In The MediaJunior Magazine, November 2012‘Less a CD and more a comprehensive lesson plan aiming to give babies and toddlers a musical education, including teaching listening and rhythmic skills. Cheery illustrations combined with a fun yet thorough programme that should engage even the youngest of budding musicians.’ ‘Moosicology making music lessons funMoosicology teaches rhythm, melody, music reading and improves listening skills through songs, stories and illustrations. I was never very good at learning music notes and terminology at school, it wasn’t my subject. I was always confused with Quavers and Crotchets but I must admit I have learnt a lot over the last week. I have been playing the CD for Oliver. The Grown Ups Guide suggests playing the CD for Oliver and encouraging him to sing, clap and dance to the music. I found he enjoyed dancing and tapping his toys to the beat. He also enjoyed clapping. I think the singing will develop over time. The CD and the book start off with introducing the different notes and this develops into music reading. The pack comes with a grown up’s guide so I can help Oliver develop his skills as he grows up. I would certainly recommend this and I think it is ideal for children of school age who are starting to learn about music at school as it will help explain the different notes and develop music reading skills.’ Charlotte B, Blogger at Baby Oliver http://charlie001mum2be.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/moosicology-making-music-lessons-fun.html
Moosicology Review“My blog gives me a fantastic opportunity to try out lots of products that I would never have thought of buying for me or the kiddywinks, many of them are things that we all love and use everyday and one of those is Moosicology. Moosicology is the first and only home education package designed to teach children (aged 0-7) real music skills such as rhythm, melody, listening and music reading. All of these skills have been scientifically shown to improve intelligence, literacy and boost IQ, as well as help children develop better mathematic skills and improve emotional and social well being. The Moosicology package includes two CD’s which 64 educational tracks (32 songs, 16 stories, 16 activation tracks), a book which contains all of the lyrics to the songs and words to the stories as well as useful pictures to explain. There is also a parent’s guide book to enable you to provide guidance and support, useful tips and ideas of musical games to play. The course takes children through an intense journey of music such as note values, time signatures, scales and chord structures in a very clever way without them realising that they are learning. It does this in four separate phases: 1.A story which dramatizes the musical concept – getting your child to think about it 2.A song which demonstrates the concept 3.An activation track defines the concept on it’s own and compares it to another concept, allowing children to learn the difference 4.A 2nd song is a “jingle” describing the concept helping children to understand and easily remember it. Imogen has just started ballet classes and is thoroughly enjoying them although she has been struggling to move in time to the music. We’ve been using Moosicology for around a month and I’ve seen a vast improvement in her performance as had her dance teacher as for her educational improvement; I guess only time will tell. She’s really enjoyed the course and is quickly learning lots, sings the songs on her way to school and insists that I sing “Sleep well my little bird” to her at bedtime. I love how she can listen to the CD in the car or even have in on in the background of the kitchen and still be learning. Faye, Blogger at Me and my Kiddywinks, Mother of Imogen (4) and Joseph (1) http://www.meandmykiddywinks.co.uk/2012/09/26/moosicology-review/
MarisWorld.co.ukMoosicology – turbo boost your child’s development Music engages practically all areas of the brain. Research by Schlaug et al (1995) showed that music learning before the age of 7 boosted the connection between the two sides of the brain. Music learning tends to produce more intelligent and creative children. Moosicology is the first and only home education package for children (0-7) that teaches them real music skills using specially designed songs, stories and illustrations. It is a 64 track CD with an accompanying educational book and a Grown Ups Guide. This innovation in music teaches skills that have been scientifically proven to boost brain development. How does Moosicology work? It teaches children skills in rhythm, melody, listening and music reading which in turn • boost intelligence and IQ, • improve literacy (accelerating children’s reading rates when compared to children without music learning) and developing language skills • Develop better skills in mathematics than children without music skills • Enjoy better emotional and social well being But music lessons are very costly and time consuming so Liisa Henriksson, a classically trained pianist and songwriter, put together Moosicology for parents to use at home. The package draws on the Montessori method which shows that children learn best at their own pace and through fun. How do I use Moosicology? The beauty of this product is it can be used anytime, anywhere with or without parental guidance and research shows that the earlier children are exposed to music the better. What does the Moosicology package include? Four separate phases 1. The story dramatizes the musical concept to get the child thinking about it 2. The 1st song demonstrates the musical concept with an imaginative song 3. The activation track defines the concept just heard in a song, this time on it’s own and in comparison to another music concept 4. The 2nd song is a ‘jingle’ about the music concept – it describes it in song form to help the child understand and remember without even realising. What do I think of Moosicology? When I first read the email asking me to review this product, I jumped at the chance, after all anything that can help my girls learn to read, write and be confident in Maths has to be a no-brainer, right? I particularly liked the fact that they didn’t necessarily need me present whilst they were listening so I put the CD on in the lounge and went back to the pc to ‘work’ whilst secretly watching them from the table. It could have gone two ways, they could have completely ignored it or listened and they listened. They listened for ages