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Sunday, February 7, 2010

TOS Review: Kinderbach

Last year, our family had the chance to review Kinderbach, an online music curriculum aimed at preschool and early elementary students, as a part of the TOS Homeschool Crew. As a repeat vendor, we got to try it out again.

Once again, I turned to Logan to hit the keyboard. He's my closest child to the stated target audience (ages 2-7), but again, I have to say that I think they overestimate the interest level for this program. While I can completely see Oli being entertained by the jangly clowns and happy little characters, funny exercises and silly tunes in a year or so, it was sheer torture for Logan.

This is a lovely, colorful, engaging preschool program, however. Don't let my reluctance to endorse their recommended age range turn you off. Through a slow, gentle process (albeit replete with a whole lot of preschool-friendly shazam!) a whole lot of music theory is covered. Bonus: it requires no car travel, and your own purchase outside of the program itself is a keyboard. Print-outs are easy to access, the program is simply laid out for parents, and you can use it with multiple children at a time.

The entire program retails for $95.88, but can be purchased monthly for $19.99 if you wish. A free 2 week trial is also available. A dvd version of the one-year program (with corresponding activity books) is now available for$222.88, and would make people with slower internet connection speeds much happier in the long run.


Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this product for review purposes. Refer to my general disclaimer for more information on my policies regarding reviews.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

MG, how would this fit into the day? Is it just another "game" to play, or are there lessons?

I hope I remember to come back to this, but if I don't, can you prompt me on SL?

Dana/abc