Music for Tots

Parenting Tip - Save the Cookie Cutters for Cookies

2012-01-29T19:32:00.000-08:00

Cookie cutters. Metal or plastic shapes devised to cut out cookies so they will all turn out uniform and identical.

Mothers. Teachers of offspring, responsible for teaching them to become law abiding and loving citizens.

Does our society produce cookie cutter mothers? Do we put pressure on ourselves to become a cookie cutter mother? Do we look at our neighbors and try to mother the way they do? Do we try to get our children to look the same way? Act the same way? Be involved in the same activities?

Every family is different because the make up the family—the Mom and Dad and children—are different. Celebrate these differences!

Are you a Mom who is active and likes sports? Then run and swim and dance and have fun with your children.

Are you a Mom who loves to draw and paint? Then get out the crayons, markers, and play dough and draw and sculpt with your children. Have fun being an artist.

Are you a Mom who loves to read? Then read with your children. Go to the library or sit at home and read, and laugh and share books.

Are you a Mom who doesn’t know what she likes to do or is good at? Then explore. Go to the park and play, go to the library and read, go to the museum and discover new ideas. Involve your children in your discovery.

Be a mother YOUR way. Be a mother who lets her children discover THEIR way. Put blinders on what the other mothers are doing that cause you guilt and envy. Allow them to be mothers in their own way and take advantage of your differences.

Be a MOM and enjoy doing it YOUR way!

**********************************************************************************

Parenting Tip - Press Here

2012-01-15T15:41:00.000-08:00

I just discovered THE coolest book. It’s called “Press Here” by Herve’ Tullet. I found it in the gift store at the Phoenix Children’s Museum, which is THE coolest museum!

The book is so clever. You start with just one yellow dot on the page with the instructions to “press here and turn the page”. The next page has two yellow dots with the instructions to press the yellow dot again. Guess what? Yes, the next page has 3 yellow dots. But now the directions say to rub gently the dot on the left. Turn the page, and poof, it has become red.

On each page the child is asked to do something, like lean to the left, or shake the book, which then changes the dots and colors on the following pages. I was so intrigued with it. Then my son said, “it’s like an e book, but it’s not.” Right! That’s what caught my interest. It is what you would expect from technology—touching the screen and dots change color and move around—but it’s in a simple old fashioned book.

I took Press Here to school and used it with my Kindergarten and 1^st grade music classes and they LOVED it. They squealed with excitement each time I turned the page. I let them take turns pressing the dots and gently rubbing them or whatever the book said to do and they were totally engrossed.

Then I divided the class into three groups (representing the yellow, red and blue dots in the book) and gave each group a different instrument family. This time when I read the book, they got to play their instrument at the appropriate time. There’s even a few pages where I turned the lights off—but you’ll have to read the book to find out where that might have been.

Check your local library for other books by Herve’Tullet.

Thanks for reading,

Cathy

*********************************************************************************

Music Tip - Hand Clapping Games

2012-01-12T20:38:00.000-08:00

I love hand clapping games. They are so fun. Even as an adult I love them. Of course there are more benefits than just having fun that are connected with hand clapping games. A study conducted at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel (BGU), “has found that young children who engage in hand-clapping songs and games show an increase in the development of a range of cognitive abilities including social integration, spelling and handwriting as well as a reduction in rates of dyslexia and dyscalculia.”

Other research shows that rhythm and a sense of timing has an effect on our brain and body functions. Children diagnosed with dyslexia may be deficient in their sense of timing. Brain training using a metronome is helping children with their reading fluency and language processing.

Babies usually learn to clap by age one. By playing and singing clapping games with your toddler you are helping him develop his eye hand coordination. Songs like Pat a Cake and If You’re Happy involve simple clapping that you can do with your child.

I’ve been teaching clapping games to my 3-6^th graders at school. They are loving it. I found some really fun routines on you tube but they looked so complicated, I wondered if I could learn them myself, so I could teach them. But the two girls doing them on you tube, slowed the patterns down and it was surprisingly easy. In fact, there was a trick. You only sing 3 words and each word has a different movement. So all you have to do is learn 3 movements, then figure out the pattern.

I pointed the pattern out to my students and even wrote it on the board. I really believe in helping my visual learners by writing patterns on the board. I’m a visual learner and I need to see something before I can learn it.

Here’s the pattern of part A (do it twice)

Bim Bum Bim Bum Bum Bum Bum Bim Bum

(clap) (snap) (clap) (snap)

Biddy biddy Biddy Biddy biddy

(pat legs 2x)

Part B (2xs)

Bim Bum Bum Bum Bum Bim Bum

(clap) (snap)

Biddy biddy Biddy Biddy biddy

(pat legs 2x)

So go have some fun. Do the hand clapping games with your family. Have a contest to see who can do it the fastest. Can you beat Dad?

And if you want more fun, look up Boom, Snap Clap. It's a really fun one too!

Thanks for reading,
Cathy

*******************************************************************************

Music Tip - A New Music Class is Starting

2012-01-08T14:06:00.000-08:00

For those of you who live in the Mesa/Chandler/Gilbert/Tempe area, I have a new music class for preschoolers/babies that is starting this coming week.

It is free! We meet with some of the residents who live in a retirement apartment complex and call them the "grandmas and grandpas". We have lots of fun as the preschoolers and "grandparents" interact with each other through music. We dance with scarves, play instruments, do clapping games, sing with the guitar, jump in hula hoops, tell puppet stories and lots more.

The class is the 2nd and 4th Tues of each month, Jan-April from 10:00-10:45. The Courtyard Towers, 22 N. Robson, is located in downtown Mesa by Country Club and Robson, across the street from the Youth Museum. The room is small, so I need to limit how many families can be involved each semester. If you are interested in coming to the classes I need to have you commit to coming each month (unless sickness or other problems crop up, which they sometimes do).

If you are interested in coming this semester, please reply back quickly to reserve a spot. Babies are welcome too! If you have neighbors or friends or family you think would be interested, please invite them.

Thanks for reading!

Cathy

***************************************************************************

Parenting Tip - Ways to Filter the Internet on your Computer

2012-01-08T13:51:00.000-08:00

My Church had a special Fireside last night and though I didn't want to go, I went. I hated every minute I was there because it was on a subject I hate--pornography. But the information was so positive with a twist on parents teaching their children good things, I felt impressed to share it with you.

The title was "Shepherding Your Son's Sexuality". The speaker, Dan Oakes, talked about positive things to do with your children and said it is our duty, as parents, to teach positive sexuality to our children because Satan is teaching them otherwise. Here are some points to consider:

Teach your sons (and daughters) early about developmental facts of their bodies (He suggested age 8 for the "mechanics" of reproduction, then again at age 11 before puberty really starts to happen-though sexual feelings start gradually at a earlier age too)

Focus on the physical development of the body and also the moral issues. Talk about how it's natural to feel the feelings they are experiencing. God made them that way on purpose, but there is a time and place for expressing love and these feelings.

Talk about what is normal and what is not acceptable behavior.

Acknowledge sexuality as a gift from God--that's how families are made and how husbands and wives remain close to each other in marriage

Show strong and abiding affection for your spouse

Talk regularly about sexual feelings, computer use, things you see on TV, happenings at school—on a monthly basis!

*Control your computer!!! Filter the internet before it gets to your house by using a DNS server company. This is a free service and filters about 80% of the pornography. See OpenDNS.com

Some routers are designed to filter even banner adds. Pandorashope.com
Filter by limiting the access through the log-in screen. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Turn-the-guest-account-on-or-off

Filter the internet with tools already in internet explorer to filter content. Open Internet Explorer by clicking the Start button. In the search box, type Internet Explorer, and then in the list of results, click Internet Explorer. Click the Tools button and then click Internet options. Click the Content tab.

Filter the internet by utilizing Safe Search on the major search engines. You must have an account with these websites like a Gmail account or a MSN or Hotmail account, and has to be activated in the account settings.

Parents, you must TEACH your children correct principles before the world teaches them false lies.

What a blessing we have as stewards over our children to teach them of a loving God and His plan for happiness.

Thanks for reading-Cathy

****************************************************************

The Give-away Winners are......

2011-12-19T14:08:00.000-08:00

The give away winners are:

Heather, Mandie, Angelica and Anna. Congratulations! Please email me your addresses and I'll get them sent to the publishers who will mail you your CDs.

Thanks for reading my blog!

Cathy

*********************************************************************************

A Give-Away is Here!

2011-12-11T21:27:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling guilty because I have 4 CDs I haven't given away yet. So here's your lucky chance to win a free Christmas gift!

Eclipse is a great acapella men's choir. The album features "ten new arrangements that are both inventive and engaging".

Wee Jambore and Playground
Hootenanny are two CDs that are
produced by musical parents whose children
attend the same preschool together.
Really fun to listen to.

Last, but not least is another Daddy plays guitar lullabies. This daddy really know how to play them!

If you haven't been a winner before, please leave me a comment before Thursday. Some of my readers have mentioned that they can't leave a comment. So if this is happening to you--I'm sorry. Instead you can email me at: cathyplaysmusic@gmail.com and I'll enter you into the drawing. I like comments--hint, hint, so please email me or leave a comment here.
Thanks!
Cathy

*********************************************************************************

Parenting Tip - Boycott Commercials-Make Your Own!

2011-12-11T20:31:00.000-08:00

Commercialism. Oh my gosh. Are you sick of the tv commercials showing every toy imaginable and tired of your children begging you for everything they see? If only you could ban tv watching from Oct through Dec. I know lots of you do ban tv watching, and I applaud you. But when you take something away, sometimes you have to put something back in. Here’s an idea.

Let your kids watch videos. NO, NOT VCR movies on tv. I’m talking about home videos. All those videos you take at picnics and birthdays and holidays. Make a folder of them and let your children watch them over and over again. That’s what one of my daughters does. She doesn’t have a tv, but her children love to watch family videos.

With this idea, you are actually dovetailing in several areas. You are promoting and preserving family history by helping your children bond with the cousins and grandparents and their siblings they see on the movies and by reminding them of family traditions and family fun times.

You are encouraging memory recall and sequencing skills. Kids are great at remembering details and when they watch the same family videos over and over again, they notice more details, recall the sequence of events and can see cause and effects that might have otherwise gone unnoticed.

But what if you don’t have any family videos? Start taking some! Better yet, let your children take some. Give them your camera (not an expensive one, of course) and have them make a home tour video so you can remember your house in years to come. Have them make a video of a sibling singing a song or saying the Pledge of Allegiance or reciting a poem. Have them make an informational or educational video on “How to Make a Peanut Butter Sandwich” or “How to do a Somersault on the Trampoline.” Let them make their own commercials trying to sell something.

Hey wait, what a great gift idea. Buy an inexpensive camera for your child and see what fun he will have. Creativity will ooze from his snapping photo finger tips. You never know, this just may be the stimulus for the next great Steven Spielberg.

Parenting Tip - The 12 Days of Christmas

2011-12-04T20:51:00.000-08:00

Tis the Christmas season.

When I look back on Christmases when my children were at home, the Christmases I remember most with fond memories are the years when we did the 12 days of Christmas for someone. Several years in a row we did what we called, The Funny 12 Days of Christmas.” My friend told me about it and I’ll pass it on. If you decide to do this, make sure you buy everything you need for the 12 days to begin with and type out the message for each day in advance. That way you won’t be scrambling at the last minute to buy something and find you’ve run out of time (I speak from experience!)

On the first day of Christmas, your pixie friends gave to you,

Some pear treats from the tree the partridge flew away from. ( a can of pears or fresh pears)

On the second day of Christmas, your pixie friends gave to you

Some yummy turtle doves (candy turtles on top of a bar of dove soap).

3^rd day….some chicken noodle soup, compliments of the three French hens.

4^th day…a telephone message pad designed by the four calling birds (telephone message pad)

5^th day…five golden rings ( a can of sliced pineapple rings)

6^th day... the eggs we found when we were looking for the six geese that laid them

7^th day…the bubble bath left over from the seven swans after they went swimming.

8^th day…the chocolate milk we got from the eight maids milking eight brown cows .

9^th day…some canes used by the nine ladies who were out dancing all night—they needed the canes to get home! (candy canes)

10^th day…some vitamins recommended for use by the 10 Lords we saw out leaping (or give them Ben gay instead)

11^th day… some pickles since the pipers stopped piping and started picking a peck of pickled pickles (we changed it to whistle suckers one year and other years used candy bars and said the pipers decided to “hum a few bars”)

12^th day…the drumsticks we wished the drummers had used when they were drumming (pretzels sticks—plain or dipped in chocolate).

Whatever you do this year to celebrate, make it simple, involve your family and enjoy it.

And the winners are......

2011-11-25T09:21:00.000-08:00

Thanks, ladies for the quick comments. I wish I had more of the living scriptures to give away, since they are so popular.

But the winners --in order of time of comment emailed--are:

Michelle - scripture video

Velika - Hilary Weeks

Liz - Carmen Rasmusen Herbert

Please email me your addresses ( send them to my email so they're private) and the publishers will mail you your CD's and DVD.

Thanks for reading!

Cathy

A Thanksgiving Give-Away!

2011-11-24T10:53:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I have been so richly blessed in my life. I am living my dream. Even though my husband passed away recently, I feel his love and God's love in my life everyday.

I have several free items to give away and thought today would be a great day to do a special give away.

So.

To the first 3 people who leave me a comment I will send them one of these items (if you want one in particular, please let me know):

Hillary Weeks's CD- always great singing

Carmen Rasmusen Herbert became an overnight success on American Idol. But along with the spotlight she has remained true to her standards of modesty, chastity and healthful living.

The popular animated Book of Mormon stories. This is the anniversary 25th edition of Nephi and the Brass Plates.

Music Tip - Help! My Child Wants to Quit

2011-11-23T05:10:00.000-08:00

Lately I’ve had a couple of piano students that have started complaining about having to take piano lessons. Shocking, I know! The mothers have talked to me to ask for any advice and of course, I’m anxious and willing to give them some. I’ll mention some of the things I’ve told the moms, and tell you the one that has really helped the most.

Here’s some ideas:

1. Explain that you are a musical family and that’s what the kids in your family do-- take music lessons. But then give them a time limit of when they can stop. Maybe it’s when they reach a certain level or age or ability to play.

After that bombshell, give your child some sympathy/encouragement and support to make it fun. Offer some incentives to keep practicing like purchasing them their own box of cereal—I know, that’s random. But kids LOVE to get to choose a sugar cereal that you normally refuse to buy.

Or offer to do one of their chores while they practice. My daughter loved to have me do her turn of washing the dishes while she practiced.

2. Back off the practicing help. My moms are Suzuki moms and have been trained to help their child practice at home. Suzuki children start musical training early-like age 4 or 5 and need their mother’s help. But by the time the child is 9 or 10, he needs to start learning independence and good practicing skills on his own. This is a good time to start weaning the mother from the actual practice time session at home.

This is the saving grace that has helped many a child. I’ll tell the parent that now the student is old enough to start practicing on his own. I’ll teach the student how he should practice his pieces at home and how many times to play a piece and olay! the fights at home now cease. Mom is out of the picture and it’s the student and teacher and the pressure is off.

3. Ask the student what kinds of songs he wants to learn to play. As a teacher I need to sometimes back off on the classics and introduce more popular and fun pieces.

On my next post I’ll offer some ideas on helping a student practice effectively on his own.

