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NOTE: Until I can find a better workaround, I will be posting new Parent Notes as images. When you click on the image, it will take you to a pdf version of the newsletter that has live links. Meanwhile, the links I send in your texts will take you directly to the pdf with the live links, to save you a step. Thanks for your patience as I work to improve the process!
Red Balloons Lesson 1
Friday, September 2, 2022 by Chele Howell | Red Balloons
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Lesson #1
I had "SOL" much fun teaching our first class! Thanks moms, dads, and caregivers for coming and supporting your students. I can tell we are going to have a great year, great students and great parents that make it happen! Thank you for singing along and doing the hand actions during class--this helps them learn, enjoy class, and builds a musical bond between you and your child. When they see that you enjoy music, they do too! I hope you and your child had fun as well.
All of your kids did a great job! Don't worry if your child acted shy, nervous, or wasn't interested in participating. All personalities, feelings, temperaments, and comfort levels are allowed in my class! They are kids and I will never force them to participate. Please don't feel like you must force them to participate either...(it's hard, I know). Remember, if you are singing, playing, and laughing it will be infectious! Trust me. It's still sinking in.
A few notes:
--- An invoice for tuition was sent to you last night (Sept 1st) via email. You have 7 days to pay it after Sept. 1st before it is late. An automated receipt will be sent to you.
--- I will be creating a virtual parent orientation for those of you who were unable to make it to Parent Orientation. I'll keep you posted on this!
---Materials for those of you who registered late, and for the Thursday 6:00 class, have arrived! You can text, call or email me to arrange a time to pick them up, so you can begin practicing your bells and do this week's theory homework, or just get them at our next class.
--- Remember, in 1st year the practice process is all about fun and ongoing practice through play! Forget about the typical rigid "we are now practicing" approach to teaching children music. Put out the bells and let your child play with them. Listen to the music every day in a natural way. (Bedtime, while in the car, etc.) Once a week sit down and do the theory homework. That's it! It's a piece of (FUN) cake! However you choose to do it is great! The kids love one-on-one time with you.
--- Parents don’t come next week, which means totes & bells don't either. Just send your kids in with their homework booklets and they'll be ready 45 minutes later!
--- Remember to initial your child's homework when you complete it. There's no need to rip out any pages from your book--just bring the whole book in. I will put a small binder clip on it to mark which lesson we're on.
--- I will send out an invite to a Marco Polo group made especially for 1st year students. Download the app and look for that invite as well as videos that can aid in bell practicing. Thanks!
Melodic Patterns
Many activities in the first semester will concentrate on repetitions of certain melodic patterns. The first is MI-RE-DO. We will sing it, do solfege hand signs, play it on the bells, see the notes on the staff, and feel it with our full body! The songs this week that have this pattern in them are: Let’s Play Music, Red Balloon, DO RE MI, Three Blind Mice, Frog in the Middle.
Steady Beat
A steady beat is an essential part of becoming a complete musician. We learn to hear, feel, identify and then reproduce a steady beat with every song in Let’s Play Music, but it is specifically addressed this week in Tambourine Train and Echo Ed.
Minor 3rd Interval - helps to sing in tune
Hickety Pickety and Echo Ed are key pieces in learning to match pitch. For a child to play and create music they must be able to hear and then reproduce what was heard. Using the minor 3rd SOL MI and simple rhythmic variations we train the ear to identify what is being heard.
Click HERE to download the Magical Lamp coloring pages. Print these two pages out and let your child color the characters as you discuss their favorite part about the puppet show.
"...We'll see you NEXT WEEK!"
(Except for Monday students, who will skip this week due to Labor Day--we'll see YOU the following week, on Sept 12!)
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. You may contact me via call, text, or email. Thanks!
