Weekly Parent Newsletters

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 3

Thursday, September 15, 2022 by Chele Howell | Red Balloons

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Lesson #3

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What great classes we had this week! Seriously so much fun!!  Thanks for participating and enjoying your time together with them. What a gift to spend quality time with your precious child, bonding and creating fun music memories! This is SO much fun!!

STUDENT ONLY DAY NEXT WEEK: Parents don't come to class next week, which means totes and bells don't either. Just send your kids in with their homework booklet and they will be ready 45 minutes later. ☺

*If your student is nervous about coming to class without you, please don't force the issue. Tender little souls might put up some major blocks and end up dreading class because they're so anxious about time alone. Do what works for your family. If that's having you sit on my front swing during class, that's fine. If that's having you come inside and sit on my entry bench or in my living room, that's fine. If that's having you sit with your child at the start, that's fine too.  
 
LAST WEEK'S HOMEWORK: Last week's homework may have seemed kind of tricky. It seems like the kids should get more than two weeks to learn all of the hand signs! But there is help! Check out page 55 in the Reference Section of the homework booklet.

MISSING CLASSES: Life happens and sometimes you miss class. It's no biggie! There is a lot of repetition built into the classes and your student will be just fine. For the first time this year, though, there is another option. If you miss a class (or a bunch of classes) for whatever reason and want to do a makeup, you can purchase access to those classes produced for the LPM Online program. You can read more about that at this link. I don't expect you to use these unless you want to, and it probably isn't necessary unless you end up missing three or more classes in a row. But I did want you to be aware of the option! (The videos are VERY well done, and a lot of fun!)
 
PARENT CONTACT LIST: I have a couple of families in which BOTH parents have asked to be on my list for emails/texts/marco polos. If there is another person in YOUR family that would like to be added to my list, please let me know.

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Barnyard Boogie
This peppy song is even more fun when you realize we are imitating and identifying complex rhythmic patterns! The brains of young children are designed to extract patterns from complex layers, making more connections with each exposure. Start with playfully clapping the animals separate from the audio track at a slower speed. Soon they will clap right along as the track plays!

Primary Chords Song
This week, we did a lot of describing what the red, blue and yellow chords sound like. The red chord feels like home, or like the end of the song. The yellow chord feels like it wants to go back to the red chord. The blue chord feels kind of floaty and far away. Developing an ear for these chords is so important, and learning how to describe how they sound will help us do this!

DO is Home
Our purpose here is to match pitch, and eventually, to accurately sing that middle C out of thin air with no cues! WOW! This process will take six months to three years, so we'll work on it every week during our three years together. While some people may be born with perfect pitch, or absolute pitch, when it is taught at a young enough age and repeated enough over a long period of time, it can also be developed!

Staff Awareness
In Let's Play Music we experience things before we label them. Experiencing and playing with the music staff is a great way to understand how it functions. When we start to add things to the staff like notes, and key signatures, the students will have information stored in their brains that they can connect it to, so identifying lines/spaces on the staff is the beginning of our visual learning of the staff.

Play an ostinato on the bells - harmony training
An ostinato is a repeated musical pattern that is played at the same time as a separate melody. We did this today as we played DO SOL on the bells while singing the song “Hear How the Bells.” Our ears are getting SO SMART!

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Solfege
Solfege! It's a big deal! It can help your student (and you!) understand music in a deeper way. Check out the background of solfege HERE.  This is good stuff!

Folk Music
Why do we use folk music in Let's Play Music? This question is an important one. Read HERE to find the answer!

 Also, Click HERE to read about one of our Let's Play Music graduates!

(http://makingmusicianslpm.blogspot.com/2014/10/three-blind-mice.html)
(http://makingmusicianslpm.blogspot.com/2013/05/incredible-lpm-graduate-from-2001.html)

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 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!