Music Tip - Christmas Music

2011-11-15T09:12:00.000-08:00

Now is the time (actually two weeks ago was the time--but I forgot to write this post). So if you haven’t started, you better start RIGHT NOW! What am I talking about? Why Christmas music, of course--that is, having your children practice and play Christmas music on their instrument (piano, violin, banjo—whatever!)

I love to have my piano students practice Christmas music and it seems that they are much more willing to practice when it’s Christmas music, too. I like to give them songs that are just a little easier than their usual reading songs. I want them to be able to learn a song in one week’s time, not have to take several weeks to master it. That way they can learn several songs during the season and enjoy playing them for recitals, or family or for grandma when she comes to visit.

I like to use Christmas songs as a good remedial sight reading exercise or a boost to a child’s reading self esteem. Put a lower level song in front of them and challenge them to play it perfectly or with only a couple of mistakes. Then help them realize how much they have learned in the past few months.

You can use primer level songs to reinforce or teach new notes. Have your student say the name of the notes out loud while playing their piece.

This is my favorite site to get free folk and classical sheet music and they have lots of Christmas sheet music as well.

For my beginning Suzuki students who don’t know how to read music yet, I write out Jingle Bells for them in this format (EEE EEE EGCDE……). It helps reinforce the names of the piano keys and they LOVE to play the song. Sometimes it helps to write the "Gs" a little bit higher and the "Cs" and "Ds" a little bit lower to help them visualize where the keys are.

Don't forget to use lots of fun holiday stickers to reinforce practicing.

Enjoy the season! Remember the reason!

Parenting Tip - Make Meal times--Memorable times!

2011-11-13T11:18:00.000-08:00

Meal times—ugh! Sometimes that word conjures up “complaining, noise, eating-vegetable-fights”, etc. I remember one mealtime when I was a kid and all six of my siblings were being noisy. My parents were trying to get us quiet so we could say a blessing on the food, and my father loudly said, “silence is golden,” to which my younger brother asked, “is that why we’re so poor?” I remember the whole family started laughing hysterically at that remark and it took another 5 minutes for us to quiet down so we could bless the food.

How can we make mealtimes not quite so hectic and more of a pleasant, memorable tradition (which, if you talk to the food nanny, you’ll see that it is a dying tradition)?

My son and daughter-in-law play 20 questions at dinnertime at their house. When I visited them for a few days, I was quite amazed at how this game brought the noise level down and focused the grandkids on eating and thinking instead of complaining and fighting.

And think of all the good side benefits for your children like: 1) involving the whole family (their 4 year old LOVES to think of the object but usually switches it 2 or 3 times during the game :)

2) analyzing/categorizing objects into groups of animal, vegetable or mineral 3) using deductive reasoning 4) using creativity 5) learning how to phrase a question….the list goes on and on.

Time magazine says that "kids who dine with the folks are healthier, happier and better students, which is why a dying tradition is coming back."

Meal times are a perfect time to let family members share their day. School age children can tell one thing they learned that day. Everyone can tell a funny thing that happened, or a service they did for someone or they can say something they are grateful for. You can even listen to music or in my case, where it's just my mother in law and me--yes we have uncomfortable silences--I put on an uplifting talk to listen to.

But whatever you and your family do at mealtimes, make sure its FUN!

Because that’s what families do--they have fun together!

Parenting Tip - Cooperation!

2011-11-07T08:47:00.000-08:00

I had a conversation with a fellow teacher at school the other day. We were talking about children. My children are all grown and I mentioned that it was so fun because they are my friends now. Her children are in their teens and suddenly she has become the “policeman” and doesn’t enjoy the easy relationship they use to have. She gets tired of being the parent who has to constantly monitor the video game playing and curfews and such. She has become the “bad guy”.

That’s a hard time of life to go through when your children are learning how to become more independent. They want and demand lots of independence, yet they don’t quite know how to manage it. Here’s some ideas on how you can keep a good relationship with your children through all the turmoil and growing up you all will experience.

Treat your children with respect. They are people, albeit immature people. They have feelings and want to be understood, so don’t talk down to them. Don’t lecture and issue commands for them to follow.

Instead,

Talk with them. Understand their needs. Tell them your needs. It all goes back to Sesame Street and kindergarten when your child learned about COOPERATION. Both children AND parents need to cooperate with each other.

Case in point: video games. Your son wants to play them nonstop. You hate them. Cooperate. Talk about your child’s daily schedule and what needs to be done at what time. How much time is there for playing video games each day? Do other things need to be accomplished first, like chores, homework, etc? Is there a way your son can earn more time to play---say by doing an extra job around the yard or house?

Above all, listen to how you talk to your children. Don’t be sarcastic, demeaning, demanding, or derogatory. Talk with love in your voice and your child will talk back to you that way. And if she doesn’t, then sit down with her and express your love and concern and desire to work things out so you both feel happy about the situation.

Parenting IS work. But oh, so rewarding when you invest the best of you and appreciate the best in your child.

The Give-away Winners are......

2011-10-31T12:52:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to "anonymous" (I have your email address, thanks) for winning the Disney CD, Velika for winning the Eyre book and Greg for winning the guitar lullabies CD. I'll send your email addresses to the publishers.

I still have several more items to give away, so stay turned.....keep checking my blog!

Thanks for reading!

Parenting Tip - BRR (Bedtime Reminiscence Routine)

2011-10-30T20:07:00.000-07:00

My daughter in law told me something she does with my 17 month old grandson as part of his bedtime routine. As she rocks him in the rocking chair, she goes over all the events of the day. She enumerates what he ate for breakfast and how he played with his toys. She mentions his nap time and lunch and anything else they did during the day. Then she talks about when Daddy came home and they ate dinner, and how Daddy played with him and put his pajamas on. She said she discovered that when she does this and then puts him in his crib, he lays there peacefully without fussing. But if she doesn’t go over the day’s routine, he seems to always cry when she puts him in bed and it takes longer for him to settle down. Interesting, isn’t it?

I wonder if my daughter in law has counted up all the valuable skills she is teaching my grandson. She is helping him learn about time value, and chronological order, about sequencing and prepositions like before and after. She is teaching him science and astronomy as she talks about the sun shining during the day and the moon coming out at night, about climate and weather when she talks about the rain and the wind. She’s teaching the days of the week. She’s increasing his vocabulary as she uses adjectives to describe the soft fur on the bunny and the delicious taste of applesauce.

I've been learning about autistic children and how they need structure and routine to their day. They even benefit from visual sequencing of their daily activities. When their routine is changed or they are confused about what is happening, then a major meltdown can ensue. My grandson is not autistic but he is approaching his “terrific twos” and anything that can help in making his life be more structured and less frustrating is good for not only him, but Mom too.

Wow. Who would have thought so much learning could come from 3 minutes of bedtime reminiscing?

Parenting Tip -No Fuss Hair Do Idea

2011-10-26T23:14:00.000-07:00

Here's a great idea I saw my daughter do
when I visited her family last week.

While her daughters were eating breakfast, she combed and braided their hair. Now this is a good idea, but she took a good idea and made it a GREAT idea. She hated to try and figure out every morning how to do her two daughter’s hair, so she made photograph books that contained pictures of hairstyles from blogs she liked.

She also had a basket that contained everything she needed like combs, brush, rubberbands, etc.

In the basket was the “magic hairbrush”. That’s what she called it. Actually it is a brush that contains two different sizes of bristles and can brush through tangles “magically”. It’s the truth—my granddaughters didn’t wince one time. She said it’s kind of expensive but so worth the money.

So in about 4 minutes she had both hairdos done and the girls were ready to go to the bus stop.

No fuss, no muss!

Do you have any great time saving ideas to share?

A Give-Away is Here!

2011-10-25T15:06:00.000-07:00

I've been really behind in giving away some great CDs and a book. So here's your chance to win a free prize.

Jenny Oaks Baker has come out with another fun CD called "Wish Upon a Star". This CD is a tribute to the "Music of Walt Disney" and has some gorgeous orchestrated renditions of favorites like Colors of the Wind, Beauty and the Beast, A Dream is a Wish....and lots more.

Another CD I'm giving away is "Lullaby Christmas". I previously gave away one of the Daddy Plays Cds a few months ago called "Guitar Lullabies". He does another great job of playing acoustic guitar with beautiful Christmas music that will have your child sleeping and dreaming sweet dreams.

The book I'm giving away is Linda Eyre and Shawni Eyre Pothier's "A Mother's Book of Secrets". This is a mother-daughter team who write like they "have been there and are doing it now". They share great thoughts and ideas that will lift and inspire you and encourage you to keep on trying.

I have lots more CDs and DVDs to share so keep reading my blog. If you would like to enter this giveaway, leave me a comment. Please be sure I have your email address, too.

Giveaway closes on Monday, Oct 31.

Music Tip -Ostinatos

2011-10-22T21:25:00.000-07:00

I’ve been teaching general music at school for 11 years. Every year we talk about what an ostinato is and every year no one can remember from one week to the next what it is. This always amazes and perplexes me because we play simple ostinatos on nonpitched and pitched instruments all the time as we use them to accompany chants and songs.

I decided that it is not that my students are dumb—it’s ME. Evidently I’m not teaching the definition of an ostinato correctly. So I thought back to a brain research class I took and decided I need to teach the definition in a catchy, memorable way. I decided to put the definition to a catchy tune. Here is what I came up with:

Did you notice the melody was the Hallelujah Chorus. Thanks, Handel. BTW, the kids are standing backwards so I could maintain their privacy on the internet.

I taught the song to the 3^rd-6^th graders and then had them go outside and sing it to the universe. They looked at me like I was crazy but loved the idea of leaving the classroom. We also walked down the sidewalk and sang it to the neighbors’ homes across the street from the school. At that point the students KNEW I was crazy. But guess what? Three weeks later, when I asked what an ostinato was, every child raised his arm and knew the answer. And we all burst out singing,

“Ostinato, ostinato, repeated pattern, repeated pattern”……….

Do you have something you are trying to teach your child at home? Something he seems to never remember? Put it to a song, make it silly and enjoy watching the astounding magic that will take place.

Music Tip -Download for Pout Pout Fish Song

2011-09-30T17:06:00.000-07:00

I can't figure out how to give you a copy of the MP3 download for the Pout Pout Fish song. So anyone who would like it, please email me, and I'll email the download to you. Or....if anyone smart out there can tell me how to post it, I'll try it.

Parenting Tip -Jellyfish

2011-09-29T22:14:00.000-07:00

Here's a fun project you can make with your child. A jellyfish in a bottle!

Info on how to make it is here.

Music Tip - The Pout Pout Fish

2011-09-22T22:14:00.000-07:00

This is my new favorite book. It's about a fish who thinks he's a pout pout fish and has no other choice than to spread the "drearie wearies all over the place". Then a new fish does something unexpected to him and changes his view of himself. It's really cute.

A dad wrote the cutest song to go with it. I would love to get a copy of the music but haven't been able to contact the composer. I even found out he lives in my city! So if anyone knows Gordon G, please have him contact me!

UPDATE! I did contact the composer of the song and he gave me an MP3 download. I'll see if I have permission to post it. Thanks, Gordon!

Parenting Tip -You are an Artist!

2011-09-13T12:05:00.000-07:00

I listened to an interesting podcast today about the stained glass artist, Tom Holdman. He is a young man who has created and made stained glass windows for LDS temples, Catholic churches, commercial buildings, residences and public art projects. What fascinated me the most about him though, was that he has a speech impediment. And it was that disability that has shaped him into what he has become today.

As I read more about Tom and his work with stained glass, I was amazed at how many thousands of small pieces of glass go into each window. I thought of the hours and hours of time it took to work with so many pieces of glass to create a work of art.

I think that is one of the reasons we are fascinated and in awe of artists---at least that is why I am. It not only takes talent, but it takes time and patience to create art. Any art.

I’m interested in quilting. That medium uses many small pieces of fabric that are sewn together to create a beautiful masterpiece. A great painting contains hundreds of strokes of paint. A symphony is composed of note after note after note to make a beautiful harmonic masterpiece.

All great art takes time, patience and the willingness to let the work evolve into a creation of its own.

Mothers are artists. We help create people. We spend hours, weeks and years teaching and loving and showing patience through many small pieces of daily experiences. We watch and wonder as our work of art begins to emerge into a beautiful masterpiece.

Do we view ourselves as artists or as bored and tired wives and mothers? An artist works many hours alone with his project. There is no one encouraging him while he is working laboriously and sometimes tediously on each project. It is only at the unveiling that he is rewarded with the praise he deserves.

So it is with mothers. Day in and day out we change diapers, cook meals, wash clothes and listen to whining children. There is no one there to give us a high five and say “good job, Mom!” But if we’re patient, if we keep in our mind’s eye the long range goal, and if we enjoy the small moments of each day, then we, too, will receive the praise and reward we deserve when our project is finished (is it ever finished?).

If we think of ourselves as artists, our daily struggles will seem more glamorous. If we think of ourselves as artists we will view our “work” as a creative endeavor. If we think of ourselves as artists, we can enjoy the journey and feel gratitude for the magnificent work we have been entrusted with.

Music Tip - Black Socks

2011-09-07T21:33:00.000-07:00

I got a message on facebook this week which said, “hi I just remembered something I think it was you.. I was in 3rd grade and you were a sub one day you had brought your guitar and sang a song _ black socks they never get dirty the longer you wear them the hurder they get some times i think I should wash them but some thing keeps telling me not yet not yet... was that you???”

I replied, “Oh my gosh!!!! You remembered!!!!! Yes, that was me. I'm famous (?) for that song-----I think. You just got one little word wrong, however. It's ...the longer you wear them the "stronger" they get. Stronger as in stiffness AND smell.”

She wrote back, “yeah it got stuck in my head i sang it to my little brother because he would wear his black socks for about a week,,,yuck... but yeah.lol...will now I know the song better an I'll be singing to my boys...it's funny that i remembered this was when I was 7 an now im 27.lol”

The power of music---remembering a funny song 20 years later!

I did some research on this song so you, my wonderful readers, could enjoy it too. Since this is a silly, camp style song, there are many versions. Here are a couple:

Black socks, they never get dirty.
The longer you wear 'em, the stiffer they get.

Sometimes, I think of the laundry,
But something inside me says "Don't send them yet"

Black socks, they never get dirty.
The longer you wear them, the blacker they get.
Sometimes I think of the laundry;
But something keeps telling me don't wash them yet not yet, not yet, not yet...

And since I know you’re dying to hear the melody, here are a couple of versions I found online:

This next version is sung as a round, which is how I taught it.

You can listen to it here:

So there you have it. Another silly song to add to your repertoire. Have fun singing!

The Power of Unconditional Love

2011-08-24T19:45:00.000-07:00

It’s been two and half weeks since my husband passed away. My emotions have been up and down and all around several times a day. My wonderful children have had to tell me repeatedly, that whatever I’m feeling is okay. I can do no wrong. Everything I’m feeling is right.

For instance, my brothers drove from Texas, California and Utah to come to the funeral. We have a close knit family and have always loved to play games together. But during the days after the funeral I couldn’t bring myself to go visit and play games with them. I cloistered myself in my house, surrounded by my children and grandchildren and couldn’t interact with anyone else. I felt guilty but my children reminded me that anything I felt was okay and no one was judging me. My brothers understood and respected my need for seclusion.

As I pondered the gift of unconditional love my children and brothers gave me I thought of how powerful that gift was. To know that I was loved for myself—not judged, and that anything I felt would be taken with an understanding heart by others was such a freeing and peaceful feeling.

