Letter to Teachers
Teach Arts as a spirit to be danced with, not a dragon to be slain.
Susan Hammond
Welcome to the world of Classical Kids. As a music specialist and symphony educator, you will find a wealth of concrete activities in music, social studies, writing and other arts.
Classical Kids presents each composer in context, as part of a story rich in historical detail and vivid music. While all the facts about the period are true, a fictional child leads the audience into the composer’s world. These stories are neither didactic nor reductionist in their language level and music quality. Children will expand fearlessly into any space we create for them. If we create small, condescending worlds, we create small, passive minds.
We respect your time and space and the limitations of available arts budgets, so included with the new Teaching Edition are digitized versions of our Teacher’s Notes. These notes are designed to allow you to print and share with students and colleagues as you go. No need to fill valuable space with boxes of text and workbooks.
In terms of educational theory, these Notes support the Integrated Curriculum, Whole Language Learning, Enquiry-based Learning, and Visual Thinking Strategies. You will find practical suggestions for every level of general student and musician. Together, they develop long-term learning, multi-level thinking, memory, cooperation and time management.
This package also includes an exclusive Slideshow DVD, featuring hundreds of images from the composers’ times. Feel free to share this valuable teaching resource as part of your educational outreach or community engagement program.
Enjoy your journey into the classical world!
Susan Hammond
Classical Kids Series Creator
The Teaching Edition
This comprehensive book-style set combines musical studies with many other subject areas and skills and is designed to move children from passive listeners to active participants in music, drama, social studies, history, and other arts. The set also promotes literacy, critical thinking, and communication skills.
The Teaching Edition includes 9 award-winning and best-selling Classical Kids CDs plus the Beethoven Lives Upstairs and Mr. Bach Comes to Call DVDs. The set also features 3 exclusive bonus discs.
- Teacher’s Resources CD-ROM: includes Teacher’s Notes and scripts for all 9 CDs.
- Slideshow DVD: hundreds of images from the times of the great composers.
- Music Only CD: 40 minutes of instrumental-only music from the Classical Kids CDs.
The Teacher’s Notes support the Integrated Curriculum, Whole Language Learning, Enquiry-based Learning and Visual Thinking Strategies. They provide activities and suggestions to help students and musicians develop general creativity, multi-level thinking, memory skills, cooperation and time management. The scripts are ideal for class read-alongs or ESL programs. The Slideshow DVD also comes with hundreds of questions and activities to encourage class discussions.
This package meets or exceeds most state and provincial standards for arts education and was developed in coordination with the U.S. National Standard for Arts Education.
Teacher's Notes & CDs
Classical Kids Teacher’s Notes include more than 100 facts, activities and thought-provoking questions to move beyond music into an integrated curriculum of social studies, creative writing, math, sciences and the other arts. Learning Magazine recognized these Guides with Curriculum Administrator Top 100 Districts’ Choice and Teacher’s Choice Awards. This educational resource complements all of the Classical Kids Live! concert series titles, offering teachers and students essential connections between the concert experience and classroom learning.
Classical Kids CDs are available in a bundle with corresponding Teacher’s Notes and are ready for use in any teaching environment based on a teacher’s own talents, interests or areas of study. Designed for the music specialist, generalist teacher or homeschooler, the Classical Kids combination provides all the tools necessary to build an exciting environment for learning.
Each volume of 36-55 pages moves children from passive listeners to active participants in the creative arts, enhancing literacy, critical thinking skills and building a strong platform for learning within all subject areas.
Classical Kids recordings have been used in classes from K-8, but are most suitable for Grades K-6. In each edition of our Teacher’s Notes, activities are ranked according to recommended grade level and the corresponding standard as outlined in the U.S. National Standards for Arts Education guidelines.
Teacher’s Notes along with an audio CD are offered by The Children’s Group in conjunction with Classical Kids Live! bookings.
Order Educational
Resources
For general sales of the Classical Kids Teaching Edition or individual Teacher’s Notes for all productions except Gershwin’s Magic Key, please visit our shop page for a 20% Discount. For Gershwin’s Magic Key educational resources, please contact Executive Director Paul Pement.
As an incentive to orchestras new to Classical Kids, we are offering to those who book the touring performances of our fully-produced productions, the award-winning Classical Kids Teaching Edition for free (a $300 value). Symphony educators have found this fully-integrated music program a valuable educational resource for reaching out to schools or for planning family concert activities.
Please contact Executive Director Paul Pement for more information.