Human Nature Giveaway

I recently got a chance to listen to Human Nature's Reach Out. They are a group from Australia that is coming now in a show presented by Smokey Robinson in Las Vegas. Reach Out is a fun album that is all Motown remakes. They have Smokey Robinson and Mary Wilson (of the Supremes) guesting on the CD. If you like Motown classics this is a great CD for you. It has all the charm of the originals but with a great sound quality. Human Nature have a great voice quality and who wouldn't love these songs? If you are going to be in Las Vegas you have to check out their show!

Win it!

How would you like to win your own copy of Human Nature's Reach Out? Well, I have 1 to giveaway!

To enter:

* Just leave a comment telling me your favorite Motown Hit!
* A random winner will be selected and notified on April 6th.
* The winner will then have 3 days to claim their prize.

To earn extra entries, you may do one or all of the following. Each one counts as an extra ticket but you must leave a separate comment for each one.

* Subscribe to my feed (if you already do, that counts).
* Mention this giveaway on your blog with a link back here.
* Subscribe to my Twitter and then Tweet about this!
* You can tweet everyday for an additional entry, just make sure to leave a comment for each time!

If you want to see more giveaways pop over to Making Money Keeping Money to see more giveaways on Contesting Monday

(I was not paid for my opinion. I was given a copy of the CD to review but the opinions are my own.)

Curious George 2 Soundtrack: Review and Giveaway!

My kids were so stoked when they saw me open up this CD. They absolutely love Curious George and frankly, who doesn't love Curious George;)? My whole family had really enjoy A Very Monkey Christmas so we were all looking forward to Follow that Monkey!

I know that many of you parents are groaning, "Not another kids cd". Well, this Curious George CD is a little different. The music is a little more mature than you might expect. The music is still fun but not as bubbly as many silly kids cds. My kids all like the CD but didn't think it was as Curious Georgey as the other CD but really good (their words;).

So how would you like to win a copy?

Win it!

How would you like to win your own copy of Curious George 2: Follow that Monkey soundtrack? Well, I have 1 to giveaway to a reader in the US!

To enter:

* Just leave a comment telling me your favorite thing about Curious George!
* A random winner will be selected and notified on March 2nd.
* The winner will then have 3 days to claim their prize.

To earn extra entries, you may do one or all of the following. Each one counts as an extra ticket but you must leave a separate comment for each one.

* Subscribe to my feed (if you already do, that counts).
* Mention this giveaway on your blog with a link back here.
* Subscribe to my Twitter and then Tweet about this!
* You can tweet everyday for an additional entry, just make sure to leave a comment for each time!

If you want to see more giveaways pop over to Making Money Keeping Money to see more giveaways on Contesting Monday

This post was written for Family Review Network as part of a program for 429 Records, who supplied the product for review. All opinions expressed in this post are 100% mine.

And the Music Plays On

I hope this holiday season is finding all of you well. Between Hanukkah, Christmas, and all the holiday illnesses life is a bit nutty over here. But in the midst of it all we have music! But not just music lessons but music that works around our schedule!

My kiddos learned even more about the actual piano this month. What do you know about the term piano forte? My kids now know (and no I am not going to tell you, just watch the lessons;)! The kids love the cards that they got to decorate to place on the keyboard. The keyboard is big enough that everyone gets to make Dodi's house and the train station to place all at the same time. The kids are continuing to work on their timing and rhythm with the songs that are in the lessons. We have been working on Twinkle Twinkle a lot along with Dodi's Song.

One of the funnest things of having 4 kids that are all doing this together is watching them work together. The older 2(6 and 8) love playing the finger matching games with the little ones (4 and 2)and also doing the songs with them. The older 2 start singing and clapping, then the 2 little ones join in. You can hear them encourage each other to try a spot in the song again or to try it another way. It is adorable and joyful in and of itself.

Well I hope you all have a Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas! I will see you on the next step of our journey next month!

(KinderBach provided me with a subscription in order to write these columns but I received no other compensation. All thoughts and opinions are all mine: good, bad and ugly!)

Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas Giveaway!!!

Curious George is huge in our house. And I don't just mean for the 2 year old, all of them 8-2 love watching Curious George on PBS (ok, me too). So was so excited that they are doing a Christmas special this year!!!

From the Press Release

A VERY MONKEY CHRISTMAS, the charming new movie from PBS Kids featuring Curious George is making its broadcast premiere on public television stations nationwide on Wednesday, November 25. A VERY MONKEY CHRISTMAS will air on PBS Kids throughout the holiday season. Additional airings are scheduled for November 29, December 6, 18, 19, 20 and Christmas Day, December 25 (check local listings for exact air dates and times). You can also catch Curious George Monday through Friday on PBS Kids (check local listings).

