I have always loved history. Since I started homeschooling, I have grown to love it even more. Inour homeschool, history is so much more than memorizing a series of dates and important people. We dive into all areas of history: the people, places, things, and ideas not to memorize facts, but to gain a greater understanding of past events and the people who experienced them. I am always looking for great products that will help make history come alive for my family. Over the last several weeks, I have been thrilled to have an opportunity to be part of the launch of a brand new product from Diana Waring Presents: Experience History Through Music.
"Author of Beyond Survival, Reaping the Harvest and Diana Waring's History Revealed world history curriculum, Diana discovered years ago that "the key to education is relationship." Beginning in the early '80s, Diana homeschooled her children through high-school—the real life opportunities to learn how kids learn. Mentored by educators whose focus was honoring Him who created all learners, and with an international background (born in Germany, university degree in French, lifelong student of world history), Diana cares about how people learn as well as what they learn. Audiences on four continents have enthusiastically received her energetic speaking style."
Experience History Through Music is for children and adults of all ages. There are three sets in the series. Each set comes with a book with photos and illustrations, back stories of the songs, the sheet music and lyrics to each song, and a CD containing each professionally recorded song.
Musical Memories of Laura Ingalls Wilder ($18.99)- Those songs you read lovingly about in the Little House on the Prairies series come alive. Written by William Anderson you will have an opportunity to read some back stories you may have never heard before. This book also contains photographs by Leslie A. Kelly, Little House photographer and beautiful illustrations. The paperback book contains 58 pages. You will be able to learn about, hear, and enjoy 13 songs :
1. Wait for the Wagon
2. Green Grows the Laurel
3. The Old Chariot
4. Buy a Broom
5. Sweet By and By
6. Rock Me to Sleep
7. Buffalo Gals
8. A Railroad Man for Me
9. Beware
10. Pop! Goes the Weasel
11. Oft in the Stilly Night
12. The Girl I Left Behind Me
13. My Sabbath Home
America the Heart of a New Nation ($18.99)- A chronological musical tour of America history from the French and Indian War to the transcontinental railroad. You will love to read the back stories of songs from our past and listen to these toe tapping tunes. Some may make laugh, some make make you cry, and some will remind you how proud you are to be an American. There are 78 pages in the paperback book and 16 songs including:
1. Yankee Doodle
2. Star Spangled Banner
3. Erie Canal
4. Oh! Susanna
5. Sweet Betsy from Pike
6. All Night, All Day
7. Old Dan Tucker
8. Wade in the Water
9. Johnny Has Gone For a Soldier
10. When Johnny Comes Marching Home
11. Shenandoah
12. Get Along L'il Dogies
13. Drill Ye Tarriers
14. Polly Wolly Doodle
15. She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain
16. Old Joe Clark
Westward Ho! The Heart of the Old West-($18.99)- This 68 page paperback book captures for the reader the heart and determination of the pioneer spirit by learning about, listening to, and even playing or singing yourself songs that were sung around the campfires at night or written about these amazing Americans during the years of westward expansion. There are 14 different songs in this set:
1. Apple Pickers Reel
2. Boll Weevil
3.Missionary's Farewell
4. Oh, California
5. Ho! For California
6. San Juan Pig War
7. Chisholm Trail
8. Westward Ho!
9. Home on the Range
10. Little Old Sod Shanty
11. Strawberry Roan
12. Old Settler
13. Gooey Duck
14. Little Cabin in the Cascade Mountains
For the month of July, you can purchase all three titles for only $50!!!
Experience History Through Music is a wonderful title for this series because it allows you to do exactly that. Everything about this set impressed me. I loved the stories behind each of the songs. A few of the stories were familiar to me, but many were not and I learned quite a bit by reading through these books. I loved the included photographs and illustrations. I think it is fantastic that the sheet music for each song and the lyrics are included so you can play or sing along as you choose. The tracks in the CD are wonderful and can be enjoyed by all ages at home or listening to in the car. I will warn you though, you will find yourself humming or singing the songs at various times during the day :)
The book that interested me the most was Musical Memories of Laura Ingalls Wilder. I read the books when I was growing up, and then spent an entire year studying Laura and her family with my oldest daughter by using the Prairie Primer when she was in the 3rd grade. We even ended with s field trip to Mansfield MO to Laura and Almanzo's home(s) and museum there. I so wish we had this book and CD to use back then! It would make a perfect compliment to that study, or another wonderful item to add to the collection of those who, like me, are fascinated by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I very much enjoyed listening to the songs I have read about for so many years.
I enjoyed many of the back stories in America and Westward Ho! I grew up in Western New York and the Erie Canal ran through the area we lived, so that was one of the stories and songs I was quite familiar, but my children were not. Even though we knew most of the other songs in America we found their stories fascinating, especially She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain. Westward Ho! had many songs we had never heard before, and we enjoyed listening to them.
Experience History Through Music would make a great compliment to any study of American History. It also would make a great music course on American Music.
I have to share this link with you as I found it amazing. In this post Diana Waring talks about the back story about the original product masters of this series. It is worth the read!
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