Adventures in Homeschooling: Music Appreciation

We have a rule in our car, that each member of the family gets a turn to choose the music. This is largely how I'm able to introduce classical music to my kids. If I turn it on at home, there are moans and groans, but it's understood that Mommy can listen to whatever she wants when it's her turn in the car.

It's fun to see Audrey start to request classical music on her turn. Her top choice of late is "clip clop" (Aaron Copeland's Rodeo). I like to say things like, "raise your hand when you hear the wood blocks" (or triangle, etc..) I try and point out when the flute is imitating a bird, or the bass fiddle sounds like snorting horse.


We've also been able to take field trips to the San Diego Symphony. They do some wonderful educational programs for school groups, which we've enjoyed. On Wednesday, we attended a concert for school children entitled, "Choose Your own Adventure." An actress, dressed as a British explorer, came on stage with a big book, and acted out a story involving a treasure map and the search for a golden harp. Whenever the story came to a crossroads, the audience voted on where to go next (i.e. forest vs. river). Then the orchestra would play a piece that sounded like the path we had chosen. My favorite part was when they played, "Hall of the Mountain King," during the part of the story where "we" (the audience and hero of the story) was being chased by a troll. The conductor, Phillip Mann, is really dynamic, and wonderful with the children.

What do you do to help your children develop a love of music? Any good recommendations of kid-friendly classical music?