TOS Review - Zeezok Music Appreciation: Mozart

My husband is a professional musician, so you would think our children would be naturally inclined toward music, but of course, we are always looking for more ways to enrich this area of their lives. So, I was thrilled to get a chance to review Music Appreciation: Book 1 for the Elementary Grades from Zeezok Publishing LLC. My review focuses on Mozart. We were completely fascinated to discover just how young Mozart was when he composed his first piece of music, and we absolutely loved listening to pieces like an old French Melody with Variation that had the sounds of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star we immediately recognized. We loved putting on the musical CD and doing math and other reading to the accompaniments of Mozart.

Music is more than music theory. The entire program helps develop a love of classical music by introducing children in Grades K-6 to the sounds and biographies of seven composers paired with hands-on activities. Each composer's lesson is designed to take four weeks to complete.

Here is how it works:

Listen to several selections from each of the seven composers as you read about and get to know each one. Follow up with a workbook, a lap-book and hands-on activities that seem to bring the composer to life right there in your home classroom.

The Music Appreciation Book 1 Collection comes with:

• All Seven Composer Biographies
• A Student Activity Book
• Music Discs
• Lapbook Downloads that correspond with each composer

What is Music Appreciation: Book I for the Elementary Grades from Zeezok Publishing?

The activity book is user-friendly and can be used for multi-age groups. It enriches the reading as a learning experience to make the biographies come to life. It is designed for every learning style from auditory, visual, and kinesthetic active learners (Thank God, because my little learner is quite active). It offers a selection of hands-on activities that incorporates activities from across the curriculum, pulling in lessons from history, timelines, geography, instrument studies, music vocabulary, musical facts of the Classical period, character trait studies, handwriting, and even recipes from the time periods.



A biography book from each of the following seven composers are included:

1. Bach
2. Handel
3. Haydn
4. Mozart
5. Beethoven
6. Paganini
7. Schubert

The biographies cover true insights from each composer's childhood through adulthood. Each composer biography also includes illustrations and written music.

Also included is a Music CD that contains several musical compositions from each covered composer and downloads for a lapbook on each of the seven composers.

How Did We Use It?

I first sat down with my daughter and began to read the story aloud from the biography book. We learned so many fun facts about Mozart. We were in awe that he was so young when he composed his first piece of music. We continued to be in awe to discover that when he was six years old, he picked up a violin for the very first time with no lessons and played it well. We also enjoyed that he composed many sonatas when he was 10 years old. Amazing! We enjoyed reading about all of his journeys and brushes with royalty, even telling one famous name in royalty that he would one day marry her. You'll have to read the book for yourself to discover who that was and whether or not he did end up actually marrying her or not.

We followed up with the workbook and listened to the music on the CD as each piece was highlighted in the book. I then printed out the pages to complete the Mozart lapbook, and we went to town.

What Did We Think?

We fell in love with this program. Before we finished the first chapter, we had already learned so much more than we ever knew about Mozart. Even my musical hubby didn't know some of what we read. It was fascinating to listen to the actual songs as we read about how they were composed and then to make the lessons sink in with hands-on activities and the lapbook that makes for a fantastic keepsake for record keeping.

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Read what other members of the TOS Review Crew thought by clicking on the picture below: