tchaikovsky Wrote a Great Ballet" sing a long. I found it to be a comprehensive classical music lesson!
So, what did we think about it? The clarity of the recording was wonderful and the narration was clear. The music was beautiful...after all, it is Tchaikovsky! My son is 12 and was not at all interested in the sing along. He was also bored with the narration. I found that it would be best suited for a female, probably one who was interested in ballet or similar story lines to Swan Lake. If I were to be able to pick a CD on my own, I would not have selected Swan Lake for my 12 year old son. Maestro Classics does offer other choices more geared towards a boy. But, I wasn't given the choice, so Swan Lake it is!
I do feel that this product is very fairly priced. It would make a wonderful gift for a child who loves ballet or classical music or the classic stories. It would be great to listen to in the car, or as a bed time activity. Please visit HERE to be able listen to a sample from each CD and decide which would best suit your family!
Any products reviewed by me as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew have been given to me free of charge in order for me to provide you with an honest review of the product and/or how we used the product within our family. I do not receive any other form of compensation for the reviews posted on this blog.
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