Do we give our children unconditional love? Do we accept their feelings, no matter how different they may be from ours and let them have those feelings? Instead of saying things like “you shouldn’t be mad at your friend,” or “you shouldn’t be so sensitive,” maybe we could say things like “wow, you’re really upset about that” or “that really hurt your feelings didn’t it?”

There is power in communication--power in reaching heart to heart with our children, spouse and friends. Letting our children talk about their feelings and explore them will help them own their feelings and learn how to control them. Actions need to be controlled-you don’t hit because you’re mad, but you can be mad. Then comes the teaching moments when you help your child explore why he is mad, and what he can do about it.

We are all humans and we all have feelings. Accepting our own feelings and others is a lifetime job.

The Comfort of Music

2011-08-10T23:04:00.000-07:00

My husband has been very sick and recently passed away. This has been a very hard time for me. But what I want to share with you is the comfort that music gave to him and myself. He was hospitalized twice this month and each time he would find the music channel on t.v. and listen to it all day. The music soothed and comforted him.

On Sunday mornings at home we like to play Cds of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and other religious music. We love the cello music of Stephen Sharp Nelson because it reminds us of our daughter who plays the cello. We also like the violin arrangements of Jenny Oaks Baker. Another daughter recorded a Cd of religious vocal music that we love to listen to.

While my husband was in the hospital on Sunday, I brought up our favorite Cds to listen to and it made both of us feel more at home and peaceful.

Music is powerful. It heals, comforts and brings peace. It soothes an aching heart.

Parenting Tip -How to Remember Those Family Stories

2011-08-02T16:25:00.000-07:00

My daughter in law presented a segment for KSL TV in Utah on different ways to preserve your family stories. Every family has those stories that are told and retold when everyone gets together. The stories sometimes get stretched and embellished, but they bind your family with fun --and sometimes embarrassing--memories.

What stories does your family have? How can you keep them alive and cherished? It doesn't matter how you preserve them, just do it.

Parenting Tip - Laughter - The Best Medicine

2011-07-29T19:14:00.000-07:00

Is life going crazy for you right now? Are the kids driving you up a wall? Then take 5 minutes out of your day and laugh.

We all know there is value in laughing. It lowers your blood pressure, protects your heart, boosts your immune system, relieves pain and depression, bla, bla, bla. You can probably remember a time from your past when you and a friend laughed so hard you cried. I can. I remember lots of times, but if I told you the reason why we were laughing, it wouldn't even be funny to you. Or me. But it sure was funny then.

Laughing bonds you to those you laugh with. Why? Because you are sharing a personal, intense emotion. So shouldn't you be laughing at home so you can bond with your children and husband? Many times while parents watch their baby's and children's antics they will laugh and feel closer because of it.

Why can children laugh so easily? Because they don't have the stress and responsibilities that we as adults have, of course. But we can learn from children. Learn to live in the moment, enjoy the now, be enchanted with what your eyes are seeing and your heart is feeling.

Maybe we should all have funny pictures hanging in our homes (you know the ones where the kids are messing around when you want to take a photograph) and CDs of laughter (or just watch you tube once a day). Maybe we should make funny faces in the mirror and play jokes on each other.

I just couldn't resist sharing this video of one of my grandsons laughing.

Parenting Tip - Preschool Writing Attempts

2011-07-27T15:53:00.000-07:00

It’s always fun when your preschooler gets interested in learning to write his name and other family member’s names.

My daughter-in-law sent me this hilarious picture of how Tac-age 3- wrote his dad’s name. The curve on the “p’s” didn’t quite get down as far as they should have or else he's confused about "p" and "d", and his “a” needs a lot of help. He must have been sounding out d-a-a-d to get two “a’s” in there!

Way to go, Tac, keep pra cticing

2011-07-22T12:53:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to change my blog so the posts are more easily read. Please bear with me as I tweak things here and there!

Parenting Tip - Adult Peer Pressure

2011-07-21T11:54:00.000-07:00

Peer pressure. It’s always there whether you’re in grade school, junior high, high school or as an ADULT. I have felt peer pressure stronger as an adult than I ever did while I was in school.

I think Moms are particularly susceptible to pressure as we raise our children and create our family’s traditions. We look at other mothers and see what they’re doing and think we should be doing that too. We need to have our kids enrolled on the swim team or in swimming lessons. Of course we have to join the library’s summer reading program and our children need enrichment during the summer so we should enroll them in an arts camp like so and so did. Everyone we know is planning a fun and exciting family vacation and though money is tight, we need to go somewhere too. How can we deprive our children of all these enriching experiences?

During the school year we experience peer pressure as to which school is best suited for our children’s needs. Is it the charter school that ______ is sending her children to, or the preschool that everyone in the neighborhood thinks is fantastic. We’ve got to sign up for T ball and soccer and gymnastics and piano lessons. And I’ve heard that ____ is taking singing lessons, so I better look into that too.

Yikes! I’ve got a stomach ache just thinking of all these things!

Then if you start looking at the HUNDREDS of craft blogs and educational blogs and homeschooling and refashioning blogs on the internet you can go crazy! You can spend so much time reading about what others are doing and trying to copy ALL of them, that you spend precious energy and time on THINGS instead of people—the people in your home.

Why do I know this? Because I have fallen into the “Keeping up with the Jones” peer pressure trap so often in my life. It’s very easy to do. But when you find yourself hyperventilating or being critical of your husband, children and home, when you spend more time on the computer than reading to your children, and when you are grouchy, irritable and ungrateful, then it’s time to take stock of your situation. It’s time to stop and be still. It’s time to write down your blessings. It’s time to start saying prayers of gratitude for what you do have.

Throw away fashion and home decorating magazines. Limit the time you read other people’s blogs. Limit facebook to 15 minutes. And instead read your scriptures. Relax and enjoy your children. Read a good book. Make cookies. Ahhh….. I’m feeling happier already!

Music Tip #80 Recipe for Getting Hyper Kids into Sleeping Kids

2011-07-15T09:55:00.000-07:00

My daughter called me one night with what she called her “homemade recipe for getting-wound-up-hyper-kids to sleep”. She said it works like a charm every time.

This is what you do: with your child lying in his bed, you pat his back while singing a song to him, but you’re patting very quickly, kind of matching his wound up energy level. Then you sing the song again, but this time pat a little slower.

You sing the song 2 more times, and with each repetition you pat slower than the time before. And wholah! Your child has calmed down and in my daughter’s case the night she called me, her son was sound asleep—in just 4 times of singing the song with the gradual slowing down on each repetition! She said this works for her 8 year too.

In musical terms, you pat 8ths notes the first time you sing the song. Pat quarter notes the second time, half notes the third time and whole notes the fourth time. Wow! Try it out tonight!

From this:

To this:

Music Tip #79 Practice Music Skills at the Computer!

2011-07-13T14:35:00.000-07:00

In one of my previous blogs, I mentioned having computer time for children during the week. There are a lot of educational sites out there for children from art and drawing to puzzles and logic games. Summer is a great time to reinforce some musical skills. Here are a few sites that offer general music information as well as honing in on those rhythm and note naming skills which are so important.

http://www.musictechteacher.com/musicquizzes.htm This site has a ton of information on theory, instrument families, quizzes and games for piano note reading and rhythm skills.

http://www.8notes.com/games I especially like the note trainer and keyboard trainer on this site. You can click on toggle to give more help for beginners and change the settings to make the parameters fit where your child needs practice. This site also has free lessons in music theory.

http://www.makingmusicfun.net/htm/arcade.htm This site has some fun arcade games to help with note naming and rhythm

http://www.primarygames.com/arcade/music/musicalnotes/index.htm Another fun arcade game site

http://www.practicespot.com/theorycenter.phtml?t=59 This site has lots of info for the teacher, but also drill pages to copy for students as well as online quiz sheets.

Kids love to play computer games, so the smart parents will utilize this to their advantage and let their children learn while they play.

Parenting Tip #86 Kindness Recital

2011-07-11T11:45:00.000-07:00

July is the perfect month for sibling fights to escalate. The newness of school being out is over. Boredom is starting to creep in. The weather is getting hot and humid. And tempers start to flare.

So....

July is the perfect month to have a Kindness Recital. You’ve heard of a music recital, of course, where everyone shares what they have been practicing. Well, this is a “kindness” recital where you also share what you have been practicing—kindness.

You can make this as simple or as elaborate as you wish. First you need to decide on a date for the recital, say one or two weeks from now, and then you need to announce and explain to your family what you plan on doing.

Tell them that the purpose of a musical recital is to share what you have been practicing, and tell them as a family you are going to practice being kind. Define what you mean as “kind” and give examples so your children really understand. Kindness is the Golden Rule, it’s sharing, not hitting, taking turns, and thinking of another’s feelings. It’s being cheerful and obedient, letting your sister be first, and not arguing. It’s being helpful and not grouchy. It's using a pleasant tone of voice.

You could make a simple chart listing what kindness is, then post it and let family members put a star or sticker on it each time someone is kind to them. Or make a more elaborate chart where they can add a paper scoop of ice cream to a paper ice cream cone each time they do a kindness (and then go get ice cream after the recital, of course).

You could make little journals and have family members write down their ideas on ways they can be kind and list when they did it and how they felt.

Here’s a kindness song that you could sing during the week. http://lds.org/churchmusic/detailmusicPlayer/index.html?searchlanguage=1&searchcollection=2&searchseqstart=145&searchsubseqstart=b&searchseqend=145&searchsubseqend=b
You might have your children draw pictures or slogans and place them in rooms around the house to remind everyone of your focus. You could let family members ring a bell every time they are kind or someone is kind to them.

When you have your Kindness Recital, make it somewhat formal with all family members sitting down. Take turns letting family members tell about kindnesses that were shown to them and kindnesses that they did to someone else. You could applaud each family member or have them high five each other. Talk about the feelings you have felt during this practice time and how your home has been a happier place.

Take photographs during the practice week of family members doing acts of kindness. Take photos during the recital and after it while you’re eating refreshments. Make the photos into a little book so that you can remember and be encouraged to continue being kind. You could even skype the grandparents and invite them to your Kindness Recital.

WE, as parents and grandparents, need to exemplify kindness in the way we talk to our children. In the way we treat our children. Teach and expect your children to be kind. And then…….the world will be a better place!

Parenting Tip #85 Structure your summer with Categories!

2011-07-09T23:13:00.000-07:00

One month of summer is gone already! Having gone through many-a summer myself, with many-a child, here are some things I found to be helpful. Maybe one of them will help you.

You need to have some sort of structure for summer to run smoothly (plus plenty of food!) I don’t like a lot of structure, but I do like categories. Thinking and organizing your day in categories might help you feel like you have more control over the summer situation. And it helps your children feel structure in their day. You may want to have all these categories every day, or have just a few each day.

reading time- Have your children find a funny place to read--like in the bathtub with pillows or in the closet with a flashlight. You might include some snacks. Stretch reading time out to 45-60 minutes depending on your children’s ages. And enjoy reading WITH them, too.

art time-structured or creative. Have lots of markers, paper, glue sticks and anything else you can find. Glue beans on a paper to spell names/words. Glue yarn in fun designs on paper. Sew designs on paper with the sewing machine (with no thread in it)

inventive/creative time-create something with recycled objects or objects found in the backyard, boxes, cardboard, whatever

toy time-play with toys that have been put away so they seem new now, or toys in the bottom of the closet. How about trading toys with a friend.

bored time-Let children be bored. Encourage them to create a game using socks, or popcycle sticks. How about playing school, or bank or library. Play alligator by spreading pillows or cushions on the floor (you have to jump from cushion to cushion or the alligator will get you).
Cleaning time- Let children declutter their drawers. Give child a squirt bottle and a fun sponge and let them wash doors, and fingerprints. How about ice skating on a wet wash cloth to mop the floor?

Computer time-Make this a short and directed time length. You probably already know where lots of educational websites are.
Snack time- Cut an apple in half, scoop out the core and spoon in tuna fish or peanut butter. Freeze grapes or banana slices. Make watermelon popcycles by inserting sticks or toothpicks in chunks of watermelon and freeze

Writing time-Have your children write a book, illustrate a story, or write a memory and send some of them to grandma. Create desks with boxes or as, the baby did, sit in the box.

Water time-Let young children paint with water. Give them a bucket of shallow water and a paint brush and let them paint the patio wall and floor. Please stay with your child while letting them play with water. It takes only a small amount of water for a child to drown in.
Paint rocks with water or fill a large container with water and measuring cups and spoons-children love to fill and dump over and over again. Give your child a cup of ice cubes to play with outside.

Thanks to my daughter-in-law, Jessica for quickly following through with my plea for pictures to illustrate this blog post. You can see what kind of mother she is, she's already been doing these things with her kids for years!

Now send me your pictures with your kids illustrating some of the fun ideas you'll come up with and I'll post them.

Parenting Tip #84 What to do with BORED kids this summer

2011-07-05T18:00:00.000-07:00

I’m a collector of ideas. Don’t do most of them—but I like to collect them. So when my daughter texted me today with this message, “What should 3 bored children do right now?”, I texted her some ideas off the top of my head. Later on I found some fun ideas on the internet and thought I would share them with her, my daughter-in-laws and with YOU!

This blog has some really fun ideas. The frozen paint idea is shown here. All you do is freeze some tempera paint in popcycle molds, then let your children paint away.

I love this blog. Click here to see the fun idea on letting your children paint with a fly swatter.

Want your children to get some physical exercise this summer? Too hot to go outside? Have your children play on this balance board. The mom decorated her child's balance board, but let your children decorate or paint their own (it takes up more time-hint, hint-and keeps them busy longer).

Letting your children be creative is sometimes messy, but oh, so important. This paper doll idea can help use up your scraps of fabric while letting your child’s creativity soar.

If all else fails, let your kids play in the dirt--that's a real winner anytime!

Parenting Tip #83 There IS HOPE for the future!

2011-07-03T11:01:00.000-07:00

I love to support and encourage "good news". I want to be part of the effort to spread hope and love to the world.

This IS a GREAT time to be alive.

People ARE GOOD and wonderful.

There IS HOPE for the future.

Spread the word and be a part of something positive and good!

http://www.facebook.com/HopeSearch

The Give-away Winners are......

2011-07-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Pam and Master P for winning the guitar and popcorn bopping CDs!!
I sent you both an email requesting your information so I can pass it on to the publishers.

Thanks to everyone who entered and who read AND comment on my blog. YOU make it worth it!
Cathy

Music Tip #78 I Promise

2011-07-01T10:20:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you have to make a big impression on kids. You have to do something that will stick with them. You have to make them promise to do something in a memorable way—so they won’t forget.

Here’s my little gimmick. This is what I do with my piano students if practicing is not going too good, or they won’t listen to their mom and let her help them practice at home (I teach Suzuki so moms come to the lessons and help at home) or they keep forgetting to flat a note or whatever…….

I raise my arm up like I’m taking an oath and have them raise their arm as well. Then I tell them to repeat after me. “I promise I will let my mother help me… I promise I will let my mother help me….I will listen and follow her directions….. I will listen and follow her directions…..”etc. etc. I try to make it funny, and have them repeat funny things because most of the time they don’t want to repeat me and have to do what they’re promising to do.

The mothers really appreciate this help.

How could you use this idea with your own children? Define a problem that you’re having with your child, whether it is not picking up his clothes or not doing her chores on time, or coming home late past curfew. Then do the whole arm-raising-repeating-my-words scenario and see if it helps.

Remember to keep it light and cheerful and sometimes funny.

But make it impressive so it will stick.

Then give your child positive feedback on their small successful steps.

