The albums were digital and we burned them to CDs to be able to enjoy them in the car as well as at home.
The workbook has the words to each song in the series (all sets), and an activity page to go with that song. In the back of the book there are also lessons to implement to go with each song. The workbook helps to turn these songs into great value/character type lessons for your kids. It takes it above and beyond just the song, which is a great addition to any homeschool, family home evening or dinner talk.
The Happiness and Attitude set is filled with some of our favorites of what we received. Songs about how you CAN do things, giving kudos to others, and being good to yourself. There are two other songs on this set that I don’t really ‘get’. The first is “I don’t understand”, it’s about asking questions when you don’t understand something, but I think the song is just a bit strange. The second is called “Better Together”, and I liked the song, but I didn’t realize it was about reading books until I went to the workbook, had a very catchy tune though, which we enjoyed.
The Friends and Sharing set is filled with songs about friendships and sharing. Songs that talk about playing together, having more than one friend, talking to new friends (making friends). Our favorite song from this CD is “Sailing on the Seven Cs”, I really think the words and message is well laid out and presented!
The Manners and Character set also has some really catchy tunes that we enjoyed. Our favorites were the song about being honest, saying please and treating others kindly. The other 2 songs I found a bit awkward in some ways. The first is “Quirks”, while it has some good points, I found the examples of quirks to be off…for instance ‘my best friend always burps’, I wouldn’t consider that a quirk, that’s more ill manners but, the main idea of the song was great – Everyone is different. The second song “Six Little Kids” is about perspectives, but I just didn’t get the point. My kids even were listening along saying “what??”. They thought it was more silly than anything when they were singing things like “An elephant’s a rope”, “an elephant's a hose”. I don’t feel it really made the point. In my opinion, despite your ‘perspective’ an elephant is an elephant. I see what they were trying to say, but I don’t feel this song said it.
There are several other sets that we did not get to try out, but you can hear samples of them all at the website.
As I mentioned we listened to these in the car, mostly on our trips from here to there, and then we would talk about them, either in the car or during circle time when we did some of the activities in the workbook. My kids (for the most part) enjoyed listening to them. The songs are short though and they cycle through really fast when you only have 3 sets, so after one cycle they were done for that moment and asking to listen to something else.
With the exception of the few that I pointed out above, we really enjoyed these songs and feel it was a fun way to add to our character studies! They helped spark conversations, the kids’ voices are pleasant and enjoyable to listen to. We liked them enough that I am interested in checking out the other sets in the future.
These are recommended for ages 4 to 8, but could easily be enjoyed by 0 to 9 (and I even enjoyed several…I catch myself singing them every so often).
Each set includes 5 songs and is available for download for $4.95 in it’s entirety or 99cents for each individual song. The lyrics, activity and coloring pages are available as a FREE download for an added bonus or as a printed and bound book (like we received) for $12.56 (current sale price).
Check out Happy Kids Songs on social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/happykidssongs
Twitter: @howsyourfam
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/4DrMacMusic
I like the idea of having lessons to go with the music. Enjoying the song and then listening for meaning helps them learn that it is not just about the tune, but also about the message
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