KinderBach Review

The 2014 Schoolhouse Review Crew year has begun! We are very excited to see what fun and challenging things we get to share with you this year and what products will benefit our homeschool the most.

We started the year with an area that is important to our family: music. Leighton has a music major and is the music director at our church. I sing in the church choir and played the piano many, many years ago. Many years. Alyssa, our 5-year-old, has a desire to learn to play the piano. I could take the time to teach her myself, but it's been many years, remember? It's so much easier to let KinderBach do the teaching.   

The KinderBach online piano lesson membership with teacher corner is designed to give kids ages 3-7 an early introduction to music. Studies prove that the piano is the best instrument with the most benefits to aid brain development and that this is the age frame that is the most opportune to begin playing. The program incorporates videos, worksheets, music, and cute characters into a fun learning experience. It teaches note reading, rhythm, singing, composition, and music vocabulary. It can be used both at home and in the classroom. Karri Gregor, the creator, talks to the kids on their level and draws them in.

The lessons can be viewed on DVD, but we used the online portion. It made it so simple to hook up our small keyboard in front of the laptop as Alyssa completed her lessons. The lessons are short and engaging. The student not only learns about music by watching the video, but also by having fun with games, puzzles, coloring, and singing. For the most part, Alyssa watched the lessons by herself, but I joined in on the games or coloring at times. Everything's more fun with a friend, right? 

There are 6 levels (60 weeks) of interactive lessons and 240 videos. They start with the simplest introduction of the piano keyboard and end with scales and rhythm songs. There are plenty of fun printable pages that coincide with the lessons. Activities from coloring to cutting, pasting, and more keep the little ones involved. There are also games to get them moving. Alyssa loves getting some rhythm instruments and playing along with the characters on the screen. 

The program is simple enough for a child to use on his own. Once I log in, Alyssa can navigate the videos on her own and gather the needed daily supplies (worksheets, crayons, scissors, glue, rhythm instruments, etc). Since the program is self-paced, the child can work through the videos as he chooses. Each video is actually pretty short (most less than 5 minutes), so Alyssa will watch multiple videos a day.

Alyssa loves learning with KinderBach. She enjoys all the aspects of the program. I love that she loves it. The only thing I can say that is somewhat negative is that this is a very early learning program. In order to truly be able to play the piano, she will need something more. The again, KinderBach is meant for kids 3-7, to give them an early introduction, not to made them professional pianists. So, it is accomplishing it's purpose.    

Memberships start at $7.99 a month and can be used with the entire household. From now until February 28, you can save an extra 40% with coupon code KBclear2014. You can even try 2 free weeks of the program. To get instant access to all 6 levels or to purchase any extras (coloring pages, MP3s, CDs, sheet music, story books, etc) click HERE.

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Would you like to see how other families used this? You can read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Review Crew.