Music Together has won numerous awards since its beginnings in 1987. It is used in various settings with children, parents, and teachers in many settings including homeschools, daycares, preschools, elementary schools, churches, and therapeutic settings. You can read more about the specifics of the Music Together program on their website. For many years, Music Together has offered classes in communities across the USA and internationally. But they also have a simple product that can bring this same music appreciation and exploration experience right into your home with you and your family.
Are you a little intimidated to teach music to your children? Does the idea of teaching music seem outside your abilities? What if I told you that there is a program that can help, in a simple way, share the basics of music, at home together with your kids? Would you consider giving it a try?
As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, our family was sent the Family Favorites CD and the Family Favorites Songbook For Teachers which contains lesson suggestions and activities to go along with the CD. We used this program with our children ages 10 months, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 12. 
The Music Together materials are intended for parents and teachers to use with children from birth up to second grade, or around age 7. However, my older children in 4th grade and 6th grade enjoyed the music just as much as the younger ones and they also helped the younger children when needed and interacted with them. Everyone loved the cool beat, harmony, and catchy songs.
The song book is full of ideas for lessons in music appreciation and really enhances the songs on CD. You can also sing or play the music without the CD because the song book contains the sheet music too. There is tons of information to help you. There is also a section for helping you work with children with special needs too. This is a very adaptable product and very useful in my opinion.
Check out 6 different samples of the music here at this link.
Check out this fun game to guess the instrument and hear several more samples of songs at this link.
If you have got 8 minutes, you can check out a sample video of my kids banging on various items, keeping a beat, and singing along to several of the songs. This video was made on one of our first times to listen to the CD. It was a little loud, sometimes off beat, but they were learning while having fun, which is the most important thing to me. We are improving as the kids get more familiar with the program. But there were some funny moments, and I was glad to capture their “first” with the Music Together CD on video.
And if you are interested, there are lots of other videos of folks using Music Together on Youtube. Check out just a few and you will see how much fun this music curriculum can be. There are tons of ideas of how people are using this curriculum with kids. I am so excited to use this curriculum, and I believe you will be too.
My kids love music and movement. This program brings the best of these together to enrich a child’s learning and appreciation of music. We had a blast sitting on the living room floor and tapping out rhythms, singing a chorus, and dancing through the house to the beat.
I searched through the closet for some instruments, looked in the toy box and found lots of silly toys that made interesting sounds, and raided the kitchen cabinets for pots and pans too, and WALLAH! we made our own band. 
We had a bongo drum, a snare drum, a cymbal, a shaker egg, a guitar, a recorder flute, a whistle flute (it only whistles), and the rest of our instruments were items we thought had great sound to add to our band.
We created our own rhythm instruments out of railroad track, lincoln logs, baby rattle toys, empty containers filled with small objects, etc. Any pot, pan, jug, bucket, spoons, windchimes, or utensils will work too. The Music Together program has several suggestions for items around the house you can make into fun instruments if you don’t own any actual musical instruments.
Are you convinced yet? I hope so. Music is something we can all enjoy and appreciate no mater what our age or background is. Just playing with the kids with music on in the room, car, garage, or where ever can spark a love and interest for music that will last the rest of their lives. You don’t have to know how to teach concert piano, or any instruments, to develop a love and appreciation for music in your family.
Music Together retails for $29.95 for the Family Favorites Songbook for Teachers and $14.95 for the Family Favorites CD. There is also a $9.95 download version, and also for .99 cents for individual download songs. Or you can order the bundle Songbook and CD combo and save $5 off your purchase. If you purchase the combo, Music Together is offering an additional $2 off with you use the coupon code “Schoolhouse” at check out from their online store.
Check out the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog to read what others had to say about this product.
Disclaimer: I received the product mentioned above, as a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, at no cost to me in exchange for writing an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own honest opinion and my children’s opinion using this product.