Red Balloons #13

NEED TO KNOW

Red Balloons #13: It's always nice to have growups in class!

TUITION DUE: The last tuition payment of Red Balloons is due this week. Thank you for getting things in on time! It helps me so much! The next tuition payment will be on the first day of Blue Bugs,  January 9.

CALENDAR REMINDER: Next week, November 19, there is no class due to my son's surgery. The next week, November 26, there is no class due to Thanksgiving. The week after, December 3, will be a regular kid-only class for Lesson #14 followed by Lesson #15 on December 10, which is a parent day and the last Red Balloon class. Then there will be a break for the holiday. The first class of Blue Bugs will be Tuesday, January 7. It will be a parent day to kick off the semester. 

BLUE BUGS: We start Blue Bugs in January! Hooray! The first class will be January 7, and it will be a parent day. I will have your students' Blue Bugs materials that first day of class, including the calendar taped to the inside cover. If you'd like to check out the calendar earlier than that, it's available now at this link, and you can always find it under the Calendar link on the website.

NUTCRACKER: Along with teaching Let's Play Music, I sometimes present music-based programs at local libraries. Lots of movement, lots of classical music, and lots of fun! I'm doing my "Nutcracker" program at the Nampa Library on Saturday, December 7 at 10:30am, and at the Star Branch Library on Thursday, December 12 at 10:30am. You are absolutely invited to attend and totally not expected!

GOOD TO KNOW

LET'S PLAY MUSIC: Our ears heard layers of sound this week as we sang the MI RE DO and the SOL SOL DO endings at the same time. Singing in harmony helps us to sing in tune.

DO RE MI: We're learning to read notated music by relationships (steps, skips, leaps) rather than depending on note names alone. This is a more natural way to teach children to read music, and it produces better sight readers. Don't worry, we'll learn the staff note names! We'll introduce a few during 2nd Year, then all of them in 3rd Year.

FIVE FAT TURKEYS: We love our fun turkey song! If you are looking for something to do over the break, here is a link to a blogpost with 5-Fat-Turkey-based activities for all levels of LPM students. And if your student is a fan of crafts, here is a printable activity sheet that your student can cut out and act out the Five Fat Turkeys song.

FUN TO KNOW

If you're looking to add a music-based gift to the holiday mix, here is a blogpost with some ideas! It's an old list and doesn't include the Student Magnet Staff Board or the 8-Note Songbooks I've mentioned from the new Let's Play Music shop you can find here. Also, keep in mind that some of the recorded music (CDs) mentioned in the blogpost are on Spotify and other streaming services, and I've seen them available at the library to checkout as well (can you tell I'm cheap and would rather NOT buy things if I don't have to!?).

 

Red Balloons #12

NEED TO KNOW

Red Balloons #12: What a great group of kids are in Red Balloons this year!

ONLINE MAKE-UP CLASSES: Now that we're in the time of year where sicknesses rotate through kids everywhere, this is just a reminder that our LPM classes contain lots of repetition and missing a class or two here and there is no problem. Your student will be fine the next week. But if you miss two or three in a row, I would suggest to do a catch up video lesson to stay on track. You can purchase access to any class for four weeks. All details can always be found on my website at this link.

PARENT DAY AND TUITION: Next week will be a Parent Day. The last tuition installment of the semester will be due. I'll send an invoice later this week. If you don't get one, it means you've already paid for this installment! Thank you!

GOOD TO KNOW

SCALE UP OR DOWN: We played a game today to quiz your kids' ears! Each student got to hide behind a sheet and play the bells. They chose whether to play a scale UP or a scale DOWN, and everybody else got to listen and vote on what they heard They did a great job! 

CHORDS IN PIECES: Your kids are getting so good at identifying parts of chords AND hearing which chord is playing!

FUN TO KNOW

In the Waltz of the Flowers puppet show, during the part where the butterfly kisses the flower, the chime sound is made by the triangle. During the puppet show time in class, we got out triangles and everybody played along with the song. It was awesome! Triangle days always remind me of this commercial with a triangle solo. And just in case you hadn't decided if musicians are total dorks, here is a remake of the commercial done by the Florida Orchestra. 

Red Balloons #11

NEED TO KNOW

Red Balloons #11: Thank you for coming to class and being great parents. I hope you are enjoying this musical journey as much as I am! I love watching your kids absorb, and I love having parent days and seeing you interact with them. So much love!

