Mary’s Lamb Comes to Music Class

November 7th, 2011 Posted in Children's Songs
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It followed her to music school one day…

Children still love the classic song about Mary and her lamb and take great joy in dramatizing the story.  Today Mary’s lamb followed her to my three year old partner class at the Winchester Community Music School.

As we all sit in a circle one child plays the part of Mary.  She walks around the circle by herself while we sing and selects another child to be her lamb as the verse comes to an end.  Mary then walks where ever she wants to in the room with her lamb following behind.  At the end of the second verse the child playing the part of the lamb becomes Mary and the game is repeated until everyone has had a chance to be Mary.  Boys play the part of Harry.

I love watching the Marys and Harrys enjoy their turns as leader.  Giving them the freedom to lead the lamb anywere in the room lets them make choices in a fun and safe environment.

 

 

 

 

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Music Class at the Library

October 28th, 2011 Posted in Kids Music
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Music Class at the Library

This morning I made music with an enthusiastic crowd at the Boston Public Library’s  Copley Branch.   Billed as an infant/toddler sing along these music classes are offered free to the public by the library.   There are often over 60 children with their caregivers in attendance.  That makes for a musical experience that is quite different from my drop-in classes which can have as many as 12 children but typically are half that size.

I enjoy both formats.  The library crowd can be loud and chaotic but you haven’t lived until you’ve played Ring Around the Rosie with a group that size!  On the other hand, my small studio classes give me the opportunity to build relationships with the children and caregivers I’m making music with.

Big crowds and small gatherings are both wonderful ways to share music with each other.  I hope to see you soon at one or the other!

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Halloween Fun in the Highlands

October 28th, 2011 Posted in Miss Linda's Musical Musings
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Halloween Cupcakes & Giggles 

Green Planet Kids, Bread & Chocolate, and Giggle Kids Music are co-hosting a yummy, musical, fun, Halloween event. Please join us to:

  • Decorate a cupcake at Bread & Chocolate - the wonderful Bakery/Cafe, in Newton Highlands!
  • Costume Parade to Green Planet Kids – your favorite Award-Winning Toy Store!
  • Sing, Wiggle & Shake with Giggle Kids Music – Newton’s only Drop-In Music Program.  

Sunday, October 30th @ Noon, 1:00 pm, 2:00 pm, or 3:00 pm.

Free, but we have limited space.

Please call Green Planet Kids to register your child @(617) 332-7841.

*If you get their voicemail, please leave your name and telephone number.  They will call you back to complete your registration. 

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Way up High in the Apple Tree

October 21st, 2011 Posted in What Are We Learning?
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The Highs and Lows of Apple Picking

This time of year we do a lot of apple picking in music class.   It is a wonderful way to learn about musical opposites High & Low and Up & Down.  We sing Lynn Kleiner’s setting of the popular preschool rhyme Way Up High in the Apple Tree to show how apple trees grow strong and tall and how the apples fall down off the trees.   A jaunty musical trip through our imaginary orchard helps us associate high musical pitches with the physical sensation of stretching up to pick an apple. Likewise, picking up apples that have fallen to the ground helps us associate low musical pitches with the physical sensation of stooping down to pick up an apple. With my preschool students we use a glockenspiel as an apple picking ladder to hear the ascending and descending pitches as we climb to pick our apples.

We also learn about other things during our apple picking journey.  In Shake the Apple Tree we learn about sharing apples with others.   In Farmer Brown had 5 Green Apples we learn about counting, subtraction and taking turns.

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My Email Black Hole

September 26th, 2011 Posted in Miss Linda's Musical Musings
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I have just discovered that my gigglekids.net emails have not been reaching me.  If you have sent me an email in the past few weeks – my sincere apologies.   I’m going to have a little talk with my site host now and  I hope to be receiving all of your communications in the very near future.

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Do Re Mi & A B C – Kindergarten here we come!

August 20th, 2011 Posted in Miss Linda's Musical Musings
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Kindergarten, here we come!

Last week, with one more week of summer classes left at a daycare I teach at, I realized that I have known this year’s graduates since babyhood.  (Theirs, not mine)   It is amazing how much they have all grown up.   From the squirmy, stranger-wary young toddlers who often cried when Miss Linda came to make music with them they have become confident young musicians.

Over the years they have grown to love being challenged by music games.   One game they particularly loved  sticks in my mind.  Armed with a basket full of cards depicting different picnic foods we played a game that taught rhythm patterns and primed them for reading music notation.  One of the kids realized that our goodbye song had places we could fit in our food names-  so we did.  Ever since then we have ended every music class by singing “It’s time to go now (hot dog!)…see you next week. (co-o-o-o-o-orn!)” inserting different words depending on the season or the unit being studied that week.

I’ll miss these kids but I know they are going out into the world as joyful musicians and I wish them all the music and happiness life has to offer.

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Call for Cute Photos

August 4th, 2011 Posted in Miss Linda's Musical Musings
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Cute Music Class Pictures?

I’d like to include some action shots on my new website but I’m always too busy leading class to take pictures.  If you have any cute pictures of your child in music class I would love to use them.  I will offer a free 4 visit punch card to each child whose picture(s) appear on my site (with their parents’ permission).

Your child Here

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Keyboard Camp

July 25th, 2011 Posted in Kids Music
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Keyboard Camp Review

I just finished up a 2 week beginning keyboard workshop.  My students ranged in age from 5-8 and we had a great time!  My keyboard classes were part of a larger program that had all the campers in instrument, theory, drumming and singing classes each day at the Concord Conservatory.  It was a wonderful music program for kids.

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The Nursery Rhyme Workout

May 6th, 2011 Posted in What Are We Learning?
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Nursery Rhyme Workouts

Nursery Rhymes are an important tool in children’s language development.   In our baby and toddler music classes nursery rhymes are frequently presented as lap bounces.  Although lap bounces are are often dreaded by adults because they can be pretty strenuous, children adore them.

Nursery Rhymes help children learn about the rhythm of our language.  They build vocabulary and memory.   Familiarity with rhyming helps children decode written language.  Children who haven’t been exposed to rhyming before kindergarten/first grade often do not have the  phonological awareness they need to become successful readers.

Nursery Rhyme lap bounces usually come early in my classes – often right after hello.  They are a wonderful non-threatening way for children to transition into class.  From the safety of a trusted lap they have the opportunity to size me up and decide if music class is an OK thing to do.  When they are comfortable and having fun it is easier for them to participate in the rest of the class activities.

To learn more about the  benefits of sharing nursery rhyme games with your child check out my link to the article Learning Through Play.

 

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So, What is Dalcroze Eurhythmics, anyway?

May 6th, 2011 Posted in Miss Linda's Musical Musings
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Dalcroze Eurhythmics

Emile Jacques-Dalcroze was a music educator around the start of the 20th century who was quite frustrated with the lack of musicality in his students.  His quest to teach his students not only the theoretical aspects of music but also its expressive qualities as well led him to develop his pedigogical principles now commonly referred to as Dalcroze Eurhythmics.

He believed that the body is our first instrument and it is through our body that we can best learn and understand music.  If students are able to physically express the rhythmic and expressive elements of music their embodied sense of the music will translate to performances on their instrument that are much more musical. Dalcroze’s method divides music learning into three areas;  rhythmic and expressive movement (eurhythmics), solfege and improvisation with voices and instruments.

Originally meant for conservatory students, Dalcroze Eurhythmics is brilliant for young children.  It translates their imagination, playfulness and innate sense of rhythm into a musical context.  Dalcroze games strengthen children’s listening, memory, concentration, and attention giving them tools they can use as musicians and learners in all areas of their lives.

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