Wednesday, February 12, 2025 | Pink Piggies Lessons

Lesson #6

Sound Beginnings is built on the premise that everyone is capable of developing musical talent and that the early years are the perfect time to start building a musical skillset. The meaningful and purpose-filled class activities provide a foundation for further music study. Parents can foster a child’s musical development by participating in class, listening to the album at home, and encouraging children to explore other music experiences.

Next week we'll sing these in class:

• Ten Little Pennies
• Hey! Hey! Look At Me!
• DO Pentatonic Scale
• Little Turtle
• How Much is that Doggie in the Window?
• A Rum Sum Sum
• To Market
• Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks
• Zoodeo

The syllables and hand signs we use in class are part of a pitch-learning method called solfege. It is widely taught at all levels of music education and has numerous benefits. Learning solfege:

• strengthens pitch relationships and develops relative pitch
• improves sight singing abilities
• aids in transcribing (writing down) music
• improves improvisational and composition skills

Optional home fun activity: Use your paper coins for the sorting activity on page 4          
(Remember, these activities are optional but can be a great bonding experience to do with your child during the week.)  

Here's a different song about the value of coins. Check out this video!

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, February 5, 2025 | Pink Piggies Lessons

Lesson #5

In today’s busy world, Sound Beginnings provides an opportunity for meaningful interaction and purposeful connection with your child. As you laugh, play, hug, sing, and dance with your children, you are bonding them to music and nurturing a stronger relationship with you!

Next week we'll sing these in class:

• Let's Count Our Money
• Hey! Hey! Look At Me!
• DO Pentatonic Scale
• Little Turtle
• How Much is that Doggie in the Window?
• Polly Wolly Doodle
• Palo Palo
• Uno, Dos Tres
• Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks
• Hush Little Baby

This semester we will focus on the pentatonic scale. This scale is comprised of only 5 notes, and contains no semi-tones (or half steps). The absence of half steps makes it easier to sing in tune and produces music that is easily layered over many chords and other scales. Some consider the pentatonic scale a “universally pleasant sound” and a “naturally occurring phenomenon” because music based on this scale is found in virtually all parts of the world. It is common in traditional folk music and widely used in jazz improvisations.

Optional home fun activity: Cut out the coins on page 25          
(Remember, these activities are optional but can be a great bonding experience to do with your child during the week.)  

Want to know just how cool the pentatonic scale is? Check out this video! (This one is more for the parents, but the kids might still find it entertaining.)

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, January 29, 2025 | Pink Piggies Lessons

Lesson #4

Even young infants benefit from the interactive nature of Sound Beginnings classes. A baby’s hearing is fully developed and the brain is highly sensitized and wired for learning. Studies indicate multiple benefits of interactive musical play in very young children:

• better developed early communication skills
• earlier and more sophisticated brain responses to music.
• earlier ability to imitate and match pitch
• accelerated language acquisition

To name just a few!

Next week we'll sing these in class:

• Ten Little Pennies
• Picaflor
• DO Pentatonic Scale
• Little Turtle
• How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?
• March of the Toreadors
• Uno, Dos, Tres
• A Rum Sum Sum
• Hush Little Baby
• This Little Piggy

In order to develop muscle strength, balance, and hand-eye coordination, children need opportunities to practice these motor skills, and to have interested adults and other children participate with them. Smart Moves dances provide an optimal whole-body movement experience with the added bonus of exposure to classical music. While increasing their physical capabilities, children are also training their ear to hear musical elements such as theme, dynamics, and phrasing.

Optional home fun activity: Color the ‘March of the Toreadors’ on page 15          
(Remember, these activities are optional but can be a great bonding experience to do with your child during the week.)  

Want to see the instruments that play our Bullfighter's Dance song? Check our this video!

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, January 22, 2025 | Pink Piggies Lessons

Lesson #3

All "Home Fun Activities" are optional, but if you choose to do them, please keep the materials in your tote bag and bring them to class each week. We may not use them at every lesson, but when we do, your child will be thrilled to participate with their own creations!

Be sure to listen to the class music! Next week we'll sing these songs in class:

• Ten Little Pennies
• Picaflor
• In My Class I Have Some Bells
• Little Turtle
• Fiddle-I-Fee
• March of the Toreadors
• Palo Palo
• Polly Wolly Doodle
• A Rum Sum Sum

This semester a few of our songs will help us explore the Spanish language. A recent study found that exposure to other languages had the surprising effect of making children better communicators in their own language! Exposure to other languages means exposure to different social perspectives, giving them “intensive training in perspective taking, which could make them better communicators in any language.”

Optional home fun activity: Color and cut out the Spanish counting cards on pages 31 and 33          
(Remember, these activities are optional but can be a great bonding experience to do with your child during the week.)  

How are you liking our "Fiddle-I-Fee" book? Here is a video with our class story! Feel free to sign while you sing! Here's the link to the ASL signs for the animals, if you missed it last week!

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, January 15, 2025 | Pink Piggies Lessons

Lesson #2

Some more reserved children are hesitant to participate fully in class. Parents can encourage participation (though never force/bribe) by simply engaging in and enjoying class activities themselves, and listening to the music at home. In doing so you are demonstrating how fun music can be and inviting your child to participate in a safe, non-threatening way.

Next week we'll sing these songs in class, so please listen to them at home:

• Name, Name, What's Your Name?
• Let's Count Our Money
• Picaflor
• In My Class I Have Some Bells
• Fiddle-I-Fee
• Palo Palo
• Uno, Dos, Tres
• Polly Wolly Doodle
• This Little Piggy

The voice is a child’s first instrument and, like any other instrument, it’s skills can be developed and mastered through practice. Sound Beginnings utilizes ‘Echo Edie’ to train the voice through meaningful vocal play. Echo Edie experiences are designed to help children extend their vocal range, match pitch, learn to sing in tune, feel the beat, and repeat rhythms.

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 that you can play your maracas along with! (The link starts at the beginning of the play-along song, but you can start the video at the beginning if you want to see the brief introduction to maracas!)

I made a sign language video for the animals in the "Fiddle-I-Fee" book! Check it out!

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 :)