Music Appreciation – Pop

Dear Sis,

This is the eighth of ten parts in our Music Appreciation lesson plan series. If you are just finding us now, the text that corresponds with these lessons is Music is… by Stephen T. Johnson.

Popular Music

Note to parents: I’m sure you’ve notice by now… I’m careful when selecting videos. If I’ve missed any questionable content, please let me know in the comment section. I’ve left out sample four completely, because I couldn’t find a way to present it appropriately!

Week Twenty-Seven

Approximately 25 minutes

Read playful narration “Pop is…” text.

Encourage your pre-reader to try to repeat the song and sing along. Being silly with your kids is a great way to catch their interest.
If you have multiple learners you can make a game of it and see who can give the best performance by family vote

Watch the What is Popular Music? video.

Week Twenty-Eight

Approximately 25 minutes

Read “POP” history text.

Watch The History of Popular Music video.

Listen to Sample One: “I’m a Believer” by the Monkees (pop rock)

Listen to Sample Two: “Vogue” by Madonna (electronic/dance-pop)

Listen to Sample Three: “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction (pop rock)

Week Twenty-Nine

Approximately 20 minutes

Watch What is Commercial Pop? video.

Take time to discuss with children how popular culture effects your family and young people as a whole. It might be a great time to explain to your kids exactly why certain aspects of pop culture aren’t welcome at home!

Listen to Sample Five: “Happy” by Pharrel William (funk/soul pop)

Week Thirty

Approximately 20 minutes

Watch What is a Verse, Chorus, and Bridge? video.

Listen to Sample Six: “Can’t Stop the Feeling” by Justin Timberlake (disco pop)

Take the time to figure out which part of the song is verse, chorus, and bridge. Listen to the song a few times as needed.

Alternately, you can use one of your child(ren)’s favorite songs for this diagnostic process instead of sample six.

Please tell us about your experience in the comment section. Stay tuned for the ninth installment: Rhythm & Blues (Weeks 31-32).

Happy Homeschooling!

Love,

Global Greetings Geography

Dear Sis,

I love the idea of literature based curriculum, but I learned last year that the prep work required to keep up with Torchlight was more than I can manage, from week to week. Also we do read aloud as a family for fun, so I don’t want to do too many subjects with a literature approach.

As I’m pieces together a plan for our kindergarten year, I’m finding we lack a fun engaging way to study geography material. This literature based compilation borrows some material from the reading lists of both Torchlight Level K and Build Your Library Level 0, which both have a global theme.

This elementary program can be used for a single student or as a family. Adding the optional cookbook, and using it on the weeks when time allows, will greatly enrich your family experience. In addition to the books below, the curriculum schedule includes prompts for an eight week family geography/history journaling project.

The text: Books will be labeled as consumable (one per student), spine (plan to purchase for reoccurring use), single use (can be borrowed from library to cut cost).

A Story Series (single use)

Greetings from Somewhere by Paris Harper, is an illustrated chapter book mystery series. Ethan and Ella bring adventure into your home as they travel the world with their parents, for their mom’s job as a travel writer for the local paper. Each book can be read in one or two sittings. Your upper elementary students can take turns helping with the reading too! Over this 36 week program we will read all ten books in the series.

Collection of Folktales (spine)

A Year Full of Stories: 52 folktales and legends from around the world by Angela McAllister, provides short stories arrange by the twelve months of the year from a wide variety of places and cultures. Many of the stories cover various holidays from around the world.

The Atlas (spine)

We have the 4th (2013) edition, of the Kids World Atlas by National Geographic, because we got a great deal on it. The layout is consistent between additions, so the 5th (2018) or 6th (2021) editions will work too.

Update: March 19, 2022

I was able to preview the 6th edition, thanks to our local library. Here are the main changes that aren’t cosmetic or stat/map updates!

A two page spread was added in the Physical World section addressing Endangered Species.
A two page spread was added in the Political World section addressing human Migration.
The East Africa spread was divided into two spreads: Eastern and Central Africa.
The games in the back of the book have been removed.

Please note that page numbers on the schedule will be a bit off with newer additions, so work by content instead of page numbers. Also, the games for the final week will not be available to those with newer text.

The Consumable

Ultimate Sticker Book: Flags Around the World by DK

The Cookbook (optional spine)

Cooking Class Global Feast!: 44 recipes that celebrate the world’s cultures by Deanna F. Cook

This is a 36 week homeschool program. We prefer to do all the weekly activities on a single day, but it can be broken into two or three small portions each week, if that is preferable to your family. Print the schedule to get started.

Global Greetings Geography Curriculum Schedule PDF

Happy Homeschooling!

Love,

Music Appreciation – Latin

Dear Sis,

This is the seventh of ten parts in our Music Appreciation lesson plan series. If you are just finding us now, the text that corresponds with these lessons is Music is… by Stephen T. Johnson.