KIDS ARE INDIVIDUALS: Some students are involved and excited, some are more introspective and withdrawn, and others are energetic but seem lost in their own world. It's okay! All of these reactions are just fine and all will foster learning! Some kids need extra sensory input. On student-only days, I frequently will have them lay on their backs or their tummies for different activities. Some of my best 2nd and 3rd year students in the past spent most of their 1st year classes rolling on the floor but it turned out that they were learning everything! Let your student experience class at their own pace. And know that they are absorbing the musical information they need.

LPM STORE: If you are looking for musical additions to Christmas lists, there are some fun things in the Let's Play Music online shop. Here is a link to that. My favorite things are the 8 Note Songbooks, which were made especially for LPM 1st Year students and are used to expand experience with the bell set. One includes songs that we use in class, and another is a Christmas Edition with holiday songs. I also love the Student Magnet Staff Board with the correlating magnet sets. None of these things are required, but your students might have fun with them, and they'd be great Christmas presents!

GOOD TO KNOW

BABY STEPS: We have been reading baby steps on the staff for a few weeks. Today we added another layer: playing baby steps on the bells. Don't worry if your student is having trouble understanding this. They're all totally on track and will get it! They're amazing!

LAYERED LEARNING: This week in my 2nd year classes, this skill (reading steps from the staff and playing them) is in full play. They're looking at different patterns of notes on the staff, figuring out what it means, and playing them on the keyboard. We're starting those sight-reading skills now by identifying baby steps on the staff and playing those baby steps on the bells. 

FUN TO KNOW

Have a snuggle-moment with your Red Balloon when you share this amazing marble run production synced perfectly to the Waltz of the Flowers from the Nutcracker. Enjoy!

Red Balloons #10

NEED TO KNOW

Red Balloons #10: I just can't tell you how great your kids are! I have had so much fun getting to know them and I'm so grateful that you share them with me!

HOMEWORK: In the Parent Orientation section of the Red Balloons workbook it states, "Young children will assimilate the concepts I introduce in class ONLY if they experience repetition and consistency at home during the week." I can tell you are doing that! Besides raising great kids, you're creating great musicians! 

CALENDAR REMINDER: I have changed the class calendar due to my son's adenoid surgery in November. I taped the new calendar in your students' workbooks (except I totally forgot to do it in the 11-11:50 class! Next week!). The new calendar is also available on the website. 

GOOD TO KNOW

ONLINE VIDEO CLASS: As a reminder, if you miss a class or want some extra exposure, you're always invited to purchase access to any of the videos from the online LPM curriculum. They are very well done, and some kids watch them over and over because they're so fun! These are totally optional, but I don't want you to forget they exist! The link to purchase is is here.

PRIMARY CHORD SONG: Your students are playing the autoharp and totally rocking it! They used their eyes to see the color of chord to play and their ears to hear if they were right. When it wasn't right, they fixed it! They're getting so good!

FUN TO KNOW

This week in class and in your homework, we are working on notating baby steps on the staff. It's fun to make staves and notes with other things... Playdough is a great tool! Have your child roll out 5 lines with the 4 spaces in between, and then some baby steps. Or you can ditch the dough and use other supplies. Pipe cleaners and balloons, licorice sticks and skittles, chalk on the sidewalk... the options are limitless! You could even just use the staff in the back of your book and put the tiny treats on them as the baby steps!

Red Balloons #9

NEED TO KNOW

Red Balloons #9: Parent weeks are so much fun! Thank you to all the moms and dads and grandmas and grandpas for coming to class!

ATTENDANCE: Thank you for keeping me informed on family trips and when your kid is too sick to come. It helps me to know who to expect for class! The curriculum is built with lots of repetition, so your student will be fine missing class every once in a while. If you'd like to purchase access to the video classes, you can find more info on that here. 

CALENDAR: The calendar has been updated to postpone Class #14 to after Thanksgiving, and shifting Class #15 (and the last Parent Day) to December 10. I'll tape new calendars in your students' books next week in class. If you missed class, my son is having his adenoids out the week before Thanksgiving and I'm going to be with him rather than teaching that week. Thank you for being flexible!

TUITION: Thank you for paying tuition on time! It makes it so much easier for me when everything comes in at the same time. If you didn't get it in, I'll send a request/reminder.

GOOD TO KNOW

BABY STEP, LEAP: We are introducing steps and leaps when we sing and dance this song. This is an introduction to steps and skips, which we will solidify during 1st year, and intervals, which we will label in 2nd year.

OOOOO HALLOWEEN: The students are learning to feel the beat of the song even when there is silence, and to anticipate the beat. In this song, we audiate (hear in the brain rather than the ears) the beats that aren't played aloud to know when to say BOO. It's so much fun to scare (or at least surprise!) the grownups!

