 Welcome to Green Turtle Shells! You made it through Year 1 and now we're jumping into keyboard play. Here at the beginning, practice only needs to take as little as 2 to 5 minutes, 5 times a week! The goal is let your child get the idea that sitting at the keyboard is brief and pleasant. Remember that listening to the album often is part of the weekly practice assignment and will enhance your child's learning process: Listen, Listen, Listen! Please text or email me a picture of your child sitting at your piano/keyboard with proper posture. 928.606.2489 Just a couple reminders:
Celebrate Connection Think of ways you can focus on making practice time as fun as possible – give your child warm, friendly eye contact, smile with your voice, be a little silly, show you are relaxed and happy to sit with your child, and look for the good in your child's effort. Notice the joy in your child's eyes. Verbalize the good you see and hug your child often. This is the beginning of the practice relationship that will be essential to your child's success in Let's Play Music. The more you invest your energy into positive interaction, the more solid and successful this habit will become. After doing your assignment for class, allow your child to fool around and experiment if he wants to, and play a song you know — no matter how simple. This can be done anytime or multiple times throughout the week. Model joy as you play the piano. If you make a mistake, smile and show that you are relaxed and enjoy trying again to fix the mistake. Celebrate your effort to give him the idea his efforts are something to enjoy and celebrate. Homework: p. 16–17 Students match each bug to its musical note. Be sure to listen to the Green Turtle Shell semester songs and get those tally marks written in for each time your child practices their assigned songs on the piano!  Do is Home Just a reminder to put one RED STICKER on Middle C (Do is Home) this week on your piano or keyboard. Each practice time should begin with THINKING OF middle C, then SINGING it, then PLAYING it! This will continue to strengthen the goal for each student to acquire relative pitch. If you haven't already done so, please schedule a piano tuner to tune your instrument so your child learns the correct middle C! Kit Kat Keyboard The first verse of this song emphasizes the black keys in groups of 2 and 3. Dividing the keyboard this way helps build 'keyboard geography' in our minds: a mental image formed from visual conclusions. As we look, study, and play at the keyboard, a mental map is formed. Use the entire hand to see, feel, and hear the black keys! Bubble Hands Practice with the bubble to build finger strength and good form. Finger numbers will be emphasized more next week. For now, focus on good posture and round fingers. Spring Bees Attached are some fun puppet show coloring pages. Print them out, turn on "Spring Bees," and have your child listen while they color.  We're so excited to have our parents participate in class with us! Check out some terrific ideas to make the best of your Let's Play Music experience in the classroom and at home with your child 
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!
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Clara McDonaldAs a music educator of 25 years, my passion is infusing others with music! Archives
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