So you can only imagine how excited we are were when we received a copy of the soundtrack to review. The kids loved it. Of course they were excited to have their own special Christmas cd because Christmas music is huge here in the NerdFamily. We all loved the upbeat music that was so catchy for the kids to sing to. The favorite here is Our Christmas Monkey. To see all 4 kids dancing through the living room brings joy to the season!

Win it!

How would you like to win your own copy of Curious George's Very Monkey Christmas soundtrack? Well, I have 1 to giveaway!

To enter:

* Just leave a comment telling me your favorite Christmas Song!
* A random winner will be selected and notified on December 16th.
* The winner will then have 3 days to claim their prize.

To earn extra entries, you may do one or all of the following. Each one counts as an extra ticket but you must leave a separate comment for each one.

* Subscribe to my feed (if you already do, that counts).
* Mention this giveaway on your blog with a link back here.
* Subscribe to my Twitter and then Tweet about this!
* You can tweet everyday for an additional entry, just make sure to leave a comment for each time!

If you want to see more giveaways pop over to Making Money Keeping Money to see more giveaways on Contesting Monday

This post was written as part of a program for Family Review Network and Denon Records, who provided the product for review and giveaway. I was not compensated in any way except for the complimentary product.

Kinderbach: The Adventure Continues

Ok, I admit it. I am enjoying our Kinderbach journey even more this month than last month. One of the things I like about it is its flexibility. I had to go have surgery this month so it really cut down on how much school (and Kinderbach) we did but that isn’t a problem and I love that. But back to the music!

I am loving watching my kids learning with Kinderbach. They sing, clap, dance and do art! It is great that it uses so many forms to teach the musical concepts. We are learning about real musical concepts as the kids are learning about ”walks” being quarter notes and beats.

We also have become familiar with the train stations on the piano keyboard. The kids are really stoked because there are also songs to go with both Dodi’s houses and the train stations that they can play. In addition to giving them an awesome sense of achievement they are also working on fingering!

I can’t wait to see what this next month’s musical learning has for us! If you haven’t checked out Kinderbach for yourself go over to the Kinderbach site and look at the first couple lessons that are for free! But be warned, you might fall in love to and have to subscribe;).

(KinderBach has graciously given us access in order to write these columns)

KinderBach Review

I got the opportunity to try out the KinderBach program with my kids and I LOVE it! For $86 you get a year's access to over 300 lesson aimed at teaching music to kids 2-7! For us this came at a perfect time because we had just gotten a piano. I was contemplating getting the 7 year old into piano lessons and then planned on trying to use that information with the rest of the kids. So when I priced out lessons I was looking at $40-$50 a month and everyone said the other kids were to young to learn yet. Well, this program is so entertaining and engaging that all the kids really plugged in. KinderBach uses games, songs and even coloring sheets to really draw kids into music and what composes it. This maybe the group birthday present for the NerdFamily kids this year, I loved it that much!

Cute story: After just the first set of lessons we took the 3 year old into the church service that Sunday. A friend of the family was playing the piano during the offeratory and Nerdling started getting so excited. I wispered in his ear asking him if he was excited to see Aaron the stage. He said, "No mom, Aaron is playing notes on that piano to make up the song". That is when I knew he was getting it!

Frugal Homeschooler: Music

Ok folks, you know how we all have a couple of subjects that just aren't our gifting? Mine are art and music. Well, we can't use that as an excuse to not teach them so today I am looking at some music education resources. Remember that this isn't just learning an instrument but also about great music. So let us jump in!

First up is Classics for Kids. They have a radio show, which you can listen to online, about specific composers and other classical music items. They also have samples of orchestral music instruments. They have activities, online games and just recordings of classical pieces.

For those of you brave enough to buy you kids a drum set, Free Drum Lessons has everything they will need to know in order to learn to play. They have beginning lessons that cover how to set up your kits and how to buy a set. This site also seems to have great advanced lessons as well as tuning lessons and certain types of cultural music lessons.

There is a section at About.com on Musical Crafts. These don't seem to difficult. They seem to mostly be made with used household items and kids, at least mine, will love playing with them afterwards.

My last offering is for those who do know a little music. Here is a link to print blank sheet music with a Treble Clef. This way your creative geniuses can write to their heart's content without having to go out and buy expensive paper.

This is just some of the wonderful musical freebies out there. I hope you will all go broaden your kid's musical horizons. Look, explore, use and if you have any great resources please share with me. As always remember homeschooling doesn't have to be hard or expensive!