Music - Preschool Prodigies

Check out the Preschool Prodigies program here! 

(This post contains affiliate links!) 

As I was growing up, my family was constantly involved in music programs. Every church we ever attended had not only an adult choir but also a children's choir. (Of course, my dad being a music minister certainly helped keep us deeply involved in anything music related!) I unfortunately didn't inherit any talent or passion for playing a musical instrument, but I have always loved singing in choirs. The local junior college had wonderful choir programs for adults and kids for a long time.

So when it came time for me to introduce some music education into my own children's lives, I was legitimately dismayed that all the choirs I had once been involved in were no longer there. I must have messaged every church in the county and...nothing. They sing, of course, during Sunday School and church services, but I was looking for something a little more specific. There are casual Mommy-and-me groups in town where they sing songs, but again, that wasn't really what I was looking for in terms of a school music program. Music appreciation programs/curricula are also a wonderful things, but I wanted them to play and learn music. When the kids are old enough, we will easily be able to find piano teachers. That is the one thing our city doesn't lack. Perhaps this is a problem totally unique to our area, but I was genuinely becoming distressed because I have no talent for teaching music with any kind of standard curriculum.

Enter Preschool Prodigies. I kept seeing ads for it on Instagram and Facebook and thinking that it was yet another subscription program we couldn't afford. After failing to find anything in the community though, I decided to check it out. At that time they offered a dozen or so free videos so you could check out the program (no instrument needed). As soon as I watched the first one, I knew it was something we needed. The videos are fun, no doubt, but I was impressed with how they presented the concepts of music in a clear and thorough way in addition to making it extremely appealing to kids. I enjoy watching and participating myself since I am not a skilled musician. I will learn along with the kids!

The videos teach a variety of musical concepts with desk bells. The bells are color coded, and the notes, color, solfege, and number are used interchangeably in the videos to help reinforce what each sound is.
Red:       C - Do -1
Orange:  D - Re -2
Yellow:  E - Mi -3
Green:     F - Fa - 4
Blue:       G - So - 5
Purple:    A - La - 6
Pink:       B - Ti  - 7
Red: (high) C - Do - 8

We also have the xylophone with the same colors. It is fun to have different instruments to play. The single disadvantage I have found with the xylophone is that you cannot play chords.
However, I personally feel that the xylophone has a prettier sound, and R (our three-year-old) seems to prefer the xylophone.

I have to say, the rainbow scheme is brilliant! My children are already totally obsessed with rainbow everything, so this makes it that much more fun.

The company also offers colored stickers if and when the children move onto piano, which is great.

Preschool Prodigies workbooks! Check out the program here!

The instruction/activity books are set up in such a way that kids are not only practicing music, they are also practicing writing, math, patterns, and more! They get to do a lot of coloring, and there are songs to practice in each book. Book 2 helped W get solid on left and right. In Chapter 2, they even have the kids playing with their feet at one point! 

They offer physical books in their store and on Amazon ($15 each) but you can also subscribe to the Pro program or the Lifetime program to get access to the PDFs (totally worth it!)

As you can see, the book introduces them to the staff right away! All the music I have seen is in 4/4. They introduce rests as "SHH." Kids see the notes where they go on the staff so they can begin to make the right associations. They are working simultaneously on note recognition, rhythm, and coordination.

There are a few different songbooks offered (including one for recorder!). The kids play familiar tunes (and some new ones too!) W loves to grab these books and just practice any time of day! The design is appealing, and it thrills her to be able to play some songs she knows already!

If the books have not impressed you enough, you will have to check out the videos. The videos are where this company really shines! Check out their YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/psprodigies

Tons of the videos are available for free! 

There are TONS of videos you can access totally for free so you can see what the program is all about. Mr. Rob and Ms. Sam are super fun, and it truly delights the children to see them!

The rhythm sections in this program are also really fun. They start out with a song called "Sweet Beets" where the beet is a quarter note (1 beat), the melon is a half note (2 beats), the cherry is an eighth note (half a beat), and the watermelon is a whole note (4 beats.) Then they eventually move on to a different approach, where the notes are divided up onto a pizza ("Za Time") This is, of course, very helpful for learning fractions.

One of W's favorite activities is the "Write Your Own" worksheets. They have blank bells or a blank staff, and kids can color in their OWN notes or rhythm! This is totally amazing to me, because it is already encouraging them to be composers! How awesome! <3 

You may be wondering about the price. Is it worth it for your family?

Preschool Prodigies offers quite a few different options, so you can probably find an option that suits your family and budget. We decided to get the lifetime membership because we have multiple small children. We know it will be worth it. (We also watched for a sale -- and let me tell you, they offer AWESOME sales all the time.)





Here is a listing of the different options:

-Starter Kit - A set of deskbells, Chapter 1 book, and Songbook 1: $59.99 plus $19.99 per month (sign-up for the monthly subscription). 

-Prodigies Go Monthly. Access to videos only (not PDFs): $19.99/month

-Prodigies Pro Yearly - Access to all videos and PDFs for one year: $299.00

-Prodigies Lifetime Membership (One payment) - Access to all videos and PDFs 3 year app membership: $1200.00

-Lifetime Bundle (One payment) - Everything in the lifetime membership PLUS a set of bells, a xylophone, a recorder, all 8 workbooks, and 6 other books. $1499.99

- Payment Plans for Lifetime Bundles - You can pay a one time fee or you can make payments for three months ($499.99/month) or six months ($249.99/month).

Check out the program here!

We began by ordering the starter kit, and by the time we had done a few lessons, I knew I wanted to invest in the lifetime bundle. As I write this, their prices are much lower than listed above. You can watch for sales. I have seen anywhere from 30-50% off! We definitely felt the price was worth it, and I have not regretted it for a minute! The current videos are amazing, and we have barely started. They have a recorder section that the girls will start when they are ready, and I have heard talk of a ukulele section! Who knows what they might add next? The amount of work and passion that has been put into this program is incredible.

Your kids will LOVE it! You can check out Instagram for more pictures and videos too if you would like to see children having fun playing the instruments!

Prodigies Music Lessons on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prodigiesmusiclessons/ 
#preschoolprodigies : https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/preschoolprodigies/

Prodigies Music Lessons on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProdigiesMusicLessons/ 

Prodigies Music Lessons on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/psprodigies

Prodigies Music Lessons on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/preschoolprodig/?eq=prodigies%20mus&etslf=4624

Here are the workbooks on Amazon if you are interested in taking a look!
They have a ton of stuff in their store such as boomwhackers, CDs, DVDs, and more!  https://prodigiesmusic.com/r/266/