Tampa Mom

I’m so excited about having an Usborne Book Party this month for some of my friends and thought you might like to consider having one of your own! These books are really beautiful and durable. Many of my friends in the homeschooling community especially love the internet-linked books. They are awesome!

Whether you are a homeschooler or not, or just need to do a little Christmas shopping for the reader in your family, Usborne books will have something for you!

Come to my online party!

Can you believe that it’s only 75 days until Christmas? One great site that will help you start planning and get yourself together is Christmas with Kids. It has a 100-day Countdown to Christmas with a new post everyday about the upcoming festivities and how you can be ready this year. Check it out! Tell Mama Elf I sent you!

If you are looking for a really excellent musical experience for your child, I recommend checking out Gulf Coast Youth Choirs. GCYC offers a number of graded choirs led by professional choral directors. The founder of the organization, Dr. Lynn Gackle, has wealth of experience and is internationally-recognized as a leader in the choral world. She has assembled a staff of highly qualified professionals who carry her vision through to each choir under their direction.

Singing in a choir is like no other musical experience. It’s like a team sport with aesthetics. You are all working together towards a common goal – communicating to an audience – and the combination of musical language and the poetry of the lyrics speaks like no other. Directors set high expectations and the choristers continually excel. GCYC is a great place to be.

Our Experience – We are in our second year with GCYC, and have great hopes for it being even better than the first. I am thoroughly impressed with the quality of the organization in many areas. As a professional musician myself, I was concerned with the rigor and depth of the program and am sufficiently pleased. The literature selection, coaching, management, care of young voices, attention to detail is all there. Our child enjoys singing and is encouraged week after week to improve and get deeper into the music. Her choir performed at Disney’s Magic Music Days last Spring and they are planning another tour for Spring 2009. As a chaperone for that trip, I was impressed with not only the organization, but the quality kids in this program. They are top notch. It was an absolute pleasure to accompany them on a trip.

If you are not sure if this is something your child would be interested in, I suggest taking them to a concert this year and consider it for next year. You can get more information on their website at http://gulfcoastchoir.com/