which surprised me and they started to dance and take note of the various rhythms proposed, they loved it! My trouble is not having a set routine, during the induction school process I kept forgetting to follow up with another ‘session’ but I liked their first reaction, I can’t tell you whether their brains are developing faster than other kids as it’s very early days at school but I can say that during our home visit with Mrs T, I showed her the product and asked her thoughts and she said some teachers from school, herself included, had been on recent workshops to learn more about this theory and to introduce it in their school programmes. She thought it was well worth following up and using at home. That was enough for me to know it was a good product and now I am slowly working it into our weekly routine, along with dancing, gymnastics and swimming lessons, only this ‘lesson’ they wear their princess dresses and do as they please so it’s a fun time. Only 15 mins approx at a time so they don’t get bored and when I can we open the book that accompanies the CD and talk about what we see. Moosicology costs £67 and is available from the Moosicology website Mari, Mari’s World, mother of twins born in 2008 http://marisworld.co.uk/index.php/2012/10/03/moosicology-turbo-boost-your-childs-development/
ChopsyBaby MagazineChopsy Baby Says: “A reasonably good programme to introduce the basic concepts of music to young children.” Rating: 8/10 Of course, nothing will ever beat the teaching of a qualified professional music teacher. Well, a very good one anyway. But with families making cuts to their own budgets, instrument and music lessons are having to take a back burner to day to day survival for some. However, a new music programme based on the Montessori Method has recently launched, allowing children to gain the basic principles of music theory at a reasonably low cost. Moosicology may make traditionalist shudder, but there is a benefit here for Early Years and infant school children. The programme comes with a book, CD and guide for parents. Rather like the 80’s Disney storybooks with accompanying tapes – remember to turn the page when you hear the chime anyone? – this book follows a similar fashion turning music theory into short stories and songs. As a home education package, it is useful for those who teach their children at home. It is also great for other parents to make up the schools’ shortfalls where subjects like music are forced to make way for SATs teaching. The benefits of this programme also include the potential for improvement in maths and creativity. The programme is aimed at families with children aged from birth to seven years of age. It takes youngsters through a 64 track CD covering the rhythm, melody and emotional structure of music. Each key musical concept such as time signature, note values and tempos are included. Moosicology has been created by Liisa Henriksson, a classically trained pianist, songwriter and of course, a mother. The package costs £67 in total. For this you get a children’s text/work book, a 64 track CD and a guide for parents/carers. It is worth the price but it would have been nice to have a stronger cover, at least for the children’s book considering it is for heavy handed young children. If you consider what alternatives in this vein might have been created – you could have ended up collecting a musical note each week at a total cost of £1,500. Of course, not forgetting the special introductory offer of 99p on issue one. With this in mind, £67 doesn’t seem so bad after all. ChopsyBaby Magazine http://chopsybaby.com/magazine/?p=18528
MellowMummy.co.ukMoosicology is a music learning aid for children from birth to about 7 years old; we were asked to review it with both Lara and Holly and we have been using it now for approaching two months. Mr. B. and I love to see Lara’s reading, writing and hands-on creative skills improve with every day that passes and we love to hear about the new things she has learned about the world around her but we are both quite aware that we have little to offer the girls in terms of musical development (me especially). I used to take Lara to “Music with Mummy” classes and I currently take Holly to the “Jolly Babies” equivalent but while I can see that spark of delight in their eyes when they listen to nursery rhymes and songs, I understand now that these classes are a lot more to do with the social aspect (for mum, as much as for baby), rather than learning music. For these reasons, I was really happy to come across Moosicology as a home learning aid for real music theory suitable for little ones. Moosicology comes as a CD and a picture book guide. Each lesson features a new aspect of music theory but it isn’t so much taught, as presented. Lara, at 3.5 years old, is totally oblivious to the fact that what she is listening to is music theory and (for me at least) it is actually quite advanced theory too. Lesson one introduces crotchets and quavers and by lesson 8 you are up to syncopation!!! Saturday or Sunday afternoons tend to be our music time. When Lara asks to watch something on TV we instead recommend listening to some music. All four of us sit in the living room and listen to the Moosicology CD while Lara sits with the colourful picture book on the sofa. Actually, she doesn’t sit for long; she normally gets up and starts bopping. Lara likes to bop. It is fab that Moosicology is something that we can enjoy as a family. Holly gets to listen to the music and even at 5 months old she is taking in the fact that we are all moving and clapping to different rhythms, even if she doesn’t know it yet. I am really impressed with Moosicology. Perhaps because music is somewhere that I felt there was a gap in what I could offer Lara myself in terms of learning and development (I’m not awfully musically minded). I was shocked at first with how quickly the theory moved but Lara seems to have been swept along with it so I’ll go with her on this one! Perhaps the ultimate proof that Moosicology is working was last week when we were visiting potential primary schools with Lara. We watched a Year 2 music lesson in which they were banging drums and learning about rhythms and Lara told the teacher she already knew about crotchets and quavers. I was so proud of her!!! I can really see Moosicology being a good resource for us to help support her through her primary learning alongside her school activities. And it isn’t just in music lessons that it could help the girls – Moosicology strongly believe that with regular music learning a child’s all round learning and intelligence can be improved (they have lots of interesting science stuff to back this claim up but you know, its quite easy to see that a child who ‘gets’ music and relaxes and enjoys it can open their mind up to a whole lot more than just music). Moosicology costs £67 which I think is still good value given that I should get another 7 years use out of it! Emma Button, Mellow Mummy http://www.mellowmummy.co.uk/2012/10/moosicology-review.html
