A Homeschooling Thespian

Handel was a bit tougher to sell to my boys than Vivaldi was. At first everything was going very well. We listened to the Classical Kids version of Hallelujah Handel in the car again, which they definitely enjoyed. (Chalk one up for mom!) The book I read to them the next day as a follow up was charming as well. (They loved the illustrations.) Next, I went to our local library and borrowed a few other books on Handel from the juvenile biography section, and asked the 11 & 13 year olds to just "look over" them (which they know means to read only the pictures -- but their curiosity usually hooks them into reading a little bit more!) (sneaky mom trick!) We also borrowed this wonderful movie from the library, and made it be our "feature film" for our regular Sunday family night movie. Quite enjoyable for our whole family, especially with lots of buttered popcorn! I highly recommend watching this film as an introduction to this composer. I borrowed three Handel CDs f...

Like many of you, I'm trying to put together my curriculum for next year and to finally wrap up this year's work. While diving through my cache of textbooks and other homeschooling materials I uncovered this gem again. What a beautiful book! Patrick Kavanaugh, Executive Director of the Christian Performing Artists' Fellowship, has gathered his materials from various composers' letters, writings, and recollections of friends and families to offer an inspiring look into the spiritual lives of twenty great composers. In the introduction to this book, Christopher Parkening writes, There is so much in this book that every musician needs to know. What a joy to find that so many of the great masterpieces we love were written to the glory of God. It strengthens our faith to see the higher purpose that motivated these composers, many of whom faced severe difficulties. Reading about them, we too many sense a mandate to follow the example of those who acknowledged that their talen...

Here is a great resource to start your children off with Vivaldi. It introduces the life of the composer and his music through the eyes of the young girls he taught in Venice. Very enjoyable! A great CD to listen to in the car while you have a captive audience!! ;)