I hope my son is grows up with an appreciation for music. My husband sings at church and I started playing the piano before I could walk (well…maybe not THAT young!). I was in the choir in high school and have sung in our church choir off and on. Needless to say he will be exposed to music via parents who appreciate it’s richness and beauty. Did you know that children who are exposed to music at a young age do better in reading and math when they start school, are better able to focus and control their bodies, and play better with others and have higher self-esteem (KidsHealth.org)? If you’ve chosen to place your kids in sports, ballet, or some other extra-curricular activity in lieu of music, here are twelve reasons you may want to reconsider.
I recently had an opportunity to review Harmonic Vision’s Music Ace Deluxe program. This computer-based program, designed by music education professionals, includes 36 music lessons designed to teach your child the basics of music theory, rhythm, pitch, note reading, listening, and the keyboard. Here is a little more information about the program from the site:
Harmonic Vision’s Music Ace Deluxe is an interactive program that gives Moms a fun way to bring music into their kid’s lives. The game-type Windows and Mac-compatible CD-ROM features 36 self-paced lessons shored up by games that introduce kids to the basics of music while entertaining them at the same time.
Maestro Max is the animated tutor that guides your child through each lesson. I really like how the program starts with the basics and can be tailored to children at all levels, including children without any experience or exposure. It’s an interactive, self-paced program that I feel is best suited for beginners, although children with some background will be challenged by later lessons. Children will love the animation like the smiling, singing notes! Right at the beginning, the program uses a bouncing ball to teach children about beat and tempo. This is a perfect example of taking a concept children are familiar with and applying it to a concept that they are not familiar with. How brilliant is that? Along the way, your child’s progress is tracked including his/her score.
There are two other components of the program. The “games” section, helps sharpen music skills and improve retention of concepts learned in the lessons. This is where you as the parent, can really discover where your child is at and what he/she needs to work on. It also gives your child to “put into practice” what he/she has learned. It is suggested that the child play the game after each corresponding lesson to help with retention. This is another example of how important play is for learning and remembering concepts.
The program’s last component is the Music Doodle Pad. Here is where children can compose their own music using a variety of instrumental sounds. What I like best about this segment is the ability for a child to express his/her creativity. Save them and then have your child listen once he/she has mastered the program. It might be interesting to see how far he/she has come.
Music Ace Deluxe is a phenomenal educational tool that I think would work really well in schools with music programs. The program retails for $79.95 but I saw it on Amazon.com for $49.95 (don’t you just love Amazon?)
Profuse thanks to the Family Review Network for this review opportunity!
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