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Here you can find all the information for the classes each week! 
Select the class your child is in to see all the posts so far for your class!


Pink 
Piggies
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Blue
Bugs
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Yellow
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Orange
Roots

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Bridge

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Brown Teddy Bears #15

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 :)email_signature.gif

Brown Teddy Bears #14

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:
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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 :)email_signature.gif

Brown Teddy Bears #13

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!


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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:
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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 :)email_signature.gif

Brown Teddy Bears #12

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!


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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:
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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 :)email_signature.gif

Brown Teddy Bears #11

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!


7_elements_line.gif
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 :)email_signature.gif