Red Balloons Lesson 5

Friday, September 30, 2022 by Chele Howell | Red Balloons

Lesson #5

Thanks for coming this week! YOU are a vital part of your child’s music education.
 
If there is another parent or caregiver in your child's life that would benefit from getting these weekly emails, text group reminders, or the Marco Polo videos, please let me know their contact info and I can include them on any or all of those communication channels.

Homework Help: You’ll notice that the bulk of new concepts and skills are presented on parent days. We want you to see how the activities are done so that you’ll know just what to do at home. If you ever have questions, however, feel free to contact me. I sent a Marco Polo today showing how to play "Three Blind Mice" on the tone bells like we did in class. 

We learned a LOT of new stuff this week! Below are a few highlighted activities and their purposes.
 
May There Always Be Me
We taught the kids to feel their heartbeat and introduced the concept of keeping a steady beat. This is important when you're teaching a child to internally feel the value of notes.
 
A-Hunting We Will Go
We identified the MI RE DO pattern and sang it independently. The solfege patterns are important in training the ear. All the patterns we will learn in Let's Play Music have a strong cadence pull to DO. When the ear hears these patterns over and over again they aurally can start predicting where the music is heading. Patterning plays a major role in the construction of music.
 
Chords In Pieces
We actually read music today! Well, our eyes followed a chord map, and we sang the broken chords. The kids should be feeling so smart....yay!
 
Ding Dong, Ding Dong
Correctly imitating pitches is important in learning to sing in tune, which puts us on a path to becoming a complete musician. 

The Staff
It was so fun to identify the 5 lines and 4 spaces on the staff today!! And so lucky to have 5-year-olds and 4-year-olds to solidify it! We are taking time to let the kids visually familiarize themselves with the single staff. We used our Red Balloon song to accomplish this! Remember when counting the lines and the spaces, we start from the bottom of the staff and count up. Like an elevator! 

We LOVE having our parents come to class on parent day! It was so much fun singing our lullaby and rocking back and forth feeling the steady beat of the music. The latest research shows us that emotions are felt in the body via vibrations. Music is also vibrations (so is laughter!), and it helps us to both feel and process emotions. Music is healing! Music is powerful and every child needs music in their life. And not just for the reasons and benefits we normally think of as music educators.
 
Read Carson's story and witness how the power of music aided in healing a traumatic event in his young life.
(http://makingmusicianslpm.blogspot.com/2013/12/alwaysbeme.html)
 
Let's Play Music Podcast: Did you know that Let's Play Music has a podcast? Our podcast can be found on multiple podcast streaming platforms! You can search for Shelle Soelberg or the Let's Play Music Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Anchor, etc. You can also click the podcast icon at the bottom of this email.

---

Refer a Friend

We still have several spaces left in our Monday 2:00 class, and it's not too late for someone to join! If you know any homeschoolers or preschoolers that might be interested in Let's Play Music, please let them know! And remember, for anyone that you invite who enrolls, you will receive $15 tuition credit!

---

"...we'll see you next week!"

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. You can contact me via call, text or email. Thanks!

White Horses Lesson 5

Wednesday, September 28, 2022 by Chele Howell | White Horses

White Horses Lesson 5 

Coloring is an iconic childhood experience. Your Student Workbook provides many opportunities for your child to color. Not only is it fun, it promotes fine motor development, hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness, and sensory processing.

Color is one of the first ways young children make visual distinctions and categorize what they see in the world around them. When they are identifying and classifying by color, they are using the same cognitive skill set needed to process letters and numerals. Practicing color recognition helps establish a cognitive link between visual clues and written text.

Optional Home Fun Activity: Color the crayon coloring page on page 23 in your workbook
(Remember, these activities are optional but can be a great bonding experience to do with your child during the week.)

Let's Play Music Podcast:Did you know that Let's Play Music has a podcast? Our podcast can be found on multiple podcast streaming platforms! You can search for Shelle Soelberg or the Let's Play Music Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Anchor, etc. You can also click the podcast icon at the bottom of this email.

We still have a few openings in our classes--Tuesday 10:30 & noon and Wednesday 6:30pm--and it's never too late to join! Remember, for any friend you invite who enrolls, you will receive $15 tuition credit!

"...We'll see you NEXT WEEK!"
 
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. You may contact me via call, text, or email. Thanks!

---

Red Balloons Lesson 4

Thursday, September 22, 2022 by Chele Howell | Red Balloons

Lesson #4

Class was so fun today! I love interacting with your students and teaching them through play. I have the best job in the whole world!

The kids are starting to get the swing of class, homework and new music friends. And getting really good at recognizing the MI-RE-DO pattern in different songs! It's so much fun to watch the light in their eyes when they begin to make musical connections! 

Just a reminder that next week is parent week! Be sure to bring your tote bags with bells and homework booklets. 

Also, are you having fun listening to the music? 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. And I hope they're having lots of fun playing their bells!

Homework Help: This week's homework is matching up animal outlines to their rhythm clapping for Barnyard Boogie. If you need help, look at the number of syllables of the words each animal is saying, and that can match up to the rhythm of the clapping on the right. The little hands are faster clapping, the bigger hands are slower clapping.

Marco Polo: I put up a short video that explains tips for playing "Hickety Pickety" on the bells with your child this week. All the other items are review/repetition of what they are continuing to learn and practice.  

Puppet Shows: Some students have asked about having puppets to use at home. Get downloadable coloring pages that correlate with the Magic Lamp puppet show. You can also print some mini puppets if you'd like! 

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.

Check this article about practicing the Autoharp at Home...even if you don’t have one! (http://makingmusicianslpm.blogspot.com/2013/12/autoharp.html)

 And here is a simpler autoharp printout if you like what the blogpost suggests but don't want to get that detailed.

---

Refer a Friend
We still have a few spaces left in our Monday 2:00 class, and it's not too late for someone to join! If you know any homeschoolers or preschoolers that might be interested in Let's Play Music, please let them know! And remember, for anyone that you invite who enrolls, you will receive $15 tuition credit!

---

"...We'll see you next week!"
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. You can contact me via call, text or email. Thanks!

---