TheMummyBlogger.co.ukI love blogging, it gives me a creative outlet to rant away when the other half has stopped listening (frequently) and allows me to take a look at brilliant products for kids and educational tools. One of these educational tools that I recently got to take a look at was something called Moosicology. Had it not been for my blog I probably would never have discovered Moosicology or learned how it is a brilliant learning programme to get kids into music. Let’s assume that like me you haven’t heard of Moosicology. This is how it works. Moosicology is the first and only home education music package designed to teach children (aged 0-7) real music skills such as rhythm, melody, listening and music reading. All of these skills have been scientifically shown to improve intelligence, literacy and boost IQ, as well as help children develop better mathematic skills and improve emotional and social well being. The description had me hooked, I loved music as a kid and had a piano, but once I started down complicated lessons I wished it could have been less structured and more about fun. I would love Roo to develop the same love as music as me and this sounds like a great way to get her learning without actually realising it. The Moosicology package is laid out beautifully, colourful illustrations and the package includes two CD’s containing 64 educational tracks (32 songs, 16 stories, 16 activation tracks). You also receive a book which contains all of the lyrics to the songs and words to the stories as well as useful pictures to explain about types of notes and different tempos. There is also a parent’s guide book that enables you to provide guidance and support, useful tips and ideas of musical games to play (I liked this a lot as this became an activity that Roo and I could do together). The course takes children on a journey of music; covering all the important elements such as note values, time signatures, scales and chord structures and scales in a very clever way without them realising that they are learning (for younger children this is great as often mention the word learning and they will switch off). It does this through four separate and distinct phases: 1.A story which dramatizes the musical concept – getting your child to think about it 2.A song which demonstrates the concept 3.An activation track defines the concept on it’s own and compares it to another concept, allowing children to learn the difference 4.A 2nd song is a “jingle” describing the concept helping children to understand and easily remember it. Liisa Henriksson is the mumpreneur and creator behind Moosicology and she is a classically trained pianist but also a mother to a 5 year old soon. Like many parents she noticed her son loved music from an early age and whilst many baby singing groups are great for fun and meeting other mum’s and their kids they don’t actually teach the theory behind the music itself. Music lessons themselves are expensive and often for children who already have a grasp of the basics and want to go further and so Liisa saw a gap in the market to create a home package that was not only fun but also taught children the principles of music theory. Roo herself loves music and has expressed an interest to start dance class next year at school. I can easily see how listening to the Moosicology programme could help her understand the different types of music and rhythms that she will begin to learn. The songs on the CD itself are great fun just to sing along to and one of our favourites is Sleep Well My Little Bird; we have in fact put the CD onto the music player in the car so that we can even take it with us when out and about for a sing along. Moosicology costs £67 and is available to buy direct from http://www.moosicology.com and here you can also find out more information on the science and method behind Moosicology as well as reviews from other parents and professors. The Mummy Blogger http://www.themummyblogger.co.uk/parenting/moosicology-review/
PlayPennies.comHave you ever wanted to send your child to music lessons but you’ve neither had the time nor the ability? Well enter Moosicology, a system that teaches your children how to read and understand music in a simple and clever format. I used the system for two months on my daughter and here is how we got on… The Moosicology set comes with two CDs, a children’s book, a guide for parents, and plenty of additional materials. The complete package costs you £67 and will teach your children notation and note value, introduce them to music reading, teach them rhythms and time signatures and plenty more. At first I was not convinced. The lessons moved quickly from one section to the next and I felt that there wasn’t enough of an introduction to explain what was going on, or why these terms and characters were so important. However, I think that this was primarily a parental concern as my daughter utterly loved it. She made me replay some tracks, she jumped ahead to others, she paused and read bits whenever she felt like it, and she talked to me knowledgeably about the notes and lessons afterwards. Now children are phenomenal at absorbing information until the age of 7, then learning becomes something they have to actively engage with. Until then, they soak the world up like a sponge. I think that there Moosicology thrives. It offered my daughter a very entertaining and interesting introduction to the world of music and she has subsequently taken up with instruments of her own volition. This can only be seen as a good thing. I cannot tell you that Moosicology is the ultimate music teaching resource, and I do think it is quite pricey, however, the materials are very well developed to a high standard, and my daughter has responded beautifully to the system. I would say that yes, you should consider adding this one to your Christmas gifts list. PlayPennies, Christmas Gift Guide |
