Happy Birthday Tchaikovsky (Free Unit Study & A Giveaway)
Tuesday, April 30, 2013 at 5:00AM 
On May 7, we celebrate Tchaikovsky's birthday.
I've found a great way to study composers is to focus on just one each month. Why not study Tchaikovsky in May?
While most famous for composing The Nutcracker, Tchaikovsky wrote so many works that children (and adults!) will love and should know about.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky is a Russian Romantic composer, born in 1840. He died in 1893, from what is believed to have been Cholera. His music reflects a life that was full of happiness and sorrow, and so very much talent.
When he was just 14 his mother died, and within a month Tchaikovsky was writing his very first composition, a waltz in her memory.
Following are a list of resources for learning about Tchaikovsky in your homeschool, as well as a free Nutcracker Unit Study I created, and a very special giveaway.
If you are at a loss as to how to approach composer study in your homeschool, let me share our very basic plan with you:
- Listen to the composer's music A LOT.
- Find a good children's book about the composer.
- If possible, find a narrated recording/activity about one of the composer's great works.
- Add some notebooking/lapbooking to cement the learning.
You can find out lots more in The Ultimate Guide to Composer Study. This is an exhaustive resource for studying composers in your homeshcool.
Resources for Studying Tchaikovsky
First, I would play Tchaikovsky all the time for my children. Here is a YouTube channel full of Tchaikovsky's greatest works. Play snippets of Tchaikovsky throughout your day.
Quick listening activities include:
- Draw a picture of what you hear (put a big roll of butcher paper on the floor with lots of markers and let your kids have at it... add to the paper throughout the month - a Tchaikovsky Collage!)
- Listen to Tchaikovsky for 2 minutes. Write as many adjectives as you can to describe the music.
- Listen to Tchaikovsky for 2 minutes. Write the names of all the instruments you hear.
- Listen to a different piece of music with dinner each night - discuss as a family.
Studying a composer doesn't have to be daunting or time consuming. Just DO IT, and your children will thank you one day.
Online Free Resources
Hey Kids, Meet Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Biography of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsy from Classics for Kids
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky - short audio shows about the composer and his music
Tchaikovsky Composer Study - a Squidoo lens from Jimmie (very nice - includes notebooking pages!)
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Composer - from DSO Kids
Free Nutcracker Unit Study
Last year I created a unit study of The Nutcracker ballet. It is designed to teach your student all about the music, story and composer of the ballet.
Download The Nutcracker Unit Study.
*It doesn't have to be Christmas for you to study the ballet, you know (but bookmark the unit study if you just feel weird learning about The Nutcracker in May!).
Other Recommended Resources
Peter Tchaikovsky: Getting To Know the World's Greatest Composers
The Best of Tchaikovsky: Classical Kids
The Story of Swan Lake from Maestro Classics
My children loved The Story of Swan Lake, a beautiful CD with activities from Maestro Classics. (I reviewed this CD early last year.)
The beauty of a Maestro Classics recording is that it requires NO WORK from you, and 100% enjoyment on the part of your children.
Maestro Classics is graciously giving away a copy of Swan Lake to one lucky reader. Follow the instructions in the widget below to enter.
This post is a part of the iHomeschool Network's Birthday Lessons in May. Starting Wednesday, May 1, visit other bloggers in the network for other birthday lessons!
Reader Comments (50)
WE have just started doing some composer studies. We have been immersing ourselves in Beethoven recently.
Love Tchaikovsky!
We love Tchaikovsky Discovers America!
Sad to say I've never thought about doing composer studies, but after reading this I think I might give it a go! So much great music!
No, though we do try to incorporate listening to classical music. We will grow as the children grow =)
Great Giveaway. I wrote a paper on The Nutcracker Ballet in college. One of my works.
No, but my two toddlers are really starting to enjoy music and singing more lately.
We have not started composers yet. I'm looking at music ideas for next year.
Tchaikovsky is one of our favorites - of course ;) Thank for all the great resources!
We didn't study composers this year, which was our first year to homeschool, but I would love to add those studies in next year.
We don't study composers, but I love Tchaikovsky!
I really want to get into composer studies.....thanks for all the great resources!!
Lok forward to adding composer studies. Thank you for the resources and ideas.
I have always wanted to do a composer study but I am WAY INTIMIDATED and have never done one! I would love to win Maestro Classics to see if it could help me out. Thanks, Mary!
One of my big goals has been to introduce more music. I like the idea of a single composer a month. It just makes one more added item that much more manageable.
Yes! We love learning about composers. My children are becoming very good at differentiating between composers when they hear certain songs now played. :)
We have studied them over the last few years but need to focus more on listening to the music. I follow you via of email and FB. My addresses are lorih824 at yahoo dot com and lorih14 at bellsouth dot net.
Thanks,
Lori :)
I am just dying to try one of the Maestro Classics CDs! Thanks for the Tchaikovsky unit, we love the Nutcracker but I'd love to expose the kids to some of his other work.
We have studied the composers sporadically, however, we are going to have to begin getting more serious about it. My daughter plays piano and not only would it be good for her to know more about the composers, but some of the piano competitions she plays in will begin including music history and composers in the next few levels. Thanks for the chance to win and thanks for the Nutcracker study. My daughter will love that one!
My kids are constantly humming the nutcracker suite. I don't think they care whether or not it is Christmas! ;)
I've been wanting to add music appreciation to our days. Thanks for the great ideas!
I was really good about composer studies before my one year old came along. Thanks for the motivation!
We have not really studied composers in school yet. I had them listen to classical music for a week...and then I don't know what happened. I guess I didn't have a plan so I didn't stick with it.
Have been so curious about these; would love to win one!
Oh Wow! Just had a light-bulb (and why didn't I think of that) moment when I read "Write the names of all the instruments you hear." We have been studying the instruments in an orchestra and this is a stellar idea! Thanks.
we do not study composers regularly yet but i hope to start next school year. We love maestro classics, so far we only have one but id love to get the whole collection. i hope we win this one