Here’s a video of me doing the “I promise” oath at a piano lesson. The ending is kind of abrupt because all of a sudden I got camera shy…. but you can finish by saying things like, "and if I don't, I will wash all my teacher's dishes for one month!

Sorry about my poor camera quality. Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong--or is it my camera?

Parenting Tip #82 Illustrated Quotations

2011-06-28T10:11:00.000-07:00

I found these photos in a drawer that reminded me of something I did with my children 20 years ago (whoa, that seems like a life time ago). My sister, who teaches school, always has her students memorize inspirational sayings. I decided that was a great idea and wanted to post some good sayings around my home to encourage my children to become better individuals.

I thought it would be fun and help my children internalize these sayings if I had them illustrate the quotation. So I posed my children depicting the quote, took their picture and then made the sayings into small posters. I laminated the posters and hung them in different rooms around the house. It was so fun to do.

I wonder if my children remember any of the quotes and if they have been an influence in their lives?
Here are some of the sayings:
Fair’s not there-so stop looking for it! (I must have said that to my kids a million times)

Best of all things is to learn. Money can be lost or stolen. Health and strength may fail. But what you have committed to your mind is yours forever. Louis LaMour

Great leaders are scarce. So I’m following myself.

Gossip has been well defined as putting two and two together and making five! Pascal

Here are just a few of some other sayings we illustrated:
Multiply yourself by 4 billion, then ask—would the world have peace? anonymous

Education makes a people easy to lead, but difficult to drive, easy to govern but impossible to enslave. Lord Brougham

It’s a shame to waste all these great photo posters. I wonder if they could benefit my grandchildren. They would love to see their own parents as a child illustrating "Fair's not there”. I think I’ll send some to my children and ask if they want to post them in their homes for awhile.

If any Grandmas are reading my blog, here is a way that YOU can make a difference in your grandchildren’s lives. You could photograph your grandchildren illustrating some of your favorite sayings or scriptures, then make the photos into a small poster and give it to your children to hang in their homes.

Hey, maybe I can take the same quotation, but take a picture of the grandchildren illustrating it too, and have some then and now posters. Hurray for technology that makes it so easy to preserve memories and make it easy to have a picture be worth a thousand words.

Parenting Tip #81 The Value of WORK!

2011-06-26T09:46:00.000-07:00

I’m really a lazy person—as far as working goes—in the house—cleaning. My house doesn’t get that dirty anymore with no children around, only a husband and a mother-in-law. So I can get by with cleaning a couple of hours on Saturday and tidying up throughout the week. But am I grateful? Am I happy? No! Every Saturday while I’m cleaning I’m thinking about how horrible it is and how much I would rather be doing something else.

This last Saturday I had to laugh at myself, listening to me grumble. “For pete’s sake”, I thought, “you only have to clean a few hours each week instead of constantly like in the good old days of 7 messy children living at home. You have it made in the shade!”

Interestingly enough, that night my daughter called to talk about the lesson she had to teach in Sunday School the next day. Guess what the topic was about? WORK! It was a good lesson for me to discuss with her. The Lord has commanded us to work and to teach our children to work. Why? Because it is an eternal principle. God worked 6 days and rested on the 7th. Idleness is not Godliness.
We are to teach our children to work.

I used to think my husband was lazy because he made our boys do everything. They had to help him fix this and do that. Now years later each of our boys have thanked their Dad for teaching them how to work. They are grateful they know how to do plumbing and car repairs and home maintenance.

I apologized to my daughter for not teaching her to be cheerful while working. I said I was always mad when the house was a mess and mad while trying to get everyone to start cleaning. She replied, “No sir. You always had music playing and you hid candy under the things we needed to pick up. We had fun!”

Oh. I guess I did do that sometimes.
And maybe I did a better job hiding my anger than I thought I did.

So I’m turning over a new leaf. I won’t be mad because I have to work. I’ll be grateful I can keep the commandment to work. And instead of hiding candy for me to find (though yes, I do eat chocolate before I clean the bathroom), I’ll listen to a podcast and take my mind off my drudgery.

“Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to work we go….”

A Give-Away is Here!

2011-06-24T14:07:00.000-07:00

I have another give away for you. I have two children’s CDs that I have been asked to share. They are both great and I’ve enjoyed listening to them. One is called “ Daddy Plays: Guitar Lullabies” and it is a delightfully soothing collection of children’s songs played on, of course, the guitar. It was so relaxing and enjoyable I wished I had a grandchild to hold and rock while listening to it! It also made me want to grab my guitar and start practicing. The website is here or you can download the Cd here

The 2^nd CD is called “Popcorn Bopping” and it is full of fun, jazzy version of lots of LDS children’s songs. These are performed by a children’s choir and are done in good taste. Their version of “Pioneer Children Sang As They Walked” made me want to dance instead of walk. Really fun!

http://deseretbook.com/Popcorn-Bopping-Dance-Along-Mixes-Favorite-Kids-Songs-Compilation/i/5058095

Please leave me a comment and I’ll have the giveaway winners announced next week, on June 30. I’ve heard that some people aren’t able to leave a comment. If you’re having trouble please email me your comment at: musicfortotsgiveaway@gmail.com

Parenting Tip #80 Creative Outdoor Play

2011-06-23T16:29:00.000-07:00

When I googled “let the children play” I came up with the music program for the children in Venezuela, but I also came up with a great blog with a post on literally letting children play. http://progressiveearlychildhoodeducation.blogspot.com/search/label/nature%20play

This blog post talked about using nature as children’s play ground and/or incorporating nature into your back yard. They used ideas such as sawed off log stumps to enclose a sand box or to be used as a stepping and walking wall. They planted climbing vines and trained them to form a tunnel or fort.

Children need play. They need to use their imaginations and creativity. Their play is the way they make sense of the world around them. It is how they imitate life and control things in their play environment that they can’t control in their real world environment.

Letting children use nature in their play helps them to feel comfortable in their world. Instead of manmade plastic action figures, they can use sticks and rocks to create their people. They can build their castles and forts with dirt or sand and feel the texture that is real and, well, earthy.
They can dig holes in the ground just for the pure enjoyment of digging.

Last year when Tac, one of my 3 year old grandsons was visiting, he started digging a hole in the ground. I thought, “Oh, that’s cute, he can’t do too much harm. After all, how long will a 3 year old boy stay in one place and dig?” Well I sure found out. Tac dug a hole about a foot wide and 6 inches deep in one afternoon and loved every minute of it. Was he dirty? Yes. Was he proud of his hole? YES! Did it do any harm? No, I covered it in after he went home.

During that same visit I took pictures of my grandchildren finding and posing with letters of the alphabet that they found in the back yard. It was so fun to hear them squeal and yell, “Hey, this looks like the letter A”, or whatever letter they found. Then I took the alphabet pictures and made it into an alphabet book and mailed it to them. I hope they remember the fun they had with grandma finding letters in the backyard.

So this summer, no need to run to Walmart to buy toys for your kids. Send them in the backyard and let them play, play, play

Music Tip #77 Let the Children Play

2011-06-19T12:02:00.000-07:00

I found two cool websites when looking for a movie for my husband and I to go to. I noticed that this week, June 23 (in Mesa) there is a one night premiere of a documentary entitled “Let the Children Play”. This movie features the work of Gustavo Dudamel, a conductor from Venezuela.

Dudamel works through a program called El Sistema, which teaches music to 300,000 of the poorest children in Venezuela. The effect is awe inspiring. The lives of the children become enriched and empowered and the effect on the community is just as great.

What does this mean to you? It is a reminder of the power of music on the lives of children. YOUR children. How can you use this power in your family?
1. Play music at home. Play classical, jazz, country (well…?), folk songs, choral, children’s music, the list goes on and on.
2. Enroll your children in music classes or private piano or string instruction.
3. Ensure that your child practices each day. Make it fun, play games, clap and cheer your child on
4. Enjoy music yourself. Sing around the house. Dance. Play music in the car.

Music is a gift. Make sure you use that gift for the benefit of your children. And you.

Music Tip #76 Folk Songs

2011-06-16T19:47:00.000-07:00

Summer is here and piano practicing can go two ways—either lots more practicing gets done because school is out or less practicing gets done because vacations and trips interfere. My experience is that LESS practicing gets done.

I want my students to practice their note reading and sight reading skills this summer so I’m having them focus on learning folk songs. I’m having them learn songs that are a little easier than what they usually play so they can learn them quickly and learn a lot of them.

First I ask my students if they know what folk songs are. Some do, some don’t. I tell them that folk songs are songs that have been passed down from one generation to another—songs that their grandparents know, that they know, and that their children will know, too—songs like Mary had a little lamb, Amazing Grace, Old MacDonald, etc.

Then I ask them how old they are. However old they are will be how many folk songs I want them to learn this summer. And if they do, they’ll get some old fashioned candy to go along with the old fashioned songs they’ll learn!

There are a couple of great web pages where you can get free folk songs in levels 1-4. I really like these:

http://makingmusicfun.net/htm/printit_piano_sheet_music_index.htm

and: http://www.gmajormusictheory.org/Freebies/freebies.html

Okay, students. On your mark, get set, go practice!

Parenting Tip #79 Run, not walk from evil

2011-06-12T11:26:00.000-07:00

I want to talk some more about those negative images and thoughts that we all have. Something that Bruce Fordham said—who I quoted in my last post-- has made me stop and think. He said that you can’t get away from bad thoughts and images. Satan will make sure of that! His goal is to put temptations around us constantly. And that means those temptations are around our children constantly too.

We want to protect our children from ever seeing pornographic images on the internet or from seeing violence on t.v. or hearing swear words and sexual innuendos. But we can’t. There is much we can do, and should do, to reduce the evil our children will encounter, but there is nothing we can do to prevent them from eventually seeing and hearing something bad. Or even something very, very bad.

So what do we do? Teach our children what to do when they see evil. Teach them to immediately click the image away on the computer, turn the t.v. to a different station, walk away from images and swearing. Teach them to run, not walk, away from bad things.

But remember, our brain cannot replace thoughts with nothing. So next we need to teach our children what to do after they click, turn or run. And that is to replace the bad with something good. Have them choose a good song to sing, then practice with them singing the song. Ask them occasionally if they remember what song they will sing when they see something bad.

Let them choose a poem or scripture to say when they need to put good things in their brain. Choose a picture they will think about or a fun time they will immediately remember. Then role play and practice.

This would make a great family lesson to have with your children. Let them draw a picture of themselves with bad things inside their head (drawn as squiggles or scribbles). Then have them draw a picture of the good things they will put inside their head when confronted with an evil thought or picture.

If you can’t protect your children from ever seeing anything bad or evil, you CAN teach them what to do. And that’s the best protection you can give them.

Parenting Tip #78 Replace Negative Thoughts

2011-06-09T14:01:00.000-07:00

Has this scenario every happened at your house? You see your child picking her nose and you automatically say, “don’t pick your nose.” Your child keeps picking.
You tell yourself, “I’m not going to eat any chocolate today.” All day long you think of chocolate and finally break down and eat some.

The brain can’t replace thoughts with nothing, so whenever you want to change what you’re thinking, the brain will continue thinking about the negative thought unless you give it something else to think about. That’s what Bruce Fordham, psychotherapist, talked about in a podcast I recently listened to (http://radio.lds.org/programs/insights-episode-15?lang=eng).

You want your children to tell the truth, but you’re always asking, “are you lying to me?” You hate cleaning the kitchen and you keep thinking about how dirty it is and how MANY dishes there are and how long it will take. You are constantly telling your children, “Hurry up. You are so slow!”

Fordham tells us we need to replace the negative thoughts with positive thoughts. We need to visualize the positive.

How do we do that? Catch your child telling the truth and say, “I appreciate it when you tell me the truth. I can trust you because I know you are honest.” Then go tell Dad or grandma how truthful your child is (in his hearing).

Visualize your clean kitchen. Feel the delicious cleanliness of it. Then put some music on, set the timer and sing and wash away those dishes.

Encourage your child with mentioning how quickly he is obeying. Say things like, “wow, thanks for trying to hurry. That really helps the whole family.”

Remember—replace negative thoughts with healthy, positive thoughts and visualizations of action.

Then, be patient with yourself and your family. Changes don’t happen overnight. Bad habits can only change when a GOOD habit is formed to take it’s place.

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=d8a7eafcee340210VgnVCM100000176f620a____

Music Tip #75 Composition Idea

2011-06-07T17:53:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon a piece of piano music that I fell in love with. Since it seems like I’m always late to find out what’s popular, I’m sure everyone has already heard of this composer and song. If you haven't, let me introduce you to a young Korean composer named Yiruma. The piece I’m talking about is called “River Flows in You”.
http://www.myspace.com/yiruma I gave this piece to two of my teenage piano students recently and knew I’d found a winner when they both came back to lessons the next week and had learned it!

I love to play “River Flows in You” myself, and one day as I was playing it, I analyzed the form and realized that the left hand plays the same chord progression throughout the whole song. The right hand plays a simple melody (verse or part A) and embellishes it with running notes and slight modifications in melody. Then the right hand plays a second melody (chorus or part B) with embellishments.

Wow, I thought, what a simple framework to have my teenage students try to write their own composition. So at their next lesson I helped them discover the form of the piece and the simple left hand chord progression (I love to let them discover things—then they internalize the concepts). I had them create their own four chord progression and play it several times, then asked them to play a simple melody with their right hand—creating it on the spot. They put the hands together and both students were pleased with what they had created in 5 minutes.

The next step was to embellish the melody and tweak it to keep it interesting. I sent my students home with encouragement to finish their piece. One student came back for help a couple of days later because she was going to perform her composition at a youth music recital for Church. I LOVE it when I can hook a student into music, and especially when they’re hooked to compose their own music.

Thank you, Yiruma.

Music Tip #74 Music and Writing Strategies

2011-06-05T11:09:00.000-07:00

This year at school we set a goal to help boost writing scores by giving parents writing strategies they could do at home. We included them each month in our newsletter. Here's some ideas from my May newsletter:

The end of the school year and the beginning of summer are here and “what to do with the kids?” is an important question all parents ask.
Here are some writing ideas linked with music that might help keep your children in the learning zone:

1.Write new lyrics to familiar songs. Use folk songs as your starting point, then create new words to go with what you’re doing. If the chores need to get done, ask your child to write some cleaning up words to Mary Had a Little Lamb, or London Bridge. Here’s an example using the tune to Mary Had a Little Lamb:
My room looks so messy, Wow!
Messy, Wow! Messy, Wow!
My room looks so messy, Wow! I’d better clean it fast.

2.It’s really important for kindergarten-2nd grade age children to recognize rhyming words and be able to rhyme words themselves.
Start singing a song (again use folk or familiar songs) but only sing rhyming words, changing rhymes on each phrase. Encourage your child to join in. Here’s an example to the tune of 3 Blind Mice:
Sit, sit, sit,
Mit, mit, mit
Fit, fitfit, fit
Wit, witwit wit,
etc. (be prepared for silliness and laughing!) Then have your child write all the rhyming words you’ve sang.

3. Here’s a web site that teaches writing skills in the form of songs:
http://www.songsforteaching.com/writingstrategies.htm
4.I found this book on Amazon but it is not in stock. You can do the same thing at home. They have children practice their writing skills while listening to music. Easy—you can do the same thing. Everything is more fun with music in the background. http://www.amazon.com/Callirobics-Pre-Writing-Skills-Music-Callirobics/dp/B001AH3AL8
5.Here’s another site that teaches cursive writing and has songs to enhance the learning
http://www.kiboomu.com/2011/01/11/cursive-writing-practice-for-kids/

Parenting Tip #77 Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!

