Dear Sis,

The state of Ohio requires that homeschoolers study music. Last year I wrote a 36 week Music Appreciation course for students PreK-Grade 8.  

This spring we started taking weekly piano lessons, which count toward our school music requirement, but the musician in me wanted more! I stumbled upon The Story of the Orchestra by Robert Levine recently during a visit to Half Price Books. It’s perfect! I’m excited to use it for our upcoming Kindergarten and first grade years. 

The Text Book

and accompanying 37 listening samples

We thrifted this 2001 edition, with CD

This revised 2019 edition, with audio downloads is available on Amazon.

Other than the title change and the manor in which the listening samples are provided, the two books are the same!

The book is broken into Part I: The Composers and Part II: The Orchestra Instruments. I plan to cover one part per year for the next two school years. I feel that my son is too young to work trough all the content in a single year, but for an older learner that might be preferred.

Also, I feel that learning the instruments is easier for the young learner than a timeline composer study, so we will be starting with Part II. 

Please select the printable schedule that is best for your learner(s).

36 Lesson, Instrument Study, K-8

18 Lesson, Composer Study, K-8

36 Lesson, Classical Music Study, 3-12

Happy Homeschooling!

Love,

b