If you are in search of a great program to bring life to your American History program, look no further than Diana Waring’s Experience History Through Music collection. These three amazing books are jam-packed with great songs, stories, and more to be used as an accessory product to any American History curriculum. Experience History Through Music is like taking a trip back in time.
Diana Waring is the author of the History Revealed world history curriculum. Her educational philosophy is that “the key to education is relationship”. Diana began homeschooling her children in the early 80’s and continued to do so all the way through high school. While searching for a great history curriculum, she was unable to find a program that suited her family, so she decided to create her own. Over time she shared this curriculum with others and that eventually led her to publish it so homeschoolers every where could use the programs.
This book in the series begins by sharing Folk music that dates back to the Revolution and onto through colonial days of early American History. Beginning with Yankee Doodle, this book shares the background of the song along with an image appropriate to the song’s time period. The book is formatted to share the stories of the songs, then later share the song’s sheet music and lyrics in the second section of the book.
America is my favorite of the series set. This book is filled with some of my favorites from American History and I could listen to it again and again. I sing a reworded version of Yankee Doodle to Jackson as his song, changing the lyrics to fit to my Jackson-Doodle. Erie Canal is another favorite that we have found is hard to locate to listen to so we were thrilled to see it included with this curriculum. She’ll Be Coming Around the Mountain is a song I used to sing while waiting for the schoolbus every morning when I attended public school in the late 80’s- early 90’s. Listening to this CD brings back so many childhood memories!
Westward Ho! The Heart of the Old West
This book covers history from the earliest days of the Old West. It is formatted in the same form as America and filled with stories and pictures to learn from. Many of these songs were new to us but we greatly enjoyed them. Westward Ho! and Home On The Range were childhood favorites of mine which I loved sharing with the kids. We learned a lot about America’s past from this book!
This book focuses on the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder and music from her lifetime. This book is written by William Anderson who is a biographer for Laura Ingalls Wilder. Photographs shared within this book come from Leslie A. Kelly, the internationally known Little House photographer. Many of these songs were also new to me, though some I had heard on the tv series about Mrs. Wilder’s books. Some of my childhood favorites are Buffalo Gals, Pop! Goes the Weasel and Sweet By and By. These songs also evoked great memories that I was happy to share with my family.
Since this book in the series concentrates solely on the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder, this book would make a great accessory to anyone reading her books and learning about this time period of life through history related to Laura. The book is filled with images and stories about Laura’s life. It was wonderful to see this beautifully designed book share so much about such an inspiring person!
Diana Waring’s Experience History Through Music series can be purchased for $18.99 per book in the set. If you purchase the set during July (at the time of this posting), you can bundle the set and purchase it for $50. This amazing series is worth every penny and can be used again and again in your home! I am sure your family will enjoy these books just as much as we have in our homes!
You can find Diana Waring Presents online in the following places:
