Classical Kids Teacher's Guides & CDs now available for suggested donation!

Multi-award winning, best selling music-based curriculum for K-8 classroom and at-home learning!

As we continue to help our students recover from the Covid crisis, engaging teaching materials are more vital than ever! We’re happy to offer Classical Kids Teacher’s Guide, a $300 value, for a suggested donation of $25 per title.

“Far and away the best for introducing children to classical music.” – Boston Herald

For a suggested donation of just $25, you will receive the multi-platinum recording AND award-winning Teacher’s Guide for one of our world-famous Classical Kids titles! (regular pricing $32.99) As a BONUS to enhance the learning experience, you’ll also receive an audio introduction to the title, picture slideshow, music-only tracks, and a copy of the actors’ script. Save 20% and receive three titles when you make a donation of $60

Donations above are suggested amounts (pay what you can). All contributions will go toward supporting our mission to provide children with an exciting and educational point of entry into the world of classical music.

Thank you!

HOW TO ORDER

Simply make your suggested donation, saving BIG the more you donate ($25 for one title, $60 for three, $110 for six, or $150 for all nine titles), through our
Online Donation Form.

Then, on the donation form, please select one or more of the following Classical Kids titles depending on your donation amount:

Beethoven Lives Upstairs

Listen to highlights from Beethoven Lives Upstairs!

DAYDREAMS AND LULLABIES

Mozart’s Magic Fantasy

Mozart’s Magnificent Voyage

Listen to highlights from Mozart’s Magnificent Voyage!

TCHAIKOVSKY DISCOVERS AMERICA

Listen to highlights from Tchaikovsky Discovers America!

VIVALDI'S RING OF MYSTERY

Listen to highlights from Vivaldi’s Ring of Mystery!

Upon receiving your donation, we will send you a Dropbox link to your requested Teacher’s Notes and corresponding digital CD tracks. BONUS materials include digital files of the Slideshow DVD, Music-only CD, Story Intro & Actor Script. Enjoy your Classical Kids music teaching experience!

This special offer is provided to help teachers and parents provide a quality arts curriculum to their students and children during the COVID crisis, and should be used only by a single teacher or parent per donation received.  

MORE INFORMATION

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 series titles, offering teachers and students essential connections between the CD listening experience and classroom learning.

Susan Hammond is acclaimed for her award-winning best-selling CDs and DVDs introducing children to classical music. Classical Kids® presents each composer in a rich historical content illuminated by freshly recorded music. While all the biographical and social facts about the period are true, a fictional child leads the young listener into the composer’s world in an emotionally engaging, non-didactic way. Because these recordings are not reductionist in their language level or music quality, they appeal to a wide range of students from grades K-8 as well as their teachers and parents. 

In each edition of our Teacher’s Notes, activities are ranked according to recommended grade level and meet or exceed most state and provincial standards for arts education. 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.

Developed in coordination with the U.S. National Standard for Arts Education, the Teacher’s 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 to develop general creativity, multi-level thinking, memory skills, cooperation and time management. Recent studies prove a consistent and powerful correlation between a substantive arts education and student achievement in all other subject areas and in standardized tests.

PARENT & TEACHER REVIEWS


5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Teacher’s Notes!
Well-researched, easy to use. Written for the classroom teacher but equally useful for the private teacher. You can either follow the book page by page, or choose and pick the amount and kind of information you want to use. I also own the Teacher’s Notes for “Mozart’s Magic Fantasy” as well as “Beethoven Lives Upstairs” and “Song of the Unicorn”. The amount of reasearch that went into these Notes is quite impressive. They are all wonderful resources and, in my opinion as a private teacher, worth twice the money!


5.0 out of 5 stars Much Enjoyed by Students
My students loved this. The music is very well done, and the story line accessible. Not only did the kids learn about Vivaldi and his work, but they also learned about Venice and Mardi Gras. The story prompted discussion about music as a solace.


5.0 out of 5 stars We love this!
We’re a homeschooling family and we own and love several of the Classical Kids series. Vivaldi’s Ring of Mystery is my oldest (9) daughter’s favorite so far. They are learning so much from these CDs. They recognize the music of the different composers when they hear it other places and the CDs also lead to discussions of history and geography. The best part is that they ask to listen to them, especially in the car.

READ MORE REVIEWS ON AMAZON!

TEACHING RESOURCE SAMPLER

This sampler of the award-winning teaching resources includes a Dropbox link to the first ten pages of the Beethoven Lives Upstairs Teacher’s Notes and the corresponding music tracks as well as an audio introduction.

Listen to highlights from Beethoven Lives Upstairs!

LETTER TO TEACHERS​

Teach Arts as a spirit to be danced with,
not a dragon to be slain.

Welcome to the world of Classical Kids. Here 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.

The full Teaching Edition is available at a 20% discount on our Shop Page (enter code CKL20 at checkout).

TEACHER'S GUIDES & 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 Guides along with an audio CD are available at a 20% discount on our Shop Page (enter code CKL20 at checkout). NOTE: During the COVID crisis they are available by suggested donation (see above).

MORE ABOUT OUR 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 (enter code CKL20 at checkout) or by suggested donation above. 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.

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