Alicia Van Hecke

Learning Wrap-Ups, plastic palette and colored discs with self-correcting card sets
(This review is based on use of the first and third grade sets).

This is a very beautiful, if eclectic recording of Gregorian Chant, Renaissance Polyphony and some miscellaneous "popular" tunes from numerous European countries (ranging from the 11th to the 17th century). Composers include Hildegard of Bingen, William Byrd, Giovanni da Palestrina and Josquin des Prez. An enclosed booklet gives brief biographies of these and other major composers of the time. I think this is a nice place to start for those unfamiliar with early music. Everyone at our house enjoyed the recording very much.

This is a beautiful hymnal with all the favorite traditional Catholic hymns and the parts and prayers of the Mass in English and Latin. It avoids any use of "feminized" (a.k.a. inclusive) language, which has destroyed so many of the Church's beautiful hymns and even tried to remove the use of "he" or "him" when referring to Jesus. Our family has taken to pulling out this hymnal every morning after prayers and each person picking out their favorite song to sing together before beginning the school day.

This audio tape or CD and booklet take you around the world, continent by continent, by introducing you to favorite folks songs or children's songs from each country. Someone from each country introduces themselves in their own language and then in English and the song is sung in each language as well. The booklet includes all the words to the songs in the native language and English, simple piano notation and guitar chords. There are charming illustrations including each country's flag. You'll also find a little description of each country.

Kit includes four sets of 10 flashcards: Keys & Notes, Signs & Symbols, Rhythm & Vocabulary, Intervals & Chords

It is commonly believed today that Mozart's music is so beautiful and well-ordered that it can have a beneficial effect on the brain's development in children who listen to it during their developing years. Using this theory, the Baby Einstein company have made an audio and video package meant to capitalize on these ideas. The audio CD takes some of the most famous (and most beautiful) compositions of Mozart and performs them with alternate instruments (small bells and/or a xylophone I believe) to make them more "baby-friendly." I didn't really care for this version of music.