INFANT THROUGH SCHOOL AGE
I apologize for the lateness of my blog htis week! Due to my son's illness, our usual Tuesday classes were postponed to Friday instead. If you are wondering what the normal music schedule is, please note that a downloadable file is linked on the menu to your right, along with the monthly calendar and other resources. As always, please feel free to subscribe to my blog, email questions to
music@JoyfulNoiseKids.com or comment here! Your feedback is always appreciated!
CLASS TODAY: The students had a great time using castanets to sing animal songs today! We had fun discussing rhythms and using the small castanets to sing "5 Little Monkies Swinging In a Tree" (the castanet was the alligator), "The Little Woodpecker", and also "Wide Mouthed Frog", the song about a frog catching flies at the pond. For this song we used a fun frog picture whose mouth was cut out so that the castanet could be placed there. Each friend got to take turns playing a rhythm for other children to "copy cat". Having your child listen and copy rhythms or melodies is a great way to improve listening skills and musical ability using a "Suzuki" style method of teaching!
We also played a few fun games and tried a few fun exercises, such as "Peanut Butter and Jelly Stretches" (four year old room).
I strongly believe incorporating literacy with music and in the school age room, we generally combine a reading or writing element along with the music lesson of the day. Today, we used castanets in combination with rhythms to learn more about syllables. We then worked in teams to play guessing games involving syllables of similiar or grouped words. They had a blast!
MOM AND DAD CONNECT ______________________
The castanets we used in class are available for a very inexpensive price at Castanets: MusiciansFriend.com