2011-06-02T20:07:00.000-07:00

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!
Will there be enough room?

Do you know this book, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, written by Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault? It’s a well loved preschool favorite that is in rhyme and tells what happens when the whole alphabet tries to climb a coconut tree.

I love children’s books and especially those which rhyme and have fun alliteration.
Isn’t this fun to say:
Skit skat skoodle doot.
Flip flop flee.
Everybody running to the coconut tree.
Mamas and papas
And uncles and aunts
Hug their little dears,
Then dust their pants.

There are so many fun things to do with rhymes; things that can benefit YOU as a mother. Are you having trouble getting children to brush their teeth? Challenge them to say “skit skat skoodle doot, flip flop flee” 10 times while they brush. That should be hilarious (but watch out for flying toothpaste).

Do you have trouble getting your baby to lie still while you change her diaper? Trouble with preschoolers getting dressed? Trouble with stubborn children eating dinner? Children not doing their chores or homework? Just start chanting sections from chicka chicka boom boom and soon you and they will be laughing and having fun and be surprised that the diaper is already changed, the clothes are on, the dinner eaten and the chores are done.

How about memorizing the whole book????? I just had talent show auditions at my school and I am always amazed at the Kindergarteners or first graders who recite long poems as if it is nothing [I meant your child memorize it—not you!]

Here’s another great phrase to memorize and say fast. Actually it’s a name: Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi- pip peri pembo, from the book Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel. Have your children who are fighting with siblings say that five times in a squeaky mouse voice and see if the atmosphere in your home doesn’t change really fast!

The Give-away Winner is....

2011-06-01T10:02:00.000-07:00

The give away winner of the CD entitled "Women of Hope" is Jenny. Shadow Mountain Records should be contacting you soon. Kimmie is the winner of the book!
Congratulations and thanks for reading!

I have two more CDs to give away real soon. So keep reading.

Parenting Tip #76 Writing memories worth reading

2011-05-31T17:41:00.000-07:00

My daughter-in-law was on TV in Utah today with tips on writing memories worth reading http://studio5.ksl.com/?nid=71&sid=15716302
It's worth watching!

Music for Tots Summer Class

2011-05-28T07:52:00.001-07:00

I'm excited to teach another music for tots class this summer!
CHICKA CHICKA BOOM BOOM, will there be enough room? Come explore the rich sounds of rhyme, rhythm and music as you and your children sing, dance, move, wiggle and play instruments. Discover how books coupled with music can unlock your child’s imagination and increase his ability to learn.

This class is for multi-age children and siblings-- newborn to age 5 and their parents.

Where: The Learning Center / Little Village Pre-School (Formerly Skyline Charter School-their sign is still up)
550 W Warner Rd (On the North side of Warner just east of Alma School)

When: Saturdays mornings * June 11, 18, 25, July 9, 16, 23 (no class on July 2)

Time: 11:00am-11:45am

Cost: $110.00 per family NEW PRICE $85.00
Bring a friend who registers for class and both of you get $10.00off!

If you live in my area and are interested, please register. If you're a grandparent and want to do something fun with your preschoolers, sign up and come! I guarantee this class will keep you young!

Email me at
playsmusic@hotmail.com to
register and confirm your spot.
Payment on 1st day of class.

Music Tip #73 Open Ended Music Lessons

2011-05-26T13:49:00.000-07:00

I love to plan and teach open ended music lessons at school. These are lessons where I present basic information such as a chant, rhyme or song but then let the students create where we go from there. Can we add movements, an ostinato, and instruments? What musical form shall we present our new creation in—AB or ABA or ABACA?

Sometimes we create the movements and form together as a whole group, and other times I divide the class into small groups and let each group come up with their own ideas. Then the groups perform for each other. I love to see the creativity that evolves.

But other things happen during an open ended lesson plan that aren’t just musical. Students learn to brainstorm, cooperate, and develop leadership skills. Each group always ends up with some child becoming the leader, either by default or because they talk louder and faster than anyone else. Once in a while no student leader will surface in a group and the kids will just stand there staring at each other. Then a new learning opportunity evolves and I lead them to discover how to brainstorm and talk and communicate with each other.

When students contribute to the lesson, they internalize the ideas and make it their own. Learning happens and sticks. They feel valued, and involved and in control.

So how can this type of open ended learning atmosphere be used elsewhere in life or in the home?

Piano teachers--or any other kind of instrument teacher, can ask students at their lessons which one of their pieces they would like to play first. They can ask them what needs to be changed or how to make the piece sound better. They can ask them for ideas on how to practice it at home.

Parents can use open ended learning in the home by asking children how they would like to organize the chore schedule, or when would be the best time for them to do their home work. When looking in their bedroom and seeing that, yes indeed, a tornado DID hit, ask for ideas on how to clean it the quickest way. On Saturday ask for ideas on how to get the work of the day done in a fun way where everyone is helping.

When you involve children in the decision making, and let them use their creativity, they become part owners in the situation and will work to make it successful. Try it! I would love to hear your ideas and the results of your “tries”.

A Give-Away is Here!

2011-05-22T11:21:00.000-07:00

I’m happy to have another giveaway on my blog for two items—a new music CD and a book for parents of preschoolers.

The book, The Smarter Preschooler, Unlocking Your Child’s Intellectual Potential is written by a husband/wife team, Renee and Mike Mosiman, whose sons I teach at my school (our school provides enrichment classes to homeschooled families). Did I mention yet that this book is excellent? It is a "user-friendly" book that speaks to parents and educators alike. It covers a wide range of topics of interest for parents who want to be proactive in their children's lives. There are many research findings included in each topic with pertinent examples sprinkled throughout each chapter. There are lots of great "down to earth" ideas that parents can easily incorporate into their child's life.

One of the reasons I like this book is because Renee and Mike think like I do on important topics like play, the arts, t.v., and family time. They encourage lots of free play, less t.v., and quality family time. They suggest ideas on which chores preschoolers are capable of doing, how to make running errands a learning and fun experience, and discuss the pros and cons of sending your child to preschool.

If you are a new parent of a preschooler or an experienced [and perhaps tired] one, this book will excite you with ideas, information and support.

The music CD is called Women of Hope-giving voice to your heart. It brings together the best talents in the LDS music community in celebration of the power of women. It features original songs performed by favorite singers such as Hilary Weeks, Cherie Call, Mercy River and more. It is produced by Tyler Castleton with Kurt Bestor.

This is a CD that grows on you and becomes better each time you listen to it. The first time I heard it I enjoyed listening to it. The 2nd time I enjoyed it even more. Each time I played it, it brought feelings of love and peace.

With song titles like By Our Love, Legacy, Hope on the Horizon, Find Mercy and God Will Give You Wings, you can see what a powerful CD it is.

Leave me a comment and mention which give away you are interested in, the book or CD, or if you want to be entered in both, tell me that too. Make sure your email address shows!

I’ll choose the lucky winners next Monday.

Music Tip #72 Helpful Songs

2011-05-19T21:26:00.000-07:00

I’ve written songs throughout my adult life. Some have been published—others haven’t. My most famous song –to my kids, that is--is one that I use to sing when I was stressed out, had a hundred things to do and had no energy to do them with. It’s called, “I’ve Got Energy”. I was trying to psych myself out, I guess.

Another song I recently wrote is one to help me with one of my vices. Coveting. I never thought of myself as a coveter (is that a word?). Perhaps I was a little jealous and envious of other people’s nicer-than-mine house, or financial status or beauty. But I didn’t think I coveted—until one year in Sunday School when we were discussing the 10 Commandments and that one came up. Whoa—it sure sounded like what I was doing.

So I wrote this little song to help me overcome my feelings and put life back into perspective. You sing it to the tune of Are You Sleeping.

Do not covet. Do not covet.
Don’t you dare. Don’t compare.
Coveting’s a dreadful sin.
Makes you bitter, no one wins.
Count your Blessings.
Count your Blessings!

So I hope you can use my two little songs some day. The next time you have no energy, sing I Have Energy from the top of your lungs. You really have to shout it out. And did I mention you have to dance while you’re singing it?

Or if you find yourself coveting, sing Do Not Covet in your head over and over again.

Happy singing!

Parenting Tip #75 Use Your Words

2011-05-15T10:03:00.000-07:00

When I visit my grandchildren, I’ve been surprised to hear my daughter in laws say to their children, “use your words.” They say this usually when a child is having a melt down, either because of fighting with a sibling or frustration at getting dressed or whatever. The mom will say, “Use your words”--implying “quit crying and tell me what’s going on”.

Use your words and tell your sister how that made you feel. Use your words and tell me why you don’t want to wear your red shirt. Use your words and tell me what’s wrong with the Cheerios in your bowl.

I wish I would have used this technique when my children were small. It’s a great way to help children realize they have feelings and put a name to them. It’s also a great way to help children organize their thoughts and express them—she hit me, it hurt, I’m angry. It’s a great way to visualize and organize past events—I took her toy, she hit me, it hurt, I’m angry. And finally, it’s a great way to evaluate choices and choose new ones—I took her toy, she hit me, it hurt, I’m angry, I should give her back the toy and say I’m sorry.

But what if your child is too young to use their words? Here comes the beauty of teaching your baby sign language. Is your toddler sleepy, hungry, wants more apples, or wants milk? Teaching these basic signs can really help a frustrated mother understand what her even more frustrated toddler is trying to tell her.

“Use your words”. Food for thought for even adults. One of my sons loves the book, Crucial Conversations, a book that tells how to deal with crucial events in people’s lives and deal with them in a constructive, positive way. http://www.leadershipnow.com/leadershop/0194-6excerpt.html

I guess every blogger knows the power of using your words. I’m using my words to hopefully give you ways to make your world a little easier and more fun.
Thanks
for
reading
my
words!

Parenting Tip #74 Teaching Children to Work

2011-05-08T08:21:00.000-07:00

Today is Mother’s Day. I’ve learned so many things from my mother about how to be a good mother. Here are just a few things I’ve learned about teaching children how to work:
1.Make work fun. When we had to clean the house, we would play army--with my mother being “The General”. She would give us a small job to do, we would salute and say, “yes Ma’am!”, then run off to do the job. When it was finished we would return to The General, salute and get a new job.

I tried making work fun for my children by hiding M&M’s under clothing and toys strewn all over the floor. The clean up would look daunting, but when you found candy while cleaning, it was much more fun!

2.Teach your children how to work. My sister and I were not washing the dishes up to my mother’s standards. So I vividly remember one night watching her as SHE washed the dishes while instructing us on how to do it correctly. “Wipe the counter after the dishes are washed,” she told us as she carefully wiped it. “Pick up the salt and pepper shakers on the stove and wipe under them,” she demonstrated.

I tried this technique with my children by writing step by step instructions on “how to clean the bathroom”. I demonstrated it for them, too. I wonder if they remember that day?

3.You get what you earned. One Saturday, as young children, we had to help rake up the leaves in the back yard. My brother kept messing around and not helping. After the job was done, my mother all gave us a glass of punch. Except my brother—he only got half a glass. He cried but was told that was all he had earned. It was a lesson for all of us.

4.Sometimes it’s okay to quit or Evaluate the situation. I had the most boring job in the world one summer when I worked at ASU. I called my mother during lunch one day because I just couldn’t take it anymore. She asked me some probing questions then said, “Well it doesn’t sound like the money you are making from this job is really worth what you have to go through. So quit.” What??!! I could actually quit? Other times in my life she had told me to “hang in there”. Lesson learned: every situation is different.

Thanks, Mom, for teaching me how to work--and all the other things you taught me. I love you!

Music Tip #71May I hear a DRUM roll please...

2011-04-17T22:20:00.000-07:00

I went to THE MOST FUN workshop this weekend. It was a drumming workshop by Dr. Craig Woodson. http://www.ethnomushttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gificinc.com/index.html He showed us how to make drums using cans, tape and more tape. I came home with 4 drums and enough ideas to teach all my classes next year.

Dr. Woodson was invited by Frank Thompson who is founder of the AZ Rhythm Connection. http://www.azrhythmconnection.com They offer a free standard based curriculum for teachers. "Each lesson includes: information about the instrument and its country and culture of origin; information about the special rhythms associated with the instrument and instructions on how to play along; and instructions on how to build a homemade version of the instrument."http://www.rootsofrhythm.net/curriculum.html
What kid doesn't like drums? These are so easy to make, yet sound so good! Did I mention we made a xylophone too? These instruments would be great for cub scout meetings, scout troops, general music classes, music group lessons, and more. I plan on having the students make them next year for our "found instrument" unit.

And the winner is.....

2011-04-17T22:17:00.000-07:00

Emily and Natalie you are the winners of the two CDs!! Congratulations! Emily, your email address didn't come through and I'm not sure which Emily you are. So if you wrote a comment, please email me with YOUR email address. Natalie your CD will be coming!
Thanks to all those who commented!

Music Tip #70 CD Give Aways

2011-04-10T12:22:00.001-07:00

OK here’s the 2 CDs I’m reviewing and giving away. Thank goodness I get to keep my copies and the publisher will mail the lucky winners their own copy.

The first CD is by Josh Wright. He is a 23 year old classical pianist who combines the well known classic melodies with equally well loved hymns. All I can say is AMAZING!! Who would have thought to put Clair de lune with How Great Thou Art? You have to hear it—it is so beautiful. The album has 3 hymn/classic medleys besides the other great classics such as Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" and Satie's "Gynopedi No. 1. The last piece is Liszt's "La Campanella which he plays on two grand pianos! Of course you can’t see that on the CD but you can see it here: http://joshwrightpiano.com/.

Maybe the best recommendation for buying this CD (if you don’t win it) is what my friend, Debbie, said while we were listening to it while we were sewing one evening. She said, “I’m sorry, Cathy, but I’m going to have to take your CD home with me tonight. I have to listen to it again!”

The second CD I’m reviewing actually comes with a book. It is by Hilary Weeks and is called, “Bedtime and Naptime…and Bedtime and Naptime-The Simple Joys of a Mom’s Life”. I LOVE it. The CD contains funny song parodies— like from “My Favorite Things” she names “bedtime and naptime and naptime and bedtime…” Another is “Climb every mountain, wash every load. If you’re alive and breathing, then there are clothes to fold.”

The small book contains quotes, experiences, memories, insights and recipes. One of her insights I love mentions how frustrated she got when she didn’t have big blocks of time to do what she wanted to do. She found she had to use 15 minutes here and 10 minutes there and the Lord would magnify her efforts and multiply her output. The same can happen to us.

Please leave me a comment or just your name and email address and I’ll choose two (2) lucky winners next week!

A Give-Away is Coming!

2011-04-03T22:19:00.000-07:00

Another give away is on the way. I'm giving away 2 CD's so watch for further information!

Parenting Tip #73 Values Journal

2011-04-03T21:58:00.000-07:00

I stood outside on the school playground crying, desperately wishing I was home with my mother. I was a new kindergartener and very shy. As I cried, a boy came up to me—his name was Larry—and he held out a tiny, miniature green hairbrush. “Here,” he said, “you can have this if you stop crying.”
I took the small hairbrush, intrigued because it was so small and cute, and I stopped crying. I fell in love with Larry and liked him all the rest of my elementary school days.

Larry taught me about compassion—feeling another’s pain and doing something about it.

I remember this first experience that taught me about compassion. But I don’t remember my first experience learning about honesty, or patience or forgiveness. I wish I did. But I didn’t write them down.

