Wednesday, August 28, 2024 | Brown Teddy Bears Lessons

Lesson #1

I hope you and your child have as much fun in class as I do each week!! Here are a few reminders that will help you get the most out of our time together in class:
 

• Please keep all materials (workbook, finger cymbals, and class manipulatives) in your tote bag to bring to class each week.
• Please leave food, drinks and toys at home, in your car, or upstairs. They are a distraction to your own child as well as others in the class.
• Please turn off your cell phone during class. Remember, parent bonding is one of the best features of this class!
• Please utilize the “break area” (the hallway by the bathroom) if your child becomes fussy or disruptive.
• Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have throughout the semester.
• Please be sure to download and listen to your class music on the LPM app! The more familiar you and your child are with the music, the more you can both participate in class!
• Tuition is due this week. I prefer payment via Zelle (just use my phone number) because I don't have to pay fees for that, or you may pay with Venmo (@musikandme), which does charge me a small fee, but either one is fine. Tuition is $180 for one student and $220 for a family with more than one child. If you have to make monthly payments, it is $45 for one student and $55 for a family with more than one child.

What songs should you listen to each week? I'll let you know here in case you want to be ready with the ones we'll use next class! Each week we will sing these songs:

• Everybody Say Hello
• ABC Song
• The Letter of the Day
• Everybody Say Goodbye

Next week we'll sing these:

• Name, Name, What's Your Name?
• The Four Seasons
• In My Class I Have Some Bells
• Fall Is Here
• Round and Round the Garden
• The Teddy Bears' Picnic
• Going to the Zoo
• Rocky Mountain
• Weather Dance
• Lavender's Blue

Besides musical skills, Sound Beginnings also introduces children to kindergarten concepts such as name recognition, letters and numbers, and literacy skills. Among other concepts, the Brown Teddy Bears semester will specifically focus on seasons, weather, and rhyming words.  

Solfege hand signs help us use our bodies to see and feel pitch relationships.

Smart Moves dances are designed to involve the whole body in a classical music experience; teaching children to recognize themes and phrasing.

Optional home fun activity: Do the Name Recognition activity on page 20 of your workbook     
(Remember, these activities are optional but can be a great bonding experience to do with your child during the week.)  

Who knew classical music could be so funny? Check out this link for the BEST duet of our Weather Dance song!

Here is a video that will help you to know what Sound Beginnings is all about and how it will benefit your child. This was created by another teacher and she was generous enough to share it!

https://youtu.be/IxZrTdk0pVk

Here's a fun video for ideas of how to interact with your baby during class (if applicable):

https://youtu.be/8nyS_nQlpE0

Sound Beginnings is education through musical play! It prepares children for success in Kindergarten and Let’s Play Music. Sound beginnings provides research-based elements that stimulate growth in the areas particularly crucial to the development of the young child. These elements make up the foundation of the Sound Beginnings curriculum.  Here is just one:
	A child learns when he or she feels loved. In class, purposeful touching, eye contact, partner activities, and generational nostalgia help develop the all-important parent/child relationship.

Have a musical day!   
-Ms. Bethany :)