If you are not familiar to Zeezok Publishing then you need to know that they are committed homeschoolers just like you and I. They started providing homeschool materials to the community way back in 1993 traveling to homeschool conventions with a simple vision; “to publish top quality materials that will complement your educational needs”. In 2003, they launched Zeezok Publishing to help all the homeschools enrich their children’s schooling.
We received the jackpot with the Music Appreciation Book 2: for the Middle Grades! The set covers seven composers through nine biographical books and also includes a Student Book. The biographies include:
Frederic Chopin, Early Years
Frederic Chopin, Later Years
Robert Schumann and Mascot Ziff
Adventures of Richard Wagner
Stephen Foster and His Little Dog Tray
The Young Brahms
The Story of Peter Tchaikovsky
Peter Tchaikovsky and the Nutcracker Ballet
Edward MacDowell and His Cabin in the Pines
This middle school set meets all the national standards for music appreciation for 5th-8th grade students through living books. This unique approach enriches the learning of these composers as we get a first-hand glimpse into their lives of yesteryear. The program has several components to it and using all of them will give you and your student the most benefit of the curriculum. The Journal notebook, Student book, Readers, and online apps all work together simultaneously to give the best music appreciation program.
Getting started for us was easy! Montana is a fluent reader so she literally just took off with the program. For each composer there is a weekly outline laid out for you to follow. I love this feature because I don’t have to break it up on my own. As a busy mom trying to fit everything into the day it is great to see what needs to be done each week without too much planning on my part. We simply have followed the schedule for the composer/books and have made great strides.
Another great feature, especially if you are not musically inclined is that all the answers to the activities and quizzes are included! The graphics throughout the Student Book are in color and black and white and are easy on the eyes. The layout of the reading inside the Student Book is also easy to read and not overtly distracting. The QR codes are fantastic! My daughter had permission to use her phone when listening to the pieces of tracks for the composers. I love that technology has made this possible, especially since it makes this music curriculum portable for us.
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