Here you can find all the information for the classes each week! Select the category on the right (computer) or bottom (phone) for the class your child is in to see all the posts so far for your class!
Wednesday, September 18, 2024 | Brown Teddy Bears Lessons
Lesson #4
Some children take a little time to warm up to the idea of participating in class. You can encourage participation (though never force/bribe) by doing simple things such as:
Next week we'll sing these in class:
Smart Moves dances engage children in whole-body movement that helps develop gross motor skills while simultaneously providing them with a unique way to experience the elements of a piece of classical music. Children will develop large muscle strength, hand-eye coordination, and balance while training their ear to hear musical elements such as theme, dynamics, and phrasing.
When we point to the letters in our workbooks, we develop left-to-right hand-eye coordination and practice phasing that helps prepare our children to read!
The parachute strengthens large motor skills, develops a sense of rhythm, and encourages cooperation.
I've added many fun bonus activities, as well as dance instructions that you can download from your Student Portal! Just be sure you are logged in and click the "Online Resources" button. This works best on a computer if you would like to print anything you download. If you have children in both Let's Play Music and Sound Beginnings, be sure to select the child in SB. Click through the folders to get to the Brown Teddy Bears section.
Optional home fun activity: Color the Weather Dance on page 15 in your workbook
(Remember, these activities are optional but can be a great bonding experience to do with your child during the week.)
Here is a video with the original version of our Teddy Bear picnic song played on the piano!
Have a musical day!
-Ms. Bethany :)
Tuesday, September 17, 2024 | Bridge Lessons
Here is what we did in class this week:
This week we will do the blue highlighted assignments at home! This week a parent will need to initial the boxes to show that all the work has been completed! I will only be giving out prizes after the second week of each lesson. That way you can have 2 weeks to complete each actual lesson if necessary. I think it will be less confusing this way because they don't really complete any of the sections the first week.
Don't forget to help your child pass off their songs and scales to earn pins! You just need to send me a video of them playing. The scales can be played with or without the back track, but they need to be perfect at least one time with both hands. Please let me know if you have any questions!
Have a musical day!
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Tuesday, September 17, 2024 | Purple Magic Lessons
Lesson #4
Next week is PARENT WEEK and tuition is due for those of you paying monthly! You can scan the QR code to the right in your banking app to pay via Zelle (or just use my phone number).
This week we practiced drawing our treble clef by making a long skinny "J" that starts above the staff and goes below the staff. Then we pick up our pencil and start at the same place again and draw a "D" that meets the straight line from the "J" at the 4th staff line. We continue the line from the "D" with a "schwoop" that circles around the 2nd staff line. If your child wants to practice drawing these, please be sure they are doing them correctly!
We'll be adding new note flashcards next week, so now's the time to make sure your student really has a handle on the treble clef space notes. It will be much easier for them to learn the new notes if they're already really good at identifying the old ones.
Celebrate Connection
Alouette
This song is jam packed with opportunities for musical development. We will further develop our sight reading skills (playing something we have never seen before), stretch our experience with playing intervals, encounter rhythmic reading and learn more about the classical ABA (ternary) form with our fingers instead of JUST our ears. And you thought it was just a fun song you remember singing as a kid, huh?
We also learned about the repeat sign this week and how it makes us 'repeat' something in the music. Here's a fun dance you could do with your child to help them remember to 'dot dot do it again.'
Here is a link to all the skills videos as well as the link to be able to purchase a class video to make up for a missed class. (tap or scan)
Have a musical day!
-Ms. Bethany :)
Tuesday, September 17, 2024 | Red Balloons Lessons
Lesson #4
Class was so fun this week. I love interacting with your students and teaching them through play. I have the best job in the whole world!
Just a reminder next week is parent week and tuition is due for those of you paying monthly! You can scan the QR code to the right in your banking app to pay via Zelle (or just use my phone number).
Also, are you having fun listening to the music? (Please let me know if you still haven't gotten the app working!) When you expose your student to the music, and sing a lot, the child experiences fun repetition at home so they learn faster and internalize the concepts and skills in class more rapidly!
Learning to sing harmony
In class we listened and sang the song Hear How the Bells. The kiddos got to sing the melody while the ostinato played on the bells. We’re reinforcing hearing layers of sound as well as the importance of keeping a steady beat.
Music staff training
They are also learning how the music staff works. Notes are on the lines and spaces, and when they go up, our bodies and voices go up, when they go down, our bodies and voices go down! This exposure is prepping them to read music!
Autoharp
Playing the autoharp helps the children gain strength in their hands, helps them to "anticipate" the beat when they strum the strings, and primes their brain to do different right hand and left hand movement. It's the perfect prep work for playing the piano.
Hickety Pickety w/Mi, Re, Do on Tone Bells
Check this article about practicing the Autoharp at Home...even if you don’t have one! Our LPM app now has that feature! It works better on a tablet, rather than a phone because of the size.
Here is a link to all the skills videos as well as the link to be able to purchase a class video to make up for a missed class. (tap or scan)
Have a musical day!
-Ms. Bethany :)
Thursday, September 12, 2024 | Green Turtle Shells Lessons
Lesson #3
Your keyboard will now look like this!
We can play a red chord now! Help your little piano players remember which fingers to use by using a red marker or nail polish to put a red dot on their right fingernails on the THUMB (finger #1), MIDDLE FINGER (finger #3), and PINKY (finger #5). These are the finger numbers that are used to play the RED chord. Put the RED stickers on your piano at home and match the dots on their fingers with the stickers. They’ll be ready to play Old Paint next week in class! Be sure they are using the correct fingers EVERY TIME they play the red chord!
Skill of the week: red chord with fingers 1-3-5, ROUNDED like a bubble, fingers flat are trouble! Build a good habit from the beginning and it will be so much easier! Can your child play a red chord on ALL the C's of the keyboard?
Celebrate Connection
Here are some ideas to bring playfulness to practice time!
Kit Kat Keyboard
Don’t feel frustrated if it’s tricky for your child at this point to press down ONLY the 1,3,5 fingers… we’ll keep strengthening those fingers and soon it will be easier. Learn more here on how muscle memory works when learning to play the piano and why is it soooo important to emphasize that correct fingers are used when learning chords from the very beginning! Practice makes PERMANENT, not perfect! Perfect practice makes perfect! Finger Numbers Matching Game I've added a fun matching game to the download area on my website! Go to www.musikandme.com and click "student login". Once you are in the Student Portal you can go to Online Resources > Let's Play Music > 2nd Year, and download the "Finger Numbers Matching Game". It's very simple: print both pages, glue thicker paper to the back (if desired), cut out all 20 cards, and play "Memory" with them. Laminate them if you want, or simply print on business card paper and tear apart. This game is most effective if you have your child say out loud what each card is AND wiggle the proper finger, as EACH CARD is turned over, even when it is not their turn. If they seem overwhelmed, just remove all the left hand cards and start with just the right hand. Feel free to sing the appropriate parts of the 3rd verse of the Bubble Hand song as you play the game: "Where is one? That's your thumb!" My daughter LOVED this game when I made it for her a few years ago and it really helped her learn the finger numbers in a fun way! Another suggestion for a super quick game is to simply mix all the cards face up in a pile and have your child pair them all together! Then go through each pair saying what it is and wiggling the correct finger. The key is to JUST HAVE FUN!!! Please let me know if you have any questions about this or anything else! I'm here to help!
Here is a link to all the skills videos as well as the link to be able to purchase a class video to make up for a missed class. (tap or scan)
Have a musical day!
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