Latin Music

A note for parents: Many Latin genres pair music and dance. When a listening sample features a style of music that is also a dance, a video sample is provided in an attempt to bring as much authenticity to your learner as possible.

Week Twenty-Three

Approximately 20 minutes

Read playful narration “Latin is…” text.

Encourage your pre-reader to try to repeat the song and sing along. Being silly with your kids is a great way to catch their interest.
If you have multiple learners you can make a game of it and see who can give the best performance by family vote

Watch Exploring Latin Music movie.

Listen to Sample One: “Mambo No. 5” by Perez Prado (mambo/cha-cha-cha/big band)

Watch The Mambo. This video features “Mambo No. 8,” also by Perez Prado.

Watch The Cha-Cha-Cha. This video features “Ritmando Cha Cha Cha by Orquestra Riverside.

Week Twenty-Four

Approximately 20 minutes

Read “LATIN” history text.

Listen to Sample Two: “Anuas de Marco (waters of March)” by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Elis Regina (bossa nova/Latin jazz)

Listen to Sample Three: “Volver Volver” by Vicente Fernandez (mariachi/ranchera)

Watch The Instruments of Mariachi Music video.

Week Twenty-Five

Approximately 25 minutes

Listen to Sample Four: “Oye Como Va” by Carlos Santana (Chicano rock/soul)

Listen to Sample Five: “Bamboleo” by Gipsy Kings (rumba/flamenco)

Watch The Rumba. This video features “Faded” by DJ Ice (Alan Walker Cover)

Watch The Flamenco.

Week Twenty-Six

Approximately 15 minutes

Watch and listen to Latin American Instruments video.

Pause the video as needed to read the text to your learner.
Do they recognize any of the instruments from the other listening samples and/or videos?

Listen to Sample Six: “Baila Esta Cumbia” by Selena y Los Dinos (tejano/cumbia)

Please tell us about your experience in the comment section. Stay tuned for the eighth installment: Pop (Weeks 27-30).

Happy Homeschooling!

Love,

Music Appreciation – Jazz

Dear Sis,

This is the sixth of ten parts in our Music Appreciation lesson plan series. If you are just finding us now, the text that corresponds with these lessons is Music is… by Stephen T. Johnson.

Jazz Music

Week Twenty

Approximately 15 minutes

Read playful narration “Jazz is…” text.

Encourage your pre-reader to try to repeat the song and sing along. Being silly with your kids is a great way to catch their interest.
If you have multiple learners you can make a game of it and see who can give the best performance by family vote

Watch The History of Jazz video.

Listen to Sample One: “Livery Stable Blues” by Dixieland Jazz Band (Dixieland jazz)

Listen to Sample Two: “Jeepers Creepers” by Louis Armstrong (big band)

Week Twenty-One

Approximately 20 minutes

Read “Jazz” history text.

Listen to Sample Three: “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” by Ella Fitzgerald (swing)

Watch The Use of Instruments in Jazz.

Week Twenty-Two

Approximately 20 minutes

Watch The History of Bebop Jazz.

Listen to Sample Four: “Salt Peanuts” by The Quintet: Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus, and Max Roach (bebop)

Week Twenty-Three

Approximately 20 minutes

Listen to Sample Five: “Take Five” by the Dave Brubeck Quartet (cool jazz)

Listen to Sample Six: “So What” by Miles Davis (modal jazz)

Please tell us about your experience in the comment section. Stay tuned for the seventh installment: Latin (Weeks 23-26).

Happy Homeschooling!

Love,

Music Appreciation – Hip Hop

Dear Sis,

This is the fifth of ten parts in our Music Appreciation lesson plan series. If you are just finding us now, the text that corresponds with these lessons is Music is… by Stephen T. Johnson.

Hip Hop Music

A note for parents: Much of the hip hop world is not fit for our most precious learners, but I hope this serves as a family friendly sampling.

Week Eighteen

Approximately 20 minutes

Read playful narration “Hip Hop is…” text.

Encourage your pre-reader to try to repeat the song and sing along. Being silly with your kids is a great way to catch their interest.
If you have multiple learners you can make a game of it and see who can give the best performance by family vote.

Listen to Sample One: “Super Rappin’ No. 2” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five

Listen to Sample Two: “The Home of Hip Hop” by Grandmixer D.ST.

Listen to Sample Three: “Me, Myself, and I” by De La Soul

Week Nineteen

Approximately 20 minutes

Read “HIP HOP” history text.

Watch “The Birth of Hip Hop” video.

Listen to Sample Four: “I Missed the Bus” by Kris Kross

Listen to Sample Five: “Don’t Sweat the Technique” by Eric B. & Rakin

Listen to Sample Six: “ABC’s” by Sugarhill Gang

Please tell us about your experience in the comment section. Stay tuned for the sixth installment: Jazz (Weeks 20-22).