FUN TO KNOW

We started our new puppet show! Waltz of the Flowers by Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky is from the Nutcracker ballet.

* Here is a link to printable coloring pages for the Waltz of the Flowers puppet show.

* Here is a link to printable mini puppets for the Waltz of the Flowers puppet show.

The recording of Waltz of the Flowers on the LPM app is cut where the butterfly comes back in to help the cloud. The song is a lot longer than we have time to do in class, and it needed to be shortened. I was so unsatisfied by how that ending worked that I did my own edit that shortens the song from the original but includes the finale ending. In class, we'll use my version that has a "everybody all together" ending for our characters. If you'd like to access the mp3 of my edit, here is a link.

Red Balloons #8

NEED TO KNOW

Red Balloons #8: We are having so much fun in class! It makes me so happy to see how much your students understand the musical concepts we are learning. I'm always striving to have fun with each activity, and also making sure the kids are experiencing the musical focus.

HOMEWORK HELP: This week's homework is a little abstract, but its not as complicated as it seems. Before the actual draw-in-the-book-activity, it asks the parents to "Perform the two patterns (MI-RE-DO and SOL-SOL-DO) for your child. Have your child identify the pattern." Just have a conversation about the two different patterns, what's different about them, what songs they're in, and sing and sign each of them while talking about them. You could even play them on the bells or on the virtual bells in the LPM app! Then color the patterns on the page! 

PARENT DAY/TUITION DUE: Next week is a parent day and the third installment of tuition is due. I'll send an invoice later this week. If you don't get one, it means you already paid for this portion. Thank you!

GOOD TO KNOW

LET'S PLAY MUSIC: I threw both a MI RE DO and a SOL SOL DO into our Let's Play Music song and your student got to identify which one I was singing. We do the same thing with our Fox in a Box game at the end of classs. Those ears are getting smarter every day!

PUPPET SHOW: We did the Magic Lamp puppet show for the last time. We celebrated in style using the parachute! Next week we'll introduce a new puppet show 😁**Squeal in excitement!!**

FUN TO KNOW

Parents, you are so wise for having your kids learn music! Here are a couple of articles that show you HOW smart you actually are! 

Article from the University of Washington titled "Music improves baby brain responses to music and speech."

Blogpost by guest blogger Sharlene Habermeyer, author of "Good Music Brighter Children."

We also did our Barnyard Song again. I can't clap the duck part without thinking of this song!

Red Balloons #7

NEED TO KNOW

Red Balloons #7: Can you believe we are halfway through the semester?! Everyone is doing such a great job identifying the lines and spaces of the staff, audiating, finding do, and all sorts of great musical skills!

GREAT WORK!: Your students are so much fun to have in class, and I can tell they have supportive parents. Thanks for sharing your amazing kids!

LINES AND SPACES: We have been talking a LOT about the lines and spaces on the staff. Your students understand about line notes, space notes, and how to verbally tell (with numbers) which line or space the notes are on. They are doing so great!

GOOD TO KNOW

OOOO HALLOWEEN: Singing like a ghost is a great channeling exercise, used in vocal singing lessons and choir warmups. We can practice a pure, natural head tone while extending the child's vocal range and helping them experiment with the sounds their voices can make. Here is a great blogpost about it, including a Haloween coloring page!

MAGIC LAMP PUPPET SHOW: The puppet shows help students to hear and identify the classical music, which helps the music to come alive! We have one more week of Magic Lamp, and then we'll introduce a BRAND NEW PUPPET SHOW on week 9! So exciting!

FUN TO KNOW

In most music for western ears and in Let's Play Music, we use the diatonic "major scale," which is a combination of 8 notes going from DO to DO with a specific pattern of whole and half steps. Other world music traditions have other scales with other patterns. But nearly every music system incorporates a pattern based on the same five notes, called the pentatonic scale. Some scientists say these notes are "hardwired" or "pre-installed" in our human brains. In this video, Bobby McFerrin uses the pentatonic scale to "play" an audience and shows how our brains are musically wired. It's amazing! You can find the pentatonic scale in a few ways. It uses the do-re-mi-sol-la of our major scale, and you can pull those notes out from your bell sets and experiment. On a keyboard, the easiest pentatonic scale includes all the black keys and only the black keys. In our classes, Hickety Pickety Bumblebee and Scotland's Burning both use notes from the pentatonic scale. So do Amazing Grace, Swing Low Sweet Chariot, My Girl, Old McDonald, and so many others! It really is a natural scale for your brain to love! For a lot more information on the diatonic "Major scale" and the pentatonic scale, along with other scales used in western music and around the world, check out this amazing blogpost!