DISCLOSURE: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

Explore the Composers!

Now that we have been doing reviews for the Homeschool Review Crew for a few years, we are starting to really pick out favorites and repeat companies have a chance to truly win us over. Today we’re talking about a favorite company and their fantastic games. Maestro Mastery - Explore the Composers is the latest educational game from Byron's Games and we were very pleased to try it out!

What We Received:

Maestro Mastery includes a set of instructions, 104 cards featuring 52 composers, 1 music timeline card, and 1 fold-out poster. It is intended for ages 5 and up and requires at least 2 players. Game play is about 30 minutes.

How It Works:

Maestro Mastery is essentially a matching game for music composers, but loaded with learning opportunities. Each card includes the composers name, years living, historical period they are from (which is also color-coded) and a short description of what they are known for. Game play starts with all cards (you’re playing with) turned over face-side down. A player turns over two cards and announces both names. If no match is found, the next player continues in the same way. When a match is made, it is placed in front of the player, grouping them by era. There are two ways to win - most matches or most matches in a particular era. With 52 matches possible, you can always use fewer cards for fewer players or for a shorter play time. If played in this way, it is a basic matching game. However, there are a couple ways to play that increases learning and (in my opinion) fun!

To encourage a better understanding of music, composers, and time periods, there is a listening element that Byron’s Games provides. It is played the same except for whenever a match is made, you find that composer at http://www.Byronsgames.com/maestromastery and listen to a piece of their music. Depending on the composers and the length of the music provided, this could extend the playing time as well. For Vivaldi, the entire performance of The Four Seasons is provided, which is about 45 minutes long! Another way to play that increases the challenge, especially after students are more familiar with the music, is to play one of the excerpts and have students guess the composer. A slightly easier version is to lay out 3-5 cards, play an excerpt and have students guess the correct composer.

What We Thought:

My 10 and 7 year old children played this, while my 3 year old witnessed it until they wouldn’t let him touch anything anymore! As a game, they were able to play it by themselves with ease, once I explained it. We always played it with listening to the music along side it. If we hadn’t, I think they might have lost interest much easier. Having the music freely accessible on their website, right under each composers picture (that corresponds to their card) is a great idea and great resource for teaching music history. As matching games goes, it’s easy for any age to play, but the content opens up quite a bit of learning to be done. If your child isn’t reading yet, a parent or reading sibling is helpful because some of the pictures look pretty similar.

From a homeschooling perspective where we often include games as enhancements to what we’re already learning, this fits perfectly. It is the type of thing that we will play several times and receive a different education every time. Especially when a parent plays, there are many teachable moments about all aspects of music and history. The games Byron’s games produces are all great additions to homeschool curriculum.

Follow Byron’s Games on Social Media:

Facebook: https://facebook.com/byronsgames
Instagram: https://instagram.com/byronsgames
Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/byronsgames
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqc5skcLby7XPMPubub8CRw

The Crew also reviewed The Family Journal from Byron’s Games. Check out other family’s reviews to find out what it’s all about!

 Mistaking Impatience for Serious Learning Problems

In our diagnosis-heavy culture, a good-hearted mama can convince herself of all kinds of trouble at the slightest hint of a learning challenge.  Normal developmental issues - like turning words around or crying over math that is 'too hard' - suddenly become scary things like dyslexia and failure to thrive in a mathematical world.  I don't know about you, but as a homeschool mom I can overthink and overreact, especially as it pertains to the success or failure of my kids.  One of the lessons I have learned over the last 5 years of homeschooling is that impatience is the cause of way more problems than legitimate learning disorders.  Maybe impatience is a legitimate learning disorder?! Of course, learning problems are everywhere and I don't mean to take away from their reality.  What I have seen, though, is that it is terribly easy to give up and slap on a diagnosis before we have considered the less complicated analysis.  What if your student is just in a hurry to finish their schoolwork and tries to work too quickly to notice all the mistakes?  What if it's easier to cry (in hopes of getting out of it) than to spend 5 extra seconds concentrating on that new math concept? 

My 10 year old son has cried foul a lot, especially when it comes to math.  A couple of years ago I panicked (a complete overreaction) thinking he just wasn't getting it and would always struggle with math.  After a couple of months of beating myself up over it I discovered he wasn't struggling like I thought.  In fact, his struggle wasn't really with math at all. He was an impatient boy who was in a hurry to be done.  When you try to rush new things, they can seem hard when in fact they are simply new and take time.  This applies to all subjects and ages alike.  Too hard is a very relative term and often false.  If we expect something to take a week to master and it realistically will take 3, there is bound to be frustration.  If we go into a new thing with the understanding that it isn't going to click right away, students are more likely to keep steadily at it. 

The next time you start to diagnose a major learning issue, you might try one of these ideas first.

-Accuracy. Reinforce that the goal is for work to be done right, not fast.  Double-checking work will actually save time in the long run.

-Time Commitment. 30 minutes of reading rather than 3 books can encourage students to take more time with their work allowing for fewer mistakes.

-Discuss expectations.  Sometimes we don't realize what we are expecting until we discuss it out loud. Are you expecting too much? Does your child understand what this subject is supposed to look like when done well?

Before you throw in the towel on a new skill or program, determine if someone (maybe even you, mom) is getting impatient rather than truly struggling.  For better or worse, the simplest answer is also the most likely answer.