Music Through the Grades in the Light of the Developing Child

The music included in this book appeals to children's inborn capacity to experience the musical element that runs like a creative, life-giving stream through their lives. At a young age this stream is like a little brook that sounds playfully in the Mood of the Fifth. By eighth grade it has become a polyphonous affair with greater depth and power. The author tries to make us aware of the importance of allowing each stage in this development to unfold and blossom rather than, as happens so easily today, exposing the children to music that they may find exciting, but for which they are not yet inwardly prepared.

The songs for each grade follow the seasons throughout the school year. The recordings of the songs for the first three grades are for teachers who prefer to learn by listening.

• By Diane Ingraham Barnes