Image of a painting of a two women and an angel on a rocky landscape. One woman is cowering on the left sie as she watches the angel in blue and pink robes talk to the other woman on the right side. Over this is a gold shape with a small painting of a man wearing a black scarf over his head. This is a portrait of Fra Angelico. Also there are the words "Fra Angelico Biography for Kids."
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Fra Angelico Biography for Kids

Ciao! I am Fra Angelico, an Italian Renaissance artist who lived from 1400 to 1455. My name may be a bit confusing – I was named Guido by my parents, but then I became a Catholic monk, or friar, and changed my name to Giovanni, which is Italian for John. So I am Fra Giovanni or Brother John. And then some began to call me angelic, so now I am known as the angelic friar or Fra Angelico. You can call me Fra Angelico. Let me tell you about my work as an artist. I lived in the 1400s, and…

Image of a set of doors with bronze sculptured scenes on it. Over this is a brown shape with a small sculpture of a man's face with a scarf on his head. This is a portrait of Ghiberti. Also there are the words "Lorenzo Ghiberti Biography for Kids."
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Lorenzo Ghiberti Biography for Kids

Ciao! I am Lorenzo Ghiberti! I was born and grew up near Firenze, Italia, but I guess you say it Florence, Italy. My father was a goldsmith, so I received my training in goldsmithing.  In 1401, I won a competition to design a new bronze door for the Baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence. Can you believe that my life work was creating beautiful sculptures on a door of a baptistery, the place where they baptize believers? Really, I spent most of life on this project.  You see, after I won the competition to create the doors, I spent years…

Image of a painting of a chariot in the sky near buildings with men dressed in brown robes looking up. Over this is a dark green shape with a small painting of a man wearing an orange head scarf and orange top. Also there are the words "Giotto di Bondone Biography for Kids."
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Giotto di Bondone Biography for Kids

Ciao! Hello! My name is Giotto di Bondone, but you can just call me Giotto, (pronounced Zhot-toe) for most people only use my first name. Let me tell you my story. I was born near Firenze, Italia – but I guess you say, Florence, Italy. Florence was known as a fine city for the arts soon after I lived, but when Rome fell to barbarians in 476 AD, they destroyed all of the art of the Roman Empire. It took awhile for art to come back into style. It mostly came through the Catholic Church … … in paintings and…

Image of a sheet of music with the words Hallelujah at a diagonal below the music. There are blue bars across the top and bottom of the image and at the top are the words 7 Reasons Why Your Family Should Investigate Messiah Oratorio
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Journey into Joy: 7 Reasons Why Your Family Should Investigate Handel’s Messiah

Could a centuries-old oratorio captivate the hearts of children? Handel’s Messiah most certainly can! In the world of classical music, George Frideric Handel’s oratorio Messiah stands as a timeless masterpiece. Written in just 24 days in 1741, its first performance was in Dublin, Ireland in 1742 as a charity event, and later, it made its way to Covent Garden in London. It has become a standard work performed during the Christmas season. Beyond its beautiful melodies, there are compelling reasons to introduce children to this classical gem, from cultural enrichment to family connections. Here are 7 reasons why parents should…

Image of two towers of gothic style church, which is one side of Westminster Abbey in London overlaid with the words 10 Reasons to Memorize the Westminster Shorter Catechism
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10 Reasons to Memorize the Westminster Shorter Catechism

Christians often talk about the importance of memorizing Scripture to hide God’s Word in our hearts. As I grew in my faith and became Reformed in my understanding of Scripture, I also began to see many reasons to memorize the Westminster Shorter Catechism, which gives a foundation of doctrine from the Scriptures. What is the Westminster Shorter Catechism? The Westminster Shorter Catechism is a concise and systematic summary of Christian doctrine and beliefs. It was written between 1643 and 1648 as part of the larger Westminster Standards, which include the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger Catechism. The Shorter…

Image of a brain made up of music notes with words above and below it in teal-colored boxes that say Boosting the Brain with Music Education
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Boosting the Brain with Music Education: The Importance of Including Music in Your Homeschool

“For anyone to grow up complete, music education is imperative.“Paul Harvey In our highly technological world, we are told to focus on STEM – science, technology, engineering and math. And to prove to the world that we are not making a mistake in homeschooling our children, we homeschool parents may be concerned about the academic side of our children’s education. So why would we want to add music and fine arts to our children’s education? This is exactly what David Kearns, now retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Xerox Corporation, asks and answers: “Why arts in education? Why education…

Image of Family playing with kitchenware as musical band at home with purple diagonal area and the words The Importance of Music in Child Development
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The Importance of Music in Child Development: 6 Areas of Development which Music Benefits

Can exposure to music help your child’s development? Yes! Music is a fun and easy and IMPORTANT tool for enhancing childhood development and building your child’s brain! To understand how music aids in child development, we need to know the order of normal child development and compare it to music development. Child development compared to music development The first sensory organ to function in the womb is the ear.  The heart of a child in the womb starts beating about 21 days after conception. At 40 days brain waves are measurable. At 2 months in the womb all body systems…

Picture of a woman jumping at the beach as she has learned How to Thrive, Not Just Survive, as a Homeschool Mom
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How to Thrive (Not Just Survive) as a Homeschool Mom

Is it possible to thrive as a homeschool mom? I always wanted to be a mom. With six younger siblings, I usually had a baby or toddler around to play with until I was a teenager. I would play dolls and dress them up, play school, and even pretended to be Mary Poppins. What could be better than being a mom with my children all day? There were a number of things I didn’t understand about mothering and homeschooling though, obviously. For one thing, my mom did not homeschool, so she appeared to have time to herself to do things…

Imge of a woman with shoulder-length brown hair and a white shirt sitting at a table with a girl with blond hair pulled back in a pony tail and pink shirt. They are looking at books and holding pencils as if writing in the books.
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Generations Homeschool Curriculum Review

For years, I have been part of Classical Conversations and used the resources suggested by Classical Conversations even when I left the community. This year, we decided to try something different. With a focus on discipleship, not merely academics, Generations Homeschool Curriculum caught my attention. In fact, they advertise themselves as Christian Discipleship Curriculum. With the spiritual battle in our world for our children’s hearts, academics is just not enough nor should academics be our end goal. It is up to God to change our children’s hearts, but should we not take every opportunity to teach them about Christ and…

Image of red background with out of focus lights and stars. In a white rectangle across the image are the words "The Best Classical Christmas Music for Kids."
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The Best Classical Christmas Music for Kids

The Christmas season is the most wonderful time of the year. So goes the song. And when it comes to finding engaging classical music to study with your children, there are definitely some wonderful and familiar pieces from the Christmas season which will help your children to fall in love with classical music. The ideal place to start with classical music is with short listening pieces. Here is the best short classical Christmas music for kids. Most of them are pieces from longer works, which are all worthy of listening to in their entirety when you and your child are…

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