Wouldn’t it be invaluable to have your children record their own experiences as they learn about these values and others?

My daughter-in-law, Katie, has a business called Meaningful Moments where she helps adults/children record and publish their own experiences so they can “pass on the values they’ve lived by and the lessons they’ve learned”.http://www.mymeaningfulmoments.com/ What a great legacy to leave to your posterity.

Once a month, perhaps on a Sunday, take time to have your children think of an experience they have had that helped them learn a lesson. If they are a preschooler they can draw a picture of it with you writing down in their words what happened. For older students, they can write/draw the experience and value they learned.

Buy or make a cute notebook just for these journal entries. Use gel pens, stickers or colored pencils to make the writing more fun. You’ll be accomplishing more than just preserving a history. You’ll be validating what your child has learned, you’ll be allowing your child to create and develop writing skills, and helping him think sequentially (Caution: Let this be a free, fun activity, not a school report that you are grading. Encourage your children to spell and write it in any way they want. This is their voice!).

What a great gift to give your children-the gift of remembering their childhood. And maybe, it will help you remember yours. So sit down next to your children, open up your values journal, and begin writing.

PS Here's a link to how to make THE CUTEST journals! My daughter made them for the cousins (in picture) for a Christmas gift. http://cuegly.blogspot.com/2009/09/purse-notebooks-tutorial.html

Music Tip #69 Skype music recital

2011-03-29T22:02:00.000-07:00

Saturday we had the 1st ever Shepherd Family Music Recital via skype. It involved 5 of my 7 children who live out of state in 5 different states and in 4 different times zones. I invited my grandchildren a month ago to practice the piano/cello and then said we would have a little recital via skype. (By the way, the other two children not involved live in AZ with me, but they don’t have children old enough to play the piano yet)

I was very apprehensive that our recital wouldn’t work. I found out you have to get a group account from skype, either as a one day use or permanent account. I chose the one day use for $5.00. Each participant has to have the most updated version of skype, which one of my daughters didn’t. But she was able to quickly update and join us.

And it worked!! It was so fun to see my children/grandchildren from Utah, Illinois, Minnesota, Virginia and Florida all on the computer screen at the same time.

I chose who was going to play their piece next on the recital by giving clues to who the person was. They would raise their hand if the clue applied to them. One clue was: this person has had a lot of snow this winter. Everyone raised their hands except the Floridians! A funny thing my daughter, who lives in Florida, said was, “why are all of you wearing long sleeves when it’s so warm outside?”

We are definitely going to have another recital again. It’s great motivation to practice, it’s positive peer pressure (for adults to get a piece ready too), and it’s a wonderful way to keep long distance family close to each other. The refreshments are a little hard to figure out, though……

Parenting Tip #72 I'm Bored

2011-03-27T12:09:00.000-07:00

"I'm bored," your child says.

What is your response? I recently heard a talk and the speaker said you should shout, "Hallelujah!" The speaker then went on to say our children need to be more "unplugged" and have less structured activities and lessons. They need more time to play and invent--which comes from being "bored".

I remember several years ago--okay, many, many years ago--my husband and I had taken our 7 children to visit his aunt and uncle at their cabin in the mountains. We had come up to visit so our children could sing for them. But after our little performance, there wasn't much else to do. My husband promptly took a nap, the aunt and uncle disappeared, and the kids and I had hours in front of us with nothing to do. Well, the kids had plenty to do--exploring the woods and creek. I was the one who was TOTALLY BORED. No book to read--nothing.

I was about ready to walk the 100 miles home when I told myself to get a grip on myself. I thought, "what can I do while I'm here with what I brought." I had brought our camera so the thought came to me to make an alphabet book with photographs of the kids in nature. The next 2 hours were the most fun I've had. We brainstormed and found lots of ways to demonstrate the letters in the alphabet. Then a few days later when we were back home, my children helped put all the pictures in order to make our alphabet book.

This has been such a fun book to look at over the years, that at Christmas last year, I took alphabet pictures of my grandchildren who were visiting and made them their own alphabet book.

So if YOU or your children ever get bored (you're saying, yea, like when was the last time I was bored), just say, "YES! Hallelujah!" Then look around and start creating!

Music Tip #68 Gourd Instruments

2011-03-23T22:39:00.001-07:00

The art teacher and I are collaborating on a unit—gourd instruments. I’ve been interested in making musical instruments with gourds for several years, and made some a few years ago for an African unit. This year I thought it would be fun to have the students paint and decorate their own gourds in their art class, then we would use them and create rhythms in our music class and then perform for the parents.

In February, Casa Grande had a gourd festival and my husband and I went and bought over $300 worth of gourds. Do you realize how many different varieties there are of gourds? Lots! I was prepared, though, because the art teacher, Shannon, and I had already decided which classes would get which type of gourd (3rd grade – 6th grade).

Now for the past couple of weeks the students have been painting their gourds and today during music we started using them to plan a musical performance to show the parents. Here’s the scary thing, though. I didn’t plan the lesson or musical performance for each class. I decided I would let each class create their own musical number.

I love these guided, open ended lessons because the students come up with such fun, creative ideas—better than what I could think of. It’s also a great way to provide an activity where cooperation and communication is needed.

Since the students researched and used Native American symbols on the gourds, I played several different selections of Native American music for them to listen to. We read about different tribes and their music and instruments in our student music books. Then I told them a couple of Native American folk stories, showed them some dances and suggested how we could use both recorders and their gourds to enhance the music or add interest.

Then came the creative part. I let the students suggest ideas for our musical presentation, we voted on the ideas and then started putting our performance together. It was a rewarding day.

Parenting Tip #71 Cementing Family Values

2011-03-20T19:35:00.000-07:00

When I go for walks in the morning, I pass several houses which have gravel yards. Almost all of them have weeds poking up through the rock. I always think to myself, “you better get out your grass/weed spray and spray before they get out of hand.”

One morning as I walked passed a gravel yard, I noticed that in front by the fence they had dug out a square area and had poured cement into it. I thought, “wow, they are serious about not wanting weeds in that area. They’ll never have to worry about that spot again.” Then as I continued walking pass the house each morning, I saw more areas cleared away and more cement poured until they had the whole front section full of concrete. It looked nice and there was no chance of grass and weeds overrunning it.

Now since my mind seems to always want to find a correlation in life or to make a parable out of a situation, I immediately thought, “how can I use that in my blog? How does that apply to parenting or raising children?”

I’ve had fun pondering it and here are some ideas I’ve come up with.

If you are raising children, you need to be serious about your responsibility in teaching and nurturing them. You need to ponder and consider how you can solidify your family’s love and cement in moral values. You need to find concrete things to do that will foster family love and weed out those materialistic things that continually pop up.

Instead of being passive, my neighbors were active in ridding their yard of weeds. They dug a foundation and then poured in a strong substance that weeds could not penetrate.

What is your family’s foundation built upon? Does it have a strong spiritual base? What are you pouring into your family that is solid? Do you accept your children’s individual uniqueness and weed out the tendency to compare them? Are you open minded and see the positive things about your children instead of labeling them as lazy or sloppy?

Are you cementing in family love by trying to be understanding and having fun traditions and saying, “I’m sorry”? Are you tucking them into bed at night and saying “I love you” (even though you’re thinking what a ---- they’ve been all day)? Are you teaching concrete moral values like being kind to others, sharing, and praying for each other?

I think you are most likely doing GREAT! Keep taking one day at a time, one child at a time. Enjoy the strong family you are creating.

Now help me think of more connections. What are your ideas?

The Give-away Winner is....

2011-03-20T19:31:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Michele--the winner of the book "5 Spiritual Solutions". I used random.org to generate the lucky number, which was number 13!!

I will have two more give aways of music CDs coming up in the next week or so. Watch for them.

A Give-Away is Here!

2011-03-13T12:01:00.000-07:00

Announcing my FIRST FREE GIVEAWAY!! I will be giving away a copy of the book: 5 Spiritual Solutions for Everyday Parenting to one of my readers. That could be YOU! All you have to do is write a comment on this blog post. Make it short and sweet, or just say “enter me”. One of the comments will be randomly choosen to receive this amazingly helpful parenting book.

Enter now. This Give away closes next Sunday. Leave your email address or sign in with your google account because I'll email the winner!

Parenting Tip #70 The DAT Formula

2011-03-13T11:56:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of the DAT Formula? This is for parents who do a good job of parenting but still want to improve.
D stands for decibels. Turn your volume down when speaking to your children. Be calm.
A is for agency. Give your children simple choices to make. This actually shows your children that you trust and respect them.
T is for tone. Do you use the same respectful tone when you speak to your children as you do when speaking to colleagues and friends?

The DAT Formula is just one of the ideas I got from a new parenting book I was asked to review. It is written by the New York Times #1 Bestselling authors, Richard and Linda Eyre. It’s called 5 Spiritual Solutions for Everyday Parenting Challenges. I wish it would have been written earlier when I was raising my seven children. It would have saved me from a lot of worry and guilt about whether I was doing this right or did I say that wrong.

The 5 solutions are to remember. Remember your children’s true identity, remember God’s parenting patterns, remember your direct channel to the Father, remember the Church’s “scaffolding” and remember the Savior’s Power.

A feature I really like about the book is at the end of each chapter. It’s a list of good things that will happen to your children when you remember the solution in the chapter and also a list of bad things that this solution will help your children avoid or overcome.

In the chapter on remembering the Savior’s Power, an incident was told about a fireside that was held with a Church leader. The leader opened it up for questions. A young father asked “How can I have more spiritual experiences? I had them all the time on my mission!”

The Church leader told him to “Use the priesthood more.”

How do you use the priesthood more? Give a young daughter a blessing before the test she is so worried about. Give a little boy having a hard time learning to read a blessing. Give a son a blessing because he is troubled about an inappropriate movie he saw at a friend’s house. Give a wife a blessing so she can handle the stress of the upcoming week. Remember the power of the Savior’s love for us.

Music Tip #67 Found Instruments

2011-03-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

I’m doing a unit on “found instruments” with the 3rd and 4th graders at school. This week they brought instruments they found from home and we had a great time playing them. First we grouped the instruments according to how they are played, such as: shakers, scrappers, or tapped. Next we made up a recipe for chocolate chip cookies and extracted ingredients and phrases to become our rhythms. Then the rhythms were assigned to each group. For example, the tapped instrument group said the words, “chocolate chips, chocolate chips,” over and over while tapping the rhythm of the words. The scraper group said and played, “rest, rest, rest, eggs!” while the shaker group said and played, “bake them in the oven.”

We layered in the different rhythms one group at a time and it sounded, well….. pretty good. Especially as we talked about beat and how each group had to keep the same beat though they were playing different rhythms.

The students also had a jam session playing to the song, “Pots and Pans” by The Bacon Brothers from the CD called Dog Train. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_13?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=pots+and+pans&sprefix=pots+and+pans It’s a really fun piece that has pots and pans banging in the music. Another fun song to play recycled or found instruments to is a Sesame Street song called “Clink Clank”. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=clink+clank&x=0&y=0

Let your children loose in the kitchen or back yard, have them gather up “instruments”, put some music on and have a great jam session of your own!

A Give-Away is Coming!

2011-03-08T21:13:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited! I'm going to be giving my FIRST give away on my blog. I won't tell you what it is yet, but it might be ........

Look for next week's post to read more about it and to enter!

Music Tip #66 Steps in learning a new piece of music

2011-03-06T11:50:00.000-08:00

I’m trying to help my piano students visualize the steps toward learning a piece of music, especially if it is a longer, more challenging piece than you can learn in one week. I gave them a chart with a ladder that shows the steps towards learning their piece. Then as they accomplished each step, they put a sticker on that step. When the top and last step was achieved, they put a BIG sticker on that step and was rewarded with a piece of candy.

I tried to attach my chart, but can't figure out how to do it. So here are the steps I teach my students:
1. learn the notes (right hand then left hand)
2. learn the correct fingering (while learning the notes)
3. put both hands together
4. play piece with a steady beat
5. add dynamics
6. listen for balance of hands (melody louder)

This chart accomplished a couple of things. It taught them how to break down a big task into smaller, attainable chunks. It taught them the pattern and order of learning a song. And it rewarded them along the way (the stickers).

When you think of it, isn’t that a great technique to incorporate into other aspects of our life, like school, work, relationships, and chores? Break hard things into smaller manageable pieces, find an order to your chaos and reward yourself along the way.

Ahh....music teaches more than music!

Parenting Tip #69 Mold or Unfold?

2011-03-06T11:15:00.000-08:00

Children are not things to be molded, but people to be unfolded.
As a part time music teacher, I eat lunch twice a week with other teachers. We talk about this and that, but always about our students---and always the ones that are not fitting “the mold”. Sometimes I stop to listen to our talk and think, “are we upset because this child is not fitting into our class mold? Do we really want to help him or do we just want him to act like everyone else and make life easier for us?”

What about your children? If you have more than one child, you know that they are each born with their own distinct personality traits, likes, dislikes, and talents. But are you trying to fit them all into the same mold. Are you parenting them all the same way?

One of my children was very creative in doing his chores. He would take the baby in her stroller and go into his bedroom and pick up things and drape them all over the stroller, creating a masterpiece of ----something,I certainly didn’t know what! To me it looked like he was playing around and making a mess. To him, he was cleaning up, but having fun and creating while doing it. I had to learn to give him his space for creativity and not demand that he “just go clean up the room!”

A friend was trying to learn how to communicate with her 2nd oldest daughter. She wasn’t as verbal as the eldest daughter and the mom had to try and guess what she was mad or upset about. Has this ever happened to you? The mom started noticing the events and actions that would happen before and after “difficult situations” and began to see that her middle child had leadership abilities and tendencies, but was thwarted in them because of her older sibling. As the mom began to give choices to her daughter, she experienced more positive outcomes because her daughter was now able to choose and control certain aspects in her life.

Notice your children this week. How and with what do they play? How do they react best to your requests? Does one need more physical touch than the others? What is your “whiner” really saying to you? What is the “hitter” experiencing or getting frustrated about?

I thought I caught a glimpse of Sadie the other day, one of the students we always complain about. I was in the temple and saw a beautiful black woman. I thought, "that's how Sadie will look in 15 years, but only if someone starts guiding and helping her--not just complaining about her."

See your child as a plant that is starting to blossom. Is she a tulip, a poppy, or a rose? Help her as she unfolds and blooms!

Parenting Tip #68 Ode to my Kitchen Timer

2011-02-27T21:43:00.000-08:00

Ode to my kitchen timer
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee for the many ways
I can use you in my busy days
I love the things I can control
From kids to dinner---hey, I’m on a roll!

Here are 16 ways you can use a timer to help you set limits:
1. Practice musical instrument
2. Time out chair/room
3. Chore you or child doesn’t want to do
4. Children’s cell phone conversations
5. Time till brothers/sisters/Dad get home from school/work
6. Homework time
7. Children do chores to beat the timer
8. Snore alarm (put by bed)
9. Help you get out the door on time
10. Take turns to play with toy
11. No fighting for this length of time
12. Time allowed on the computer, video games
13. Exercise time
14. Quiet time for mom
15. Quiet time for children
16. Bath time

Anymore ideas?

Parenting Tip #67 Courageous Parenting

2011-02-20T20:42:00.000-08:00

“Courageous Parenting”, that’s the title of a speech given by Elder Larry R. Lawrence at a past Church conference and he says it is a “good theme for parents.” http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/courageous-parenting?lang=eng The youth are a primary target to whom Satan is directing his attention and parents need to be courageous as they counsel and teach their children.

Parents need to be courageous as they teach their youth about modesty. Don’t be afraid to say, “No, you may not wear that blouse”, and “Yes, we’ll buy the more expensive swimming suit because it is modest.”

Parents need to be courageous in saying, “No, you may not sleepover at your friend’s house,” and “Yes, you may stay until 11:00 and then I’ll drive you back in time for breakfast.”

Parents need to be courageous in limiting the time their children play video games and what type they play. Parents need to be courageous on insisting everyone eats dinner together at the dinner table (with no t.v.). Parents need to be courageous in saying “No” to steady dating, and “Yes” to group dating at age 16.

Curfew, friends, activities, dress, school, the list goes on and on. Courageous parenting, indeed.

Our children are under a lot of peer pressure. But I felt more peer pressure from other parents when my kids were teens than I ever did as a teenager myself! Other parents would let their children do this and that, but we wouldn’t let ours. Talk about pressure!

Courage was our answer—courage to stay true to our beliefs. That, and wonderful children who trusted their parents and had courage to obey their counsel.

Music Tip #65 Piano Bingo

2011-02-17T14:46:00.000-08:00

This week I played Piano Bingo with my students. I took the hearts off the bingo board and my students would choose one heart at a time, read the directions on the back, then match the number on the heart to the numbered square on the bingo board and do what the heart said to do. Some of the directions were: play your working song, play a review song with a steady beat, say the treble clef space names, etc. When all the hearts were put back on the board, a secret message was revealed (You Played Great Today!). Then I gave them some candy.

This is a fun way of giving piano lessons, both for me, the teacher, and the student. Life can get boring and it's fun to jazz things up a bit every once in a while. One year I did a baseball bingo during baseball season. The boys especially liked it.

Hummm, I should make a princess or fairy bingo, and maybe a take off on a movie like the Incredibles or Despicable Me. I've also made a Bingo game as a home practice gimmick. Just make a copy for each student on regular paper and write practice directions in each box. Then the child crosses out the squares each day as he practices.

Parenting Tip #66 Love Needs of Children

2011-02-17T12:32:00.000-08:00

I used a valentine Bingo game for piano lessons this week. On the back of each heart it said what the student was to play. One of the hearts said to “kiss your mother” (my moms are always at the lesson since I teach Suzuki piano). It was very interesting and surprising to see the reaction this heart brought. Some girls jumped up and quickly went to the couch where their mother was sitting and gave her a kiss—which is what I expected to happen. Other girls made a face and didn’t want to. Most of the boys didn’t want to give their mother a kiss but one 10 year old boy said, “oh, that’s easy” and gave his mom a great big kiss.

How do you show love to your children? How do they show love to you? Are you a touchy-hugging sort of person or a business-like “do your homework, get your chores done, good night-now get in bed”sort of parent. Does your child cling or whine and hang around you constantly?

You probably have heard about the 5 love languages. http://www.5lovelanguages.com/learn-the-languages/the-five-love-languages/
Children also have a love language. http://www.mesacc.edu/dept/d46/psy/dev/Spring99/schoolage/love.html
Ask these questions to your child to find out what his/her primary love language is. http://crcpeninsula.org/Love_Languages_Children_Guiz.pdf

“In family life, love is the oil that eases friction, the cement that binds closer together, and the music that brings harmony.” Eva Burrows

“Whatever they grow up to be, they are still our children, and the one most important of all the things we can give to them is unconditional love. Not a love that depends on anything at all except that they are our children.” Rosaleen Dickson

Go show your child some love!

Parenting Tip #65 Your Baby is Always Right!

2011-02-06T19:01:00.000-08:00

Good businesses and stores know that “the customer is always right.” That’s the attitude we need to take with newborns and babies (well, children too). “The baby is always right”—so if she is crying, then something needs to be done. Is the baby hungry, tired, has messy diapers, or getting sick? There’s always a reason why a baby (and child) cries. As adults we need to act like adults and find out the reason.

The baby is always right. His schedule is the one that fits his needs right now. Is he sleeping at inconvenient times for you (well, don’t they always?), or is he going through a growth spurt and not sleeping at all because he is so interested in taking everything in that is going on around him?

The baby is always right. Is she going through a fearful stage of being afraid of strangers? Is she clinging to you and want to be held a lot? Is he crying constantly and irritable, not his happy normal self? Stop and think of your schedule and the baby’s schedule. Are they out of whack? Are you causing stress to your baby?

As adults, we have lots of stress. Babies don’t need stress. They need a love, warm touching, caring environment where they can develop their little bodies, minds and emotions.

Your baby is always right!
http://www.ehow.com/how_2239265_reduce-stress-babies.html
http://www.parentingscience.com/stress-in-babies.html

Music Tip #64 Music and Math

2011-02-06T09:58:00.000-08:00

This year in my monthly newsletter for school, I have to include a math page—helps for the parents to encourage them to use more math at home. Here are my math ideas for February:
Most of the music classes have been using play dough to help them visualize and understand rhythm. This is essential for playing music.
Mix up a batch of play dough (or buy some) and have your child divide his portion into 4 equal balls.
Clap and count the balls ( 1,2,3,4)
Now divide each ball into two equal smaller balls (8 total).
Count them as "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and".
This is a great way to introduce fractions.
Now have your child again divide each ball into two equal smaller balls (16 total).
Count them as "1 e and a , 2 e and a, 3 e and a, 4 e and a".
Count them as total balls together, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16.
Group them as units of 4 to see how 4 sets of 4 make 16 total.
Clap each time you count. Or pat. or snap. This helps keep your children’s interest!
Subdivide and clap away and learn fractions the fun way!
for recipes look here:
http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/play-doh-recipes.html
**************************************************
K-2 graders are singing the song,
I love you little
I love you lots
My love for you will fill 10 pots,
15 buckets, 16 cans, 3 teapots and 4 dishpans!
Change the numbers and have your child count how much he loves you!

Music Tip #63 Choir arrangements

2011-01-30T19:59:00.000-08:00

I’m the ward choir director in my church and direct a youth choir as well as the adult choir. I recently found a good source for hymn arrangements for choir music. And did I mention it was free? Steven Smith’s website has a wealth of great arrangements for ward choirs. http://www.soundsmithmusic.com/free-lds-sheet-music-library/ Today my youth choir sang the arrangement of Come Follow Me. Instead of using the vocal descant and/or violin descant, I wrote a descant for bells and had four young women play it on resonator bells. And yesterday my daughter and I played Steven’s arrangement of Come Follow Me for the viola and piano at a Stake Women’s Conference. Great arrangements of a beautiful hymn. Thanks Steven.

Resonator bells are more affordable than handbells. I recently joined a handbell group and am having a great time. But handbells are very expensive. Resonator bells are a cheaper way to go and still let children enjoy the opportunity of playing in a bell ensemble. A 25 note chromatic set of resonator bells range from $170-$270 depending on if the base is made from wood or plastic. Two octaves of handbells will cost over $5,000. http://www.wwbw.com/Search/Default.aspx?internal=1&src=resonator%20bells

http://www.handbellworld.com/equip/equipPiece.cfm?piece=6237

Music Tip #62 What kind of conductor are you?

2011-01-23T19:44:00.000-08:00

Have you ever watched a conductor leading an orchestra and noticed his arm movements? Some conductors control their orchestra with very noticeable gestures telling the players exactly how, when and what to play. And they better do it the conductor’s way, too! Other conductors don’t use a lot of arm movement, but just gesture here and there, forcing their players to look at each other and guess how they’re suppose to play.

Then there is the conductor who is definitely in charge, but he allows the soloists to play their own “stories”. He gives them feedback with his facial expressions. He encourages his players to share the meaning of the piece with the audience through their playing, so that everyone becomes a partner in the experience.

Those were ideas I heard as I watched a talk on Ted.com by Itay Talgam, who was a symphony conductor in his native Israel, but now uses conducting as a metaphor to teach leadership styles.

What kind of conductor are you for your “family orchestra”? How do you control your players? Are you a dictator or do you look the other way and let your kids do what they want? Are family members all partners together and headed in the same direction or is there confusion and frustration? Do your family members know the meaning to life and take part in achieving it?

Children need guidelines, rules and fences. But they need the freedom within those guidelines to interpret their lives. Maybe playing the piano is your goal, but really not theirs (after 5 years of never practicing and now they’re in high school). Parents need to guide the family’s direction but if rules are unclear, children are left to guess what they’re suppose to do.

Having a family council once a week is a great way to make sure your family is all on the same song, I mean page. You can coordinate and schedule the week’s activities and get feedback on what your children are feeling and how they are doing in their activities. You can let your children “play their solos” and give them support and encouragement.
Together, you and your family can make beautiful music!

Parenting Tip #64 The Incredibles

2011-01-16T19:58:00.000-08:00

My son and his family dressed up as The Incredibles for Halloween last year. That got me thinking. How great would that be to have super powers? But maybe a different sort of super power than you usually see in the movies.

The Dad in the movie had super strength which he used to save lives and protect his family. Every dad could use super strength. Super strength to work long hours and still have time to play with his kids when he comes home. Strength to have integrity and honesty while at work. Strength to lead his family in spiritual matters. Strength to keep his marriage alive and make his wife number one in his thoughts.

Helen, the Mom in The Incredibles had stretching abilities. Now isn’t that just the perfect super power any mom needs? The ability to stretch herself in all the directions a mother has to go—teacher, cook, taxi driver, nurse, counselor, maid, laundress, wife, community helper. Of course there are other areas a mother gets stretched in, like patience, selfless love, and did I mention patience?

Violet, the teenage daughter can become invisible. So can our children if we’re not careful. If we, as moms, have “stretched” ourselves in too many directions we won’t have time for the most important things in life—our children and husbands. Violet could also generate force fields. Sometimes our children throw up a force field around themselves that is hard to penetrate. But with the super strength of love and patience, we can dissolve that barrier and become more visible to each other.

Dash had super energy and speed. What kid doesn’t? Trying to keep up with my grandson who just learned to crawl is daunting. That’s why a dad’s super strength and a mom’s stretching abilities are perfect for the “Dashes” in our family. We can channel their energy into cub scouting, sports, service, home repairs, family outings and good hard work.

Last in the family was Jack-Jack. At the beginning of the movie he didn’t have any powers—not that were known anyway. But he was full of potential. The Jack-Jacks in our families need time to explore. They need to be read to, played with, given experiences outside in nature, and time to bond with brothers and sisters. At the end of the movie Jack-Jack showed shape shifting abilities. Our children certainly change and shift from babyhood to adulthood. Our job is to help them change into their best self.

One other character in the movie is Buddy, a one time fan of Mr. Incredible. He turns into the villain and becomes Syndrome. That makes me think of all the syndromes we go through that throw us off track of where we should be going. The “stay up with the Jones Syndrome”, the “everyone has their kids in sports, dance and piano Syndrome”, the “scrapbook syndrome” (I’m not saying it’s bad, just keep it in perspective), the “health club syndrome”, the “it’s got to be the cutest syndrome”, etc, etc.

Super powers. That’s what our families need. And that’s what you can have as you take one day at a time and make it the best.

Parenting Tip #63 Small House

2011-01-09T21:36:00.001-08:00

After one of my sons and his family came to visit for Christmas, my little granddaughter told her mom she wanted to live in a small house just like grandma and grandpa. When asked why, she said, “because it’s so comfortable and I like the way it feels.”

That reminded me of what one of my daughters told me when she was a teenager. Her friend had a really big house—really big. But her friend told her she wished she lived in a small house like we did. She said, “your family is so close to each other and you know where everyone is.”

There was a time in my life when I felt very bad about living in a “small house”. I was covetous and jealous of others and embarrassed how we had to squish 7 kids and 2 parents in a small 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom house.

But now I’m glad. Our family had to learn to get along with each other, share, cooperate and take turns (did I mention we only had 1 telephone and 1 TV, too). With only 1 bathroom you learned to be fast and be considerate. With 4 boys in one small room you learned to be creative with living space and learned how to share. You learned to make do, not be selfish and work problems out.

Yep, I’m glad I live in a small house—it’s much easier to clean, too.

Music Tip #61 Cartoon, Movie music to play

2011-01-09T21:13:00.000-08:00

Hurray for cartoons! And commercials! I’m a TV hater. I don’t watch TV and think there’s nothing worth watching on it, but TV does have it’s virtues. It teaches kids classical music and helps them to even want to play it on the piano, violin, etc.

There are many, many classical songs that are the background music for cartoons, commercials and movies. Why? Because they’re in the public domain and FREE for the taking. How can you as a music teacher or parent take advantage of this? Find the music to classical tunes that come out in movies and give them to your budding musicians to learn.

My students have been asking for the music in the movie, UP, as the old man is riding his chair down the elevator. I couldn’t even remember what the music sounded like, but as soon as they started singing it, I realized it was from Carmen-Habanera, by G. Bizet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lspRhX5Vhhg It’s next on my list to arrange and simplify for my students.

Remember the song the farmer sings to his sick pig in the movie, Babe? That’s from Camille Saint Saens Organ Symphony.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1aAqnqBOnE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d0itDEs9uo&feature=related

This site has a list of songs made famous by cartoons and movies: http://classicalmusic.about.com/od/classicalmusic101/a/aa021906.htm

This is a great website that has simplified classical music in levels 1-5. http://makingmusicfun.net/htm/printit_piano_sheet_music_index.htm

I have several songs I’ve simplified for my students and would be glad to send to anyone. Just drop me a comment and I’ll email them to you.

Music Tip #60 Listen to your child

2011-01-03T18:35:00.000-08:00

Isn't it interesting how your children teach you, the parent. I always tried to be consistent with my children and use natural consequences when disciplining them. But one day I discovered it was better to listen to my child and make decisions based on his needs.

Ben, my oldest, was 10 years old and had been practicing the piano without complaining for several months. I found that if I sat and listened to him practice, it was more enjoyable for him. But suddenly he started complaining again about having to practice and said he wanted to quit (something he hadn't said for a long time). He said the songs were too hard and too long and I gave him too many to practice (I was his piano teacher).

I told him he had to practice all the songs anyway--4 songs were not too many. He kept complaining. My usual tactic was to be consistent in my demands and try and force him to practice--which always resulted in a power struggle and a big fight.

This day, for some reason, I listened to what he was saying. He was overwhelmed. I backed off, and took one of his songs off his list and told him next week he could just learn part of it. He was happy with that, I was happy with that, and I learned to listen and cooperate.

Parenting Tip #62 Power in expressing your feelings

2011-01-03T18:26:00.000-08:00

Years ago I had trouble with one of my sons getting his work done—which wasn’t like him. I blamed it on his allergies and his age (10). One Saturday he wouldn’t mow the lawn. He didn’t have to mow the whole lawn, just his part (each of my 3 boys mowed 1/3 of our large yard). I had tried positive reinforcement, incentives, threats, etc. but nothing was working. He didn’t get to go to my sister’s house—which was always a treat—because he hadn’t mowed the lawn. I told him if he had it done by the time I got back from running an errand, he could go to the grocery store with me (he loved to go grocery shopping). Even that didn’t work. So finally I told him if it wasn’t done by the time I came back from the store, I would probably sit down and cry and think that I was a failure as a mother (I knew that wouldn’t motivate him either, but I was so frustrated).

When I got home later, I couldn’t believe my eyes. He had mowed the lawn! When I asked him about it, he said he didn’t want me to think I was a failure, and that was the reason he had finally done it.

The lesson I learned. It is more effective to sit down and discuss problems and express feelings, rather than threaten, bribe or get mad.

Music Tip #59 Nontraditional piano recital

2010-12-19T19:59:00.000-08:00

I like to think out of the box and do nontraditional things. That’s why I have my piano Christmas recital at the post office! Yes, that’s right. Our post office brings in a piano and entertains its customers while they wait in line. It started several years ago and has been going strong due to the behind the scenes work of Linda, the organizer of the entertainment. She schedules the musicians--and what a variety there is. There have been school choral groups, guitar players, violin solos, singers, piano players, and of course, my piano studio. I book an hour time slot on different days and let my students sign up for which day is best for them. I usually have 6-8 students during each hour time slot. My students make a line by the piano and take turns playing a Christmas song. When they finish their song, they go to the end of the line and wait until it’s their turn again. They get to play 7-8 times throughout the hour allotted time.

The customers in line are great. They applaud after the songs and even come by after mailing their packages to tell my students to “keep practicing. I wish I hadn’t quit.”

This is a great way to help bashful students have a successful performing experience. The atmosphere is nonthreatening because people are constantly coming and going and my students feel like they’re just in the background. It helps focus their practicing through the month of November and December because they know people will be listening, and it’s fun--they wear a Santa hat and get a candy cane at the end!

Nontraditional and fun—my way of doing things!

Parenting Tip #61 Little Blue Bug to the rescue

2010-12-19T19:35:00.000-08:00

My granddaughter did not want to get her hair combed. She ran out of the room and hid under a table in the other room so her mother couldn’t fix her hair. I found her and proceeded to do what I always do when a child doesn’t want to do what they’re suppose to: I tell them a Little Blue Bug Story.

Yes, Little Blue Bug has helped me diffuse a power struggle countless times. In this case, it was Little Blue Bug’s sister—Little Pink Bug—who helped us out. She had the same problem as my granddaughter i.e. she hated her mother combing her hair. So Little Pink Bug asked her father to cut her hair short just like her brother, Little Blue Bug’s. Her Dad, of course, didn’t think this was a good idea, but Little Pink Bug insisted. Just as Little Pink Bug’s father was about to buzz off her hair, she changed her mind. Her mother asked her why she hated getting her hair cut and Little Pink Bug said because it was boring and it hurt when her mother combed her hair. Mother bug suggested in the future they tell jokes while she fixed her daughter’s hair and she also promised to be more gentle as she combed her daughter’s hair.

As I was telling this story to my granddaughter, she immediately quit crying, let me hold her on my lap, and let her mother start fixing her hair. By the end of the story, the hair was combed, my granddaughter was laughing at the jokes Little Pink Bug and her mother told and my daughter-in-law and I high fived each other.

Children love to hear stories, so use this character trait to your advantage. If you struggle to get your baby to lie still while changing his diaper, or fight with your toddler who doesn’t want to wear his seat belt --tell a story. If your children are fighting with each other or won’t get ready for bed, tell a story. Tell about another animal or child having the same problem they are having and tell how they resolved it in a happy way.

Don’t think and plan out the whole story—just start talking and you’ll be amazed at what comes out of your mouth.

Parenting Tip #60 Techniques for the "difficult" child

2010-12-05T16:31:00.000-08:00

I checked out this book from the library: Transforming the Difficult Child: True Stories of Triumph by Jennifer Easley and Howard Glasser. The whole book is one success story after another of how parents, teachers, counselors and schools have helped a difficult child get back on the road to success. I began reading it and couldn’t put it down. Now I want to get the original book that tells the steps in dealing with difficult children.

One of the techniques I read about was using “video moments”. The adult comments on what he sees the child doing, i.e. “I see you’re concentrating hard on that puzzle” Or “This picture looks like you were enjoying drawing.” You are validating their efforts and making a positive statement to them about them.

Another technique is to refuse to energize negativity. Again, it’s focusing on the positive traits your child has, and the positive things they do. Tell your child how strong and brave he is to get up and get ready for school when he doesn’t want to. Tell your daughter how thoughtful she is to tend the baby so you can fix dinner.

All the while I read the stories in this book, it made me think of how I could respond to my children. They, themselves, are not “difficult”, but they are often having “difficult times” in their lives. How can I help them? I can validate that they are having a rough time. I can tell them they are brave and courageous to deal with their employment situation. I can tell them what great parents they are to care enough about their children to discipline them and try to work out problems.

In the end, everyone--regardless of their age-- needs to be validated for what they are going through and given a positive outlook on how great they are.

Parenting Tip #59 Self esteem or Self worth?

2010-11-18T11:50:00.001-08:00

What's the difference between self esteem and self worth? Karen Eddington, founder of Cauliflower Retreat(an outreach program designed to empower women and teens using positive messages of self-worth)says there is a big difference. She states "It’s time for a new message. We encourage you to think and act more positively about self-worth starting in the home." She offers self-worth support, skills, and techniques that you can teach to your children before they reach teenage years and while they are in them.

One suggestion Karen gives parents is to not label your child. It's so easy to say, "Josh is the athletic member in our family and Jordon is the intellectual one." That kind of statement puts a limit on what each son can accomplish.

My daughter-in-law is part of Cauliflower Retreat and it has been rewarding for me to see how deeply she cares and wants to help youth feel good about who they are.

Home should be the haven our children come home to where they can feel secure enough to grow and create their best self. We, as parents, can help them on their path. Visit Karen's website http://cauliflowerretreat.org/ to get specific and easy suggestions that you can incorporate into your family's dialogue.

Music Tip #58 The Sol-Mi Pitches

2010-11-14T20:56:00.000-08:00

At school this week I had to teach a parent class on integrating music with reading and math. One of the ideas I mentioned was to sing the words from the book, Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? (see Oct 31 blog entry). One of the mothers mentioned that she didn’t know there was a song to the book. I replied, there wasn’t, I just made one up using the sol-mi pitches. After the class was over, I realized she probably didn’t know what the sol-mi pitches were, and I wished that I had taken time to explain them.

So…here we go. Anytime you want to make up a simple song use the sol-mi pitches. These two pitches are the basis for all early children singing games and songs. Think of the song “rain, rain go away, come again another day.” This song is just alternating between two pitches (sol and mi). At the end on you do sing one higher pitch (la) on the first syllable of “ another” [day].

If you play the piano or know some of the keys on the piano, the sol pitch is G, the mi pitch is E and the la pitch is A ( in the key of C). Most of the easy songs children sing have these 2 pitches with “la” thrown in every once in awhile. This is true in Ring Around the Rosie and Starlight Star Bright.

So don’t be afraid to make up a little tune to go along with a book, or to get your child’s attention. It’s fun and simple and adds a little pizzazz to your reading time.

Parenting Tip #58 Conversations 5 years in Advance?

2010-11-14T20:25:00.000-08:00

I was listening to a speaker at a Church conference last month and she said something that caught my attention. The speaker was Rosemary Wixom, Primary General President for the LDS Church (Primary is for children age 18 months – 11 years of age). She said, “The world will teach our children if we do not, and children are capable of learning all the world will teach them at a very young age. What we want them to know five years from now needs to be part of our conversation with them today.”
http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-1298-3,00.html

What an interesting thought. What things do we need to be talking to our children about?
We can’t expect our 13 year old daughter to understand our saying NO when she wants to wear a halter top if we haven't been teaching her what modesty and immodesty means. We can’t expect our son to play on a ball team or play during recess and not come home and swear if we haven’t taught him that there are some words we do not say. We can’t expect our daughter to not cheat in school if we haven’t taught her it is dishonest to look on another person’s test paper and copy the answers. We can’t expect our son to not want to get a tattoo or smoke or drink if we haven’t taught him that his body is a gift from God and should be treated with respect.

“The world will teach our children if we do not…” Now that’s a scary thought! What should we be teaching? We need to be teaching our children about God, about how to be a good friend (starting with their siblings), about honesty, about listening and respecting their teachers, about the importance of voting, about dating and what age they should group date and single date. We need to teach them The Golden Rule, the 10 Commandments, the importance of serving others, and why they shouldn’t judge others.

Our conversations should be about how to find true happiness, how to follow Jesus, why we obey our parents and leaders. If we talk about these kinds of things, our children will be prepared for the future and can meet it with less difficulty. They’ll sail through their teen age years with a strong foundation of true principles.

My daughter was in the middle of making cookies with her 3 year old son. She asked, “what do we do now?” He matter of factly replied, “look in the scriptures.” I guess my daughter has been having good conversations with him. He knows where to look for answers.

Music Tip #57 Geometry loops (stretchy shape loops)

2010-11-07T21:01:00.000-08:00

Here’s a fun idea I borrowed from this blog: http://thismamamakesstuff.com/2010/07/making-stuff-shape-stretchies-for-creative-movement/.

I bought the lycra and made 15 of the stretchy loops and took them to school. I had my students draw shapes on the whiteboard—triangle, square, rectangle, diamond, trapezoid, etc. Then I pointed to a shape on the board and they made the shape with their stretchy loops. For the older classes, (4th – 6th grade) I counted 8 beats for them to get their shape made by. With the younger classes, I just let them take the time they needed. Then I would call out another shape, or if it was a triangle, I would say to make another kind of triangle. Since I didn't have enough loops for every student, we took turns and students helped each other make the shape if they needed help.

After they had practiced making the shapes, we had a silent shape dance. I put on music and without talking, pointed to a shape on the board, which they would make, and then dance or sway to until I pointed to another shape. Surprisingly, the 6th graders had the most fun with this activity. Also, with the 5th and 6th graders, I asked them to make a cube, pyramid and 3D rectangle (involving 4 students). They loved it.

If my daughter or daughter-in-laws are reading this, don't make any stretchy loops--I'm making some for Christmas presents!

Parenting Tip #57 The Difficult Child

2010-11-07T20:55:00.000-08:00

Do you have a difficult child? What is a difficult child? How do you deal with a difficult child?

I would say that a difficult child is one who is always getting into trouble, who doesn’t obey, gets into fights with siblings, won’t do his homework, doesn’t do his chores, talks back to parents, throws a temper tantrum when he doesn’t get his way, ……you can fill in the rest, I’m sure.

So how do you deal with a difficult child? I thought back to my parenting days for examples of what I did, but then decided to check out the internet for what “the professionals” are saying. I was surprised and happy to see that how I parented was in line with what they were saying.

I especially liked the advice of Howard Glasser who has written several books, the newest being, Transforming the Difficult Child - The Nurtured Heart Approach http://specialchildren.about.com/od/behaviorissues/gr/nurturedheart.htm. He takes the approach that I like, ie give positive feedback and reward your child with your attention when they are doing good things instead of when they are behaving badly.

Our children want our attention. They need our love and approval. But life gets so hectic with LIFE, that often the only time they really get our full attention is when they are fighting with us. But because they need our time and love so much, subconsciously they go for the negative attention because that’s the most often way they get it.

Instead, parents need to give their children attention when they catch them doing what’s right. Reward them with your approval and time for the good things that they do. Sometimes you have to be really creative to “catch” them doing something good, but you’ll find it. When they disobey, give no emotional attention. State the family rule and follow through with the natural consequence. But be sure and give them love and positive words for little things you see them doing at other times. Soon the positive attention will outweigh the negative attention, and peace and harmony will reign in your home. Sounds great??? At least try it.

Music for Tots

Parenting Tip - Save the Cookie Cutters for Cookies

Cookie cutters. Metal or plastic shapes devised to cut out cookies so they will all turn out uniform and identical.

Mothers. Teachers of offspring, responsible for teaching them to become law abiding and loving citizens.

Does our society produce cookie cutter mothers? Do we put pressure on ourselves to become a cookie cutter mother? Do we look at our neighbors and try to mother the way they do? Do we try to get our children to look the same way? Act the same way? Be involved in the same activities?

Every family is different because the make up the family—the Mom and Dad and children—are different. Celebrate these differences!

Are you a Mom who is active and likes sports? Then run and swim and dance and have fun with your children.

Are you a Mom who loves to draw and paint? Then get out the crayons, markers, and play dough and draw and sculpt with your children. Have fun being an artist.

Are you a Mom who loves to read? Then read with your children. Go to the library or sit at home and read, and laugh and share books.

Are you a Mom who doesn’t know what she likes to do or is good at? Then explore. Go to the park and play, go to the library and read, go to the museum and discover new ideas. Involve your children in your discovery.

Be a mother YOUR way. Be a mother who lets her children discover THEIR way. Put blinders on what the other mothers are doing that cause you guilt and envy. Allow them to be mothers in their own way and take advantage of your differences.

Be a MOM and enjoy doing it YOUR way!

Parenting Tip - Press Here

I just discovered THE coolest book. It’s called “Press Here” by Herve’ Tullet. I found it in the gift store at the Phoenix Children’s Museum, which is THE coolest museum!

I took Press Here to school and used it with my Kindergarten and 1st grade music classes and they LOVED it. They squealed with excitement each time I turned the page. I let them take turns pressing the dots and gently rubbing them or whatever the book said to do and they were totally engrossed.

Check your local library for other books by Herve’Tullet.

Thanks for reading,

Cathy

*********************************************************************************

Music Tip - Hand Clapping Games

Music Tip - A New Music Class is Starting

Parenting Tip - Ways to Filter the Internet on your Computer

The Give-away Winners are......

A Give-Away is Here!

Parenting Tip - Boycott Commercials-Make Your Own!

With this idea, you are actually dovetailing in several areas. You are promoting and preserving family history by helping your children bond with the cousins and grandparents and their siblings they see on the movies and by reminding them of family traditions and family fun times.

You are encouraging memory recall and sequencing skills. Kids are great at remembering details and when they watch the same family videos over and over again, they notice more details, recall the sequence of events and can see cause and effects that might have otherwise gone unnoticed.

Hey wait, what a great gift idea. Buy an inexpensive camera for your child and see what fun he will have. Creativity will ooze from his snapping photo finger tips. You never know, this just may be the stimulus for the next great Steven Spielberg.

Parenting Tip - The 12 Days of Christmas

Tis the Christmas season.

On the first day of Christmas, your pixie friends gave to you,

Some pear treats from the tree the partridge flew away from. ( a can of pears or fresh pears)

On the second day of Christmas, your pixie friends gave to you

Some yummy turtle doves (candy turtles on top of a bar of dove soap).

3rd day….some chicken noodle soup, compliments of the three French hens.

4th day…a telephone message pad designed by the four calling birds (telephone message pad)

5th day…five golden rings ( a can of sliced pineapple rings)

6th day... the eggs we found when we were looking for the six geese that laid them

7th day…the bubble bath left over from the seven swans after they went swimming.

8th day…the chocolate milk we got from the eight maids milking eight brown cows .

9th day…some canes used by the nine ladies who were out dancing all night—they needed the canes to get home! (candy canes)

10th day…some vitamins recommended for use by the 10 Lords we saw out leaping (or give them Ben gay instead)

11th day… some pickles since the pipers stopped piping and started picking a peck of pickled pickles (we changed it to whistle suckers one year and other years used candy bars and said the pipers decided to “hum a few bars”)

12th day…the drumsticks we wished the drummers had used when they were drumming (pretzels sticks—plain or dipped in chocolate).

Whatever you do this year to celebrate, make it simple, involve your family and enjoy it.

And the winners are......

A Thanksgiving Give-Away!

Music Tip - Help! My Child Wants to Quit

Music Tip - Christmas Music

Parenting Tip - Make Meal times--Memorable times!

How can we make mealtimes not quite so hectic and more of a pleasