New and interesting music is a key ingredient in your children's intellectual health. That is why the highlight of our spotlight review today is Yummy English Snack Productions' double CD set "Cool Songs Collection and Times Table Fun". While the company name may make you think of food, it's all about the kids and the music!
William Avery, creator of this double cd set, was teaching English in Taiwan when he was asked to write original poems or chants for his class and later to set them to music. Here is a little about the man and his music in his own words:
I was born in Goldsboro, North Carolina and grew up for the first part of my childhood with my grandparents on their farm. As I grew older I discovered quite a fascination with music. I had an irresistible urge to try to play any piano that I passed. My family was a little too poor to afford piano lessons, but I was able to get free violin lessons at my elementary school starting in the fourth grade. Aside from the classical influence of the violin, I always found a drawing to hip hop. So you will discover the general feel of the songs I compose have strong beats and bass lines with melodic overtones. As a sophomore in high school I would have musical dreams on occasion. Just waking up with original songs floating around in my head, I happily struggled to express the musical ideas on the keyboard.
In college, I attended Washington and Lee University, majoring in Computer Science and East Asian Studies. As part of East Asian Studies major, I had the opportunity to study in Taiwan for a summer program. I really enjoyed the experience, and decided to go back right after graduation. While living in Taiwan, my main profession was teaching English as a second language. A series of fortunate coincidences led to me writing a monthly song/English lesson for a Chinese Children Magazine, which lasted for about 3 years. After that experience, I continued to develop more songs for children and involved the kids who I refer to as my "Smart Cookies" as being the best critics. If the kids liked the demo songs as played in the class, I would go on to have them recorded professionally.
Each of the songs on his CD set are fun and interesting, and will likely have your children singing along in no time! The Cool Songs Collection CD is a group of 30 funny, cool, moral and educational songs. Mixing educational themes in between more light-hearted fare is an ingenious way to teach children without them realizing it! Funny songs such as "Don't Cry Onion Baby" will have you laughing while "Don't Follow the Crowd" will help your children develop their sense of self.
The second CD, "Times Table Fun" is a collection of songs, each focusing on multiplication by a specific number. After listening to these songs for awhile, you may find your children know their times table before they even know how to add! Each song has a different theme so they are easily distinguished from each other.
Yummy English Snack Productions website is a wonderful resource also. YESNACK.COM has sample music you can download, videos to watch, games to play, stories to read, even sheet music for their theme song! Check their site out and have a little fun... there is also a link on their home page to purchase this wonderful CD set.
"Cool Songs Collection and Times Table Fun" gets the healthy-children.org seal of approval for fun, educational, multi-cultural music that every child should have the opportunity to experience!