Happy Homeschooling!

Love,

Modifying Microfiber AlOs to Hemp AIO – Cloth Diapering

If you are anything like me, you may not like your cloth diapers to have microfiber. The reason being, they are fluffy, they compress and oftentimes leak with heavier wetters. Microfiber is also difficult to keep clean, as microfiber tends to hold onto ammonia. Even with a very good washing routine, sometimes it is near to impossible to keep microfiber smelling clean.

Because of this, I often replace a microfiber all in one with natural fibers. My favorite fabric of choice is hemp fleece 370 gsm from Nature’s Fabric. I pick hemp fleece for these reasons

hemp is very trim, and has very little compression.
hemp fleece is softer then knit jersey.
fleece like fabric does produce more of a stay dry feel
hemp fleece doesn’t get the holes that a hemp knit jersey insert will get. I find hemp jersey will even get holes where a dull sewing needle goes through it. And even if you get an interlock jersey that will not continue to fray, a thicker fleece will last much longer.

My instructions kind of assume you have a serger, but I realize that isn’t a reality for everyone. If you don’t, you can opt to buy already made inserts. I would stick to trimmer options for easier washing. Keep in mind the insert size when purchasing, measure your diaper to make sure it will fit in nicely.

For this project, I had did some recycling. I some hempkicks prefolds laying around, which are made out of hemp fleece. I used two layers for each insert.

Before you start to sew, I would decide on what kind of flap style you want your aio’s to have. There are three main options. One directional, two directional, and snake. I personally, prefer one directional or snake. Cleaning a poop with inserts that flip in opposite directions isn’t for me. lol.

Both of these are Thirsties Microfiber AIO.

Step 1: Remove the old insert with a seam ripper.

Step 2: Use the old insert as a pattern for you new ones. Even if making a snake, just make it twice as long as the old one, and the same width. Serge around the insert.

Step 3: If using two inserts, and putting them on the same side…sew them together first. Then attach to the diaper wrong side to wrong side. Sew

All done, just trim the ends of the threads, and finish like a normal sewing project.

Happy Cloth Diapering,

Jamie

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Music Appreciation – Heavy Metal

Dear Sis,

This is the fourth of ten parts in our Music Appreciation lesson plan series. If you are just finding us now, the text that corresponds with these lessons is Music is… by Stephen T. Johnson.

Heavy Metal Music

A note for parents: Much of the heavy metal scene is not fit for our most precious learners, but I hope this serves as a family friendly sampling.

Week Fourteen

Approximately 20 minutes

Read playful narration “Heavy Metal is…” text.

Encourage your pre-reader to try to repeat the song and sing along. Being silly with your kids is a great way to catch their interest.
If you have multiple learners you can make a game of it and see who can give the best performance by family vote.

Listen to Sample One: “Space Trucking” by Deep Purple

Listen to Sample Two: “Back Street Kids” by Black Sabbath

Listen to Sample Three: “Godzilla” by Blue Oyster Cult

Week Fifteen

Approximately 20 minutes

Read “HEAVY METAL” history text.

Listen to The “History of Metal” with Andrea Boma Boccarusso

Week Sixteen

Approximately 20 minutes

Read about the “INSTRUMENTS” used in this genre.

Listen to Sample Four: “Live to Rock (Rock to Live)” by Dokken

Listen to Sample Five: “Can’t Live Without You” by Scorpions

Listen to Sample Six: “Black Star” by Yngwie Malmsteen

Week Seventeen

Approximately 20 minutes

When heavy metal and classical music converge, it is a new twist on both genres. Music always has a way of sneaking out of any box we try to put it in!

Listen to our Classical to Heavy Metal samples:

Discuss with your learner the similarities and differences of each version of “Winter.”

Listen to our Heavy Metal to Classical samples:

Discuss with your learner the similarities and differences of each version of “Bring Me to Life.”

Optional Project: Help your learner find a cover of one of their favorite songs that is in a completely different genre.

Please tell us about your experience in the comment section. Stay tuned for the fifth installment: Hip Hop (Weeks 18-19).

Happy Homeschooling!

Love,

Music Appreciation – Electronica

Dear Sis,

This is the third of ten parts in our Music Appreciation lesson plan series. If you are just finding us now, the text that corresponds with these lessons is Music is… by Stephen T. Johnson.

Electronica Music

Week Eleven

Approximately 35 minutes

Read playful narration “Electronica is…” text.

Encourage your pre-reader to try to repeat the scat in a musical way. Being silly with your kids is a great way to catch their interest.
Emerging readers can try to sound it out. Sometimes its fun to read non-sense!
If you have multiple learners you can make a game of it and see who can say it fastest or with the best musical performance, by family vote.

Watch our “Early Electronic Instruments” Playlist: