Wednesday, December 18, 2024 | Brown Teddy Bears Lessons

Lesson #15

What a wonderful semester of playing and learning together! Sharing instruments was a great way to end our semester.

I would love to see you all back for next semester--Pink Piggies! Thank you for the opportunity to teach your children.

There are so many reasons why learning music in a group is beneficial! Children are much more likely to enjoy the setting when there are other children around. The synergy of a Sound Beginnings class naturally encourages children to participate and to excel. A large group allows for exploration in ways a private setting does not; through group games, dances and parachute activities. Sound Beginnings also provides a wonderful opportunity for parents and children to bond as they learn, sing, and play together each week.  

Optional home fun activity: No activity this week. You can always complete any you may have missed during this semester!   
(Remember, these activities are optional but can be a great bonding experience to do with your child during the week.)  

Want to have another teddy bear picnic at home? Check out this video of John Bratton's 2-step, which is our "Teddy Bear Picnic" song before words were put to it.

Have a musical day! 
-Ms. Bethany :)

Wednesday, December 11, 2024 | Brown Teddy Bears Lessons

Lesson #14

Next week is Instrument Day! Please let me know what you will be sharing with the class. It's more fun when everyone participates! 

We'll have some fun stations set up to experience together after we share instruments!

Infant's hearing is fully developed at birth and preschoolers have the ability to separate and distinguish sounds from multiple sources. At this age, the portion of the brain dedicated to sound is ripe for input, so listening to quality music and individual instruments exposes the child to sounds, pitches, and timbres that build a library of musical sound and develop music listening skills.

Instrument Day helps students gain confidence as a musician as they share in class. Even those who don't share in class gain listening skills, exposure to live instruments, and learn how to be a good audience member.

Scarves are wonderful tools for imaginative play and help children express their creativity!

Optional home fun activity: Do the Instrument Day activity on page 18 in your workbook    
(Remember, these activities are optional but can be a great bonding experience to do with your child during the week.)  

Does an instrument need to be really fancy to make awesome music? Nope! Check out this video of "Flight of the Bumblebee" played on a toy piano!

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:
	Research has shown that singing improves reading. Our classes prepare children for kindergarten by exploring concepts and skills such as name recognition, alphabet and phonetic awareness, counting, identifying colors, rhyming, telling time, and sequencing.

Have a musical day!  
-Ms. Bethany :)

Wednesday, December 4, 2024 | Brown Teddy Bears Lessons

Lesson #13

Has your child found a favorite activity from this semester that they insist on doing again and again? What might appear repetitive and monotonous to adults is actually a powerful learning experience for the young child. Their innate desire for repetition is their brain’s instinctive way of helping them master skills and concepts.

Instrument day is coming up soon! Each family will have the opportunity to share an instrument with the class. You can even bring something homemade! Anything that makes sound will be fine! :) If you play an instrument (especially if it's one of our semester instruments), we'd love for you to bring and demonstrate it for us! You are welcome to invite someone else to class if they would like to come do a short little instrument performance for us! I'll also have some instruments to demonstrate and the kids will have the opportunity to play some of them! Please let me know what you will bring, just to help me with planning.

Next week we'll sing these in class:

• Four Seasons
• Weather Bear
• Name the Instruments
• Little Boy Blue
• It's Raining
• Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear Turn Around
• The Bear Went Over the Mountain
• Going to the Zoo
• Flight of the Bumblebee
• Old Brass Wagon
• Your child's favorite activity song! Just text me to tell me what it is and I'll be sure to include it next week!

How the brain is structured and how well it functions is determined by the frequency, duration and intensity of an activity. The neural pathways in the brain ‘wire and fire’ in response to activation that occurs when a child experiences stimulation to their sensory systems. Messages in the form of electrical signals are sent along the nerve fibres from the body to the brain. The brain then sends electrical messages back along the outgoing nerve pathways to the body. The more practice the nervous system has at receiving and sending messages, the more efficiently it operates and the more effectively a child acquires a skill.

Repetition is fundamental to helping young children learn. Repeating words, actions and songs benefits memory and encourages language acquisition.

Rhyming helps the children notice and work with the sounds within words.

Optional home fun activity: Color the Teddy Bear March on page 17 in your workbook    
(Remember, these activities are optional but can be a great bonding experience to do with your child during the week.)  

Need more ideas for ways to use your rhythm sticks? Watch this video to see what else you may not have thought of!

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:
	Peek into a Sound Beginnings class and you will see skipping, crawling, dancing, and jumping! Full body movement builds large muscle strength, hand-eye coordination, aids brain-hemisphere function, and develops balance in young children.

Have a musical day!  
-Ms. Bethany :)

Wednesday, November 20, 2024 | Brown Teddy Bears Lessons

Lesson #12

Have you recognized many of the rhymes and songs we have used in class this semester? That’s because the Sound Beginnings curriculum primarily consists of American folk songs and chants, nostalgic songs, nursery rhymes, and well-known classical pieces.

Registration for Pink Piggies is open now for my existing Sound Beginnings families and those on my waitlist! Look for a separate email about registration that was sent out last week. Be sure to take advantage of the EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT  so you don't have to pay the $20 registration fee!

Next week we'll sing these in class:

• Weather Bear
• It's Raining
• Echo Edie
• Name the Instruments
• Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear Turn Around
• Down By the Bay
• The Bear Went Over the Mountain
• March
• Rocky Mountain

Nursery rhymes are much more than entertainment. They introduce idea of storytelling, promote social skills and boost language development. They also lay the foundation for learning to read and spell. Our use of them in class promotes listening to speech patterns and understanding rhyming words. It also provides the chance to interact with peers and parents and is intended to help increase vocabulary and prepare for further literacy skills.

We added the "LA" pitch in "It's Raining" because LA is the next easiest pitch to add to the SOL-MI interval when learning to sing in tune.

Singing songs while playing games that use large motions helps children develop coordination.

Optional home fun activity: Make the Teddy Bear puppet on page 31 in your workbook! Your child will be able to use it in class next week!    
(Remember, these activities are optional but can be a great bonding experience to do with your child during the week.)  

Sometimes it's nice to actually see the instruments playing the songs we hear in class! Here's "March" from the Nutcracker played by an orchestra. If you keep watching, it also has "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" and "Russian Dance," just in time for the holiday season!

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:
	Our classes teach intelligent listening and understanding of classical form in a fun and interactive way. Each semester we study the timbre (tam'-ber) of various instruments and our 'smart moves' dances involve the whole body in an enjoyable, classical music experience.

Have a musical day!  
-Ms. Bethany :)

Wednesday, November 13, 2024 | Brown Teddy Bears Lessons

Lesson #11

Our last week of class with be "Instrument Day"! This fun lesson gives families a chance to share an instrument with the class. Do you, or someone you know, play an instrument you would be willing to share? Maybe your child wants to try a solo from the semester (vocal or on an instrument from home). Of course, performing is optional and you are welcome to just enjoy. Start talking to your child about what instrument you would like to share with the group on this exciting lesson!  

Registration for Pink Piggies is open now only for my existing Sound Beginnings families! Look for a separate email about registration. You will have one week to register before I allow others to begin filling classes. I'll open up registration to those on my waitlist starting November 17th and to the general public on November 24th. You can send this link to your friends if you would like them to get on the waitlist and have a better chance of getting the desired class time!  

Next week we'll sing these in class:

• The Four Seasons
• It's Raining
• Major Scale
• Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear Turn Around
• Down By the Bay
• The Bear Went Over the Mountain
• A Tisket, A Tasket
• March
• You Are My Sunshine

In addition to teaching musical concepts and Kindergarten skills, Sound Beginnings also introduces children to several life skills. Many of the activities we do in class encourage children to learn to share, take turns, express creativity, listen, or interact and work together with a group.

The instrument families are grouped by the way the instrument produces vibration. The saxophone looks like a brass instrument, but because you blow air into it through a reed, it is a woodwind instrument.

Sharing can be one of the most difficult skills for a young child to learn. With practice and lots of positive reinforcement, toddlers will learn over time that sharing is an important part of life.

Optional home fun activity: Cut out the Down by the Bay rhyming dominoes on page 29 in your workbook. You can use them in class next week if you want!    
(Remember, these activities are optional but can be a great bonding experience to do with your child during the week.)  

Here's a fun video with some different verses of "Down By the Bay" that you can learn!

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:
	Little hands need to be strong in order to perform life and learning skills such as dressing oneself and writing. In class, students gain finger dexterity and hand strength as they participate in finger plays to favorite nursery rhymes and manipulate tactile props and instruments.

Have a musical day!  
-Ms. Bethany :)

Wednesday, November 6, 2024 | Brown Teddy Bears Lessons

Lesson #10

We are now three-quarters of the way through this semester. Time really does fly when you are having fun! If you are interested in continuing your musical adventure, be sure to register for next semester’s Pink Piggies class. Take advantage of the Early Bird Discount so you don't have to pay the $20 registration fee!   

Next week we'll sing these in class:

• Weather Bear
• It's Raining
• Name the Instruments
• Major Scale
• Down By the Bay
• March
• The Bear Went Over the Mountain
• A Tisket, A Tasket
• Old Brass Wagon

You may have noticed by now that a couple of our songs only have two pitches. Both ‘Fall is Here’ and ‘Snowman’ use the SOL-MI interval as it is the easiest interval for the child to learn to recognize, imitate, and sing in tune. Though this interval is part of the major scale, and therefore major in it’s tonality, it is a minor third. SOL-MI songs allow children to have successful singing experiences as they develop in-tune singing voices.

Our next semester of Sound Beginnings classes is Pink Piggies! We will be learning about money, Spanish, and farm animals. You will receive an email with information on how to get registered.

Optional home fun activity: Cut out the letter on page 31 in your workbook and play at home with your family!    
(Remember, these activities are optional but can be a great bonding experience to do with your child during the week.)  

Here's a video with a sweet big sister singing "You Are My Sunshine" to her little Down Syndrome brother. Near the end it shows her other brother singing along as well. SO CUTE!

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:
	In class we experience steady beat and imitate rhythmic patterns with our voices, bodies, and through hands-on use of instruments. We incorporate Eurythmics, which is movement-based rhythm training that is perfect for toddlers!

Have a musical day!  
-Ms. Bethany :)

Wednesday, October 30, 2024 | Brown Teddy Bears Lessons

Lesson #9

Sound Beginnings believes all children are musical by nature, but need some guidance to refine their natural interest into skill and develop the musician already present within each child. By participating in class, listening to the CDs at home, and encouraging your children to explore music, you are growing a musician!

Next week we'll sing these in class:

• The Four Seasons
• In My Class I Have Some Bells
• Here is the Beehive
• Snowman
• Down By the Bay
• A Tisket, A Tasket
• Baby Bumblebee
• March
• Old Brass Wagon
• You Are My Sunshine

Sound Beginnings encourages children to express themselves, try new things, and enjoy the world of make believe! Dancing expressively to classical music, exploring with instruments, and dramatizing stories help develop children’s natural desire to be creative. Creativity builds confidence in children and helps develop problem-solving skills that carry into adulthood.

In our ABC Song, the "unvoiced" sounds do not have a vowel sound attached. Pronouncing these sounds correctly will help your children as they start to sound out words they are reading.

Dramatizing a story through a song improves language development and develops a child's understanding of themselves and the world around them.

Optional home fun activity: Color the Flight of the Bumblebee dance on page 16 in your workbook    
(Remember, these activities are optional but can be a great bonding experience to do with your child during the week.)  

Here's a video about Vivaldi, who wrote 4 violin concertos named "The Four Seasons".

Here's a videowith the music to "The Four Seasons" and a fun animation that you can watch or just put on in the background and appreciate! Better yet, go ahead and dance to it! It's 40 minutes long, and it's so beautiful! Enjoy!

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:
	Sound Beginnings channels the young voice into beautiful, in-tune singing by providing proper vocal modeling in the correct range. Solfege hand signs teach pitch relationships; the minor 3rd (SOL-MI) pattern is used to develop in-tune singing and pitch matching.

Have a musical day!  
-Ms. Bethany :)

Wednesday, October 23, 2024 | Brown Teddy Bears Lessons

Lesson #8

Are you wondering why we have so much fun in class? It’s because research shows that play is the most effective pathway to learning. During play, failure is not a deterrent to trying again, problem solving takes place through testing and evaluation, and repetition builds security. As concepts and skills are presented in a playful, joyful setting, children absorb knowledge and ability. 

Next week we'll sing these in class:

• The Four Seasons
• Name the Instruments
• Major Scale
• Flight of the Bumblebee
• Baby Bumblebee
• A Tisket, A Tasket
• Old Brass Wagon
• You Are My Sunshine

Sound Beginnings builds its curriculum upon seven elements proven to stimulate growth in areas particularly crucial to the development of the young child: Literacy and Kindergarten Skills, Rhythm and Beat, Vocal and Pitch Development, Fine Motor Skills, Gross Motor Skills, Classical Music Experience and Parent Bonding. Together these elements give children a rich foundation for further music study, school, and life.

The letter of the day activity allows us to focus on recognizing a single letter, its sound, and its ASL sign. You can build on this activity each week by looking for things that start with the letter of the day at home.

Dance is not only great exercise, it incorporates gross motor skills and improves balance, coordination and spatial awareness.

Optional home fun activity: Make the bee puppet on page 31 in your workbook    
(Remember, these activities are optional but can be a great bonding experience to do with your child during the week.)  

Here's a video of another Let's Play Music teacher singing a happy "sunshine-y" song! 

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 :)

Wednesday, October 9, 2024 | Brown Teddy Bears Lessons

Lesson #7

Even young infants who do not show outward signs of learning are actually gaining from attending Sound Beginnings. A baby’s brain is highly sensitized to stimulus and will develop synapses based on the type of input received. Social engagement, pleasant interaction, movement, sounds, and patterns occurring in music will all stimulate the infant brain and enhance development.

Next week we'll sing these in class:

• Weather Bear
• Here is the Beehive
• Baby Bumblebee
• Name the Instruments
• Snowman
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
• Baby Bumblebee
• Flight of the Bumblebee
• Old Brass Wagon
• You Are My Sunshine

The development of the singing voice grows from a child’s natural desire to imitate. Children may sing spontaneously because it is joyous, playful, personal, expressive, and creative. By age 4 or 5, many children have developed their singing range; typically from the pitches of middle C to treble C. Sound Beginnings songs are designed to fall within children’s natural range.

Our transition activity allows us to feel steady beat and experience subdivision!

When children engage in pretend play they develop cognitive flexibility and creativity.

Optional home fun activity: Color the Weather Bear and cut out his clothes on pages 21-25 in your workbook      
(Remember, these activities are optional but can be a great bonding experience to do with your child during the week.)  

Here's a fun video of The Flight of the Bumblebee played on piano with a fun visual of all the notes that are in this fast song!

And I found this and just had to share because I thought it was so funny!

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:
	Research has shown that singing improves reading. Our classes prepare children for kindergarten by exploring concepts and skills such as name recognition, alphabet and phonetic awareness, counting, identifying colors, rhyming, telling time, and sequencing.

Have a musical day!    
-Ms. Bethany :)

Wednesday, October 2, 2024 | Brown Teddy Bears Lessons

Lesson #6

Research has shown that from birth to the age of 9 years is the optimal time to expose children to music, and Sound Beginnings takes advantage of the earliest portion of this music-learning window. Meaningful exposure to music at a young age means musical skills will be more easily learned and internalized.   

Next week we'll sing these in class:

• Weather Bear
• Baby Bumblebee
• Here is the Beehive
• Snowman
• Major Scale
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
• Grizzly Bear
• Going to the Zoo
• Old Brass Wagon
• Flight of the Bumblebee
• Lavender's Blue

In music, solfege is a method used to teach pitch and sight singing and can be utilized at every level of music education. The brain connects more easily with pitch relationships if a syllable is attached, and hand signs physically reinforce those relationships. Singing melodies in solfege helps the student develop inner hearing, musical expressiveness, and a feeling for phrasing.

Learning sign language improves a child's vocabulary, spelling proficiency, and fine motor skills.

Rhythm instruments help children increase gross and fine motor skills, reinforce hand-eye coordination, and help develop a sense of beat and rhythm.

Optional home fun activity: Color the Four Seasons on page 4 in your workbook    
(Remember, these activities are optional but can be a great bonding experience to do with your child during the week.)  

Here's a video about the seasons that just happens to also have a brown bear in it! That one is a little long, so here's a shorter video about the seasons!

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:
	Peek into a Sound Beginnings class and you will see skipping, crawling, dancing, and jumping! Full body movement builds large muscle strength, hand-eye coordination, aids brain-hemisphere function, and develops balance in young children.

Have a musical day!  
-Ms. Bethany :)

Wednesday, September 25, 2024 | Brown Teddy Bears Lessons

Lesson #5

Have you found your child replicating a class activity or song at home? Wonderful! Reinforce his/her learning by participating in the activity together (sing along, play the game, etc.) These songs and games your child is learning in class will open up additional teaching and bonding opportunities at home.

Next week we'll sing these in class:

• The Four Seasons
• Here is the Beehive
• Snowman
• Echo Edie
• Major Scale
• Little Boy Blue
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
• Rocky Mountain
• Mulberry Bush
• Grizzly Bear
• Flight of the Bumblebee
• Lavender's Blue

The younger the child, the smaller the vocal range is for singing. Echo Edie helps students hear, experience, and explore high sounds in their “head voice” as opposed to their natural, speaking “chest voice” . Through vocal play, Echo Edie will help to extend your child's vocal range, learn to sing in tune, match pitch, feel the beat, and repeat rhythms.

By echoing Edie with high voices, your children are discovering their head voice (or upper vocal range), which is so important for learning to sing in tune!

Life skills, such as doing chores around the house, or taking care of our bodies, are an important part of preschool education. Singing about these routines makes them more fun.

Optional home fun activity: Cut out the Little Boy Blue cards on page 27 in your workbook    
(Remember, these activities are optional but can be a great bonding experience to do with your child during the week.)  

Here's a video of our new class story Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? read aloud!

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:
	Our classes teach intelligent listening and understanding of classical form in a fun and interactive way. Each semester we study the timbre (tam'-ber) of various instruments and our 'smart moves' dances involve the whole body in an enjoyable, classical music experience.

Have a musical day!  
-Ms. Bethany :)

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:

• Listening to the music at home
• Do some or all of the activities at home
• Play with instruments at home
• Fully participating in class yourself and be an example of how fun making music can be!
  

Next week we'll sing these in class:

• Weather Bear
• Fall Is Here
• Little Boy Blue
• Echo Edie
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
• Mulberry Bush
• Rocky Mountain
• Weather Dance
• Lavender's Blue
• Round and Round the Garden

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!

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:
	Little hands need to be strong in order to perform life and learning skills such as dressing oneself and writing. In class, students gain finger dexterity and hand strength as they participate in finger plays to favorite nursery rhymes and manipulate tactile props and instruments.

Have a musical day!     
-Ms. Bethany :)

Wednesday, September 11, 2024 | Brown Teddy Bears Lessons

Lesson #3

All "Home Fun Activities" are optional, but if you choose to do them, remember to keep the puppets and other props in your tote bag so that your child can use them class. We won't use them every week, but when we do, your child will be thrilled to participate with their own creations!    

Next week we'll sing these songs in class:

• Weather Bear
• Fall Is Here
• In My Class I Have Some Bells
• Little Boy Blue
• The Teddy Bears' Picnic
• Going to the Zoo
• Grizzly Bear
• Weather Dance
• Lavender's Blue

Learning to keep a steady beat is foundational to learning to perform rhythms. In class we use both our bodies and simple instruments to keep the beat and we imitate simple rhythm patterns with our voices. As the heartbeat is the child’s most familiar natural rhythm, we reference it in class to introduce the concept of a steady beat. 

The beat mat is a wonderful tool for teaching steady beat and emergent literacy skills (such as tracking left-to-right, identifying the number of syllables in a word, and developing fluency by emphasizing a steady flow). The red hearts represent strong beats, and the pink hearts represent the weaker beats.

Learning about the seasons helps children understand the passage of time and teaches them about change.

Optional home fun activity: Make the Zoo puppets on page 33 of your workbook - you will have the opportunity to use them during class next week!     
(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 our class story about the teddy bears having a picnic! Enjoy!

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:
	In class we experience steady beat and imitate rhythmic patterns with our voices, bodies, and through hands-on use of instruments. We incorporate Eurythmics, which is movement-based rhythm training that is perfect for toddlers!

Have a musical day!   
-Ms. Bethany :)

Wednesday, September 4, 2024 | Brown Teddy Bears Lessons

Lesson #2

All Sound Beginnings classes provide an opportunity not only for you to have fun with your child, but to also bond with them. As you participate in the purposeful activities, make eye contact with, and dance along with with your child, you are nurturing a stronger relationship with them!

Next week we'll sing these in class:

• Name, Name, What's Your Name?
• The Four Seasons
• Fall Is Here
• In My Class I Have Some Bells
• The Teddy Bears' Picnic
• Mulberry Bush
• Going to the Zoo
• Grizzly Bear
• Weather Dance

This semester your student will be introduced to the major scale. The major scale is arguably the most important scale in western music as it influences melodic structure and provides the basis for naming the notes of the chords in a piece of music. Sound Beginnings students have the opportunity to internalize the sound and structure of a major scale before more formal music instruction begins.

The most important word to children is their own name. The meaning and value it has makes this a great place to start when teaching them to read.

Physical touch with a caregiver during finger plays and rhymes strengthens relationships through play.

Optional home fun activity: Color the bells on page 9 of 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 some fun facts about brown bears! (The real ones, not teddy bears!)

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:
	Sound Beginnings channels the young voice into beautiful, in-tune singing by providing proper vocal modeling in the correct range. Solfege hand signs teach pitch relationships; the minor 3rd (SOL-MI) pattern is used to develop in-tune singing and pitch matching.

Have a musical day!    
-Ms. Bethany :)

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 :)