Learning Basic Skills Through Music is a music CD created for preschoolers, slow learners, and early elementary children. It is a fun and engaging way to teach or reinforce listening skills, colors, numbers, alphabet recognition, imaginative play, body awareness, grooming, growing, and articles of clothing to wiggly preschool and kindergarten students. It is an action CD (with 10 songs) that requires the children to act out the words to the songs, so it's not very useful for car trips.

I played this a few times for my 3- and 4-year-old sons, and they enjoyed the music and had fun with it. However, it wasn't until I used Learning Basic Skills Through Music in our co-op with the 2 to 41/2-year-old class that I found the full benefit of this CD. The children loved all of the songs--especially the song about colors. They enjoyed standing and sitting according to the lyrics of the "Color" song and asked me to repeat the song several times. The song lyrics are printed in the CD jacket, along with the materials needed (you will need color cards or scarves for the "Color" song and a set of alphabet cards for "Marching Around the Alphabet") and instructions for how the children should act out the songs.

I don't think I would purchase this CD simply for use at home (unless I had 4 or more children who would benefit from it), but I would highly recommend it for use in a co-op or Sunday school setting.

Product review by Courtney Larson, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, January 2009