 Wow, it's always so fun when you come to class. When doing the music and bell practice you may at times feel it is unessential ‘busy work’ and one more ‘to do’ for you to accomplish that day. Keep in mind each LPM activity does have a purpose and that the key to successful musicianship and smarter kids are parents willing to take the time to do small and simple things daily in a fun, playful way. These activities may seem insignificant, but the final product will astound you. Stay focused on the end goal and the play practice time will seem more meaningful. Homework: p. 44–45 Students draw notes to match those on the page.  Let’s Play Music Today our ears heard layers of sound as we sang the MI RE DO and SOL SOL DO ending to “Let’s Play Music” at the same time. Singing in harmony helps us to sing in tune and eventually sing in parts. DO RE MI YES! WE READ MUSIC TODAY in our DO RE MI activity! So exciting! We are teaching our students to read by relationships (steps, skips, leaps), not by note names. This is a more natural way to teach children to read music and it produces better sight readers because their brain isn’t bogged down with have to interpret the note names yet. Great Big Red Balloon Today we practiced visualizing the staff. In putting a note up on the staff and covering it, we let the children close their eyes and see it in their heads. If they can see it in their heads, they learn to internalize the staff and where the notes sit on the staff. Staff visualization ultimately results in learning to quickly read music. In a Humble Manger This is a fun song to help kids understand how to keep a steady beat. We also talked about the term lullaby. Pull Away With this song we also participated in what a steady beat feels like and our ears heard the MI RE DO pattern! Each song helps us to internalize many facets of music.  With Christmas coming up soon, consider a gift for your student that will help them in their musical journey: the 8 note songbook, 8 note songbook - Christmas edition, Student Magnet Board, 1st Year Magnet Set, our 8 note PlayPipes or a 1st Year Sticker Pack. Check out one of our amazing Let’s Play Music graduates! For my convenience, I have preloaded content for the whole semester. I will update each future post with specific time-sensitive info before I send the link each week. If you choose to read ahead you might see details that don’t apply to your child’s class. For this reason I do not recommend reading ahead. Thank you!
There is no class next week for Thanksgiving Break. Next class is December 1. It is also a parent day! We are heading toward the end of the year, which means we will be finishing up Red Balloons and moving to our Blue Bugs Semester. I’m so excited to start Blue Bugs! The time has flown by and I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching your children! It is amazing to watch as they learn concepts and develop skills that seem simple and fun to them, but are quite complex in their musical meaning, we just haven’t labeled them yet. We call this subconscious learning. I hope you have enjoyed your ‘musical time’ (a.k.a. play practice & music exposure) working with your children and helping them on their journey to not only develop lifelong musical aptitude but cementing skills and concepts that will serve them the rest of their lives. Homework: p. 42–43 Students color each triangle to show what chord it is. Who Took the Cookie? This may seem to be a simple child’s game, but there is wonderful rhythm component. When you talk during the chant the child is learning to keep a steady beat and verbally respond to and anticipate the rhythm. Chords in Pieces Our ears were in training during this activity. The students were learning to hear and identify a right or wrong chord. So essential to developing the musician inside. Puppet Show Today we did something a little different. We identified instrumentation by listening to the butterfly kissing the flower! When the students can hear different sounds and instruments within a piece it comes alive and they become sensitive listeners. With Thanksgiving just around the corner, here is a fun video and some fun activities you and your child will love! Enjoy the following thoughts on why music is such a gift to your children. They are an insightful review of why music education is so important. For my convenience, I have preloaded content for the whole semester. I will update each future post with specific time-sensitive info before I send the link each week. If you choose to read ahead you might see details that don’t apply to your child’s class. For this reason I do not recommend reading ahead. Thank you!
Thank you for coming to class and being such great parents. I hope you are enjoying this musical journey. I surely am! Remember, when you come to class, the kids may act a little differently than when they come alone. Your child may sit and watch certain activities, instead of participating that day; or they may act worked-up and fidgety. Just remember these types of behaviors are normal and expected. As the teacher, I will always strive for and encourage active involvement but realize, at times, kids simply want to watch and then participate the next time. Everyone is progressing quite nicely. Even though some aren’t quite matching pitch yet, don’t be fooled. With consistent practice in class and home exposure, it will come! Homework: p. 40–41 Students make baby steps on the drawn bells by marking an X, then play the steps on their bells. We're starting to read from the staff — AMAZING! This week we played a ‘baby step’ on the bells. We’ve been playing with baby steps on the staff up to this point, but today we added what it sounds and looks like on the bells. What discoveries were happening. It was fun! Echo Ed Echo Ed gave everyone the chance to independently sing the solfege patterns. Man, these are some smart kiddos! It is so fun to see their ears developing and getting smarter. Solfege Patterns Today we sang a MI RE DO or SOL SOL DO on command! They were able to do it without any hints! They have these patterns down now which shows you are exposing them to the patterns at home with your music playtime. Nice job parents! DO is Home We practiced singing “Do is Home” with no sound cues. They’re really starting to get it! Pulling a middle C out of thin air is what we are training the ear to do. The experts say developing perfect pitch isn’t possible, but we’re going to prove them wrong with learning at least one note perfectly! Read this short blog article on Musical Superpower: Perfect Pitch Also, learn how babies develop perfect pitch! How to help your Child develop Perfect Pitch For my convenience, I have preloaded content for the whole semester. I will update each future post with specific time-sensitive info before I send the link each week. If you choose to read ahead you might see details that don’t apply to your child’s class. For this reason I do not recommend reading ahead. Thank you!
|
Clara McDonaldAs a music educator of 25 years, my passion is infusing others with music! Archives
May 2023
Categories |
RSS Feed