KinderBach. Even the name sounded appealing to our ears. You see, our family loves classical music, especially J. S. Bach, and the idea of KinderBach was intriguing.
Well, we started week 1, lesson 1 and soon discovered that this program has nothing at all to do with J.S. Bach. Rather, KinderBach is an online music program for children ages 3-7. It is contemporary, colourful, and entertaining, complete with appealing characters and printable lesson sheets. Children learn the names of keyboard notes, as well as music concepts about rhythm, high and low notes, keyboard fingering, and even elements of solfege. (Charlotte Mason enthusiasts, take note.) This is a solid early childhood music program taught by an experienced, gifted, and dynamic teacher.
Lessons are grouped into 60 weeks with 4 lessons a week, covering a large amount of learning in a gentle way. (The syllabus is available online). Concepts build on each other and lessons include a lot of review. Parents are encouraged to participate along with their little ones, since this enhances learning.
Opinions
Miss 7 was enthralled by the dynamic teacher. She eagerly watched all 60 weeks of lessons during our 3-month trial and really enjoyed them.
Several times, she asked, “Mama, is the KinderBach lady actually real?”
“Yes, she is!”
“Ohhhh! Can we go to her house instead of just doing it on the computer?”
Obviously, she loved KinderBach. My older children, predictably, didn’t, but they probably would have when they were younger.
Some of the lessons bothered me. One, especially. The teacher lost her temper and dramatically ripped up a sheet of paper after making a mistake. Then the action reversed, restoring the paper to its original condition while the teacher pointed out that her destructiveness had not been a good choice. (Remember, you can always choose what you do and how you feel. Always take a minute to make a good choice.) Although she was trying to teach that it is OK to make mistakes, and that you don’t need to have a bad response to them, I think that watching the tantrum has more impact on little children than her words do. Since parents are meant to watch along with their children (I didn’t always), they can deal with issues immediately. But which was the lesson Miss 7 replayed most often without me realizing it? Yes, you guessed it! Sigh.
Our family’s usual early childhood music instruction involves enjoying the old masters at home and in the van. We learn about great composers and listen to their works, and I can’t think of a better way to introduce children to classical music and its documented learning benefits.
Many families, however, prefer formal child-oriented lessons and avoid classical music like the plague. For these families, KinderBach is a wonderful solution. Children can learn at home; moms don’t need to drive around, get sitters for siblings, or pay for expensive lessons. Children can repeat lessons at their leisure, and learn at whatever speed they wish, as my little girl did. Of course, younger children would learn much more slowly than our Miss 7. Multiple children can work through the program at once, each at his or her own pace.
To see if KinderBach would suit your family, you can explore the thorough website, learn how the program works, and try the free two week trial. You can also visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog for many more reviews.
Purchase
All 240 lessons of the 60-week KinderBach program are available online with your subscription. The regular subscription price is $19.99 US a month, billed monthly for a year. However, if you make a one-time annual payment of $95.88 US, you save 60% and the monthly cost works out to only $7.99 US.
For families with a slow internet connection, KinderBach also has DVD packages with all the online lesson videos, including CD’s with the activity pages in PDF form, for $40.45 US per level. Package deals are available, and all of the DVD’s and CD’s carry a lifetime replacement warranty. (Obviously, the company knows little children!)
Note that if your children are spaced far apart, you may save money by buying the DVD packages rather than getting many years of online subscriptions.
Policies
Disclosure Policy: As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I received a free 3-month subscription to KinderBach in order to write this review.
Dial-Up Friendly Policy: For the sake of my dial-up readers, this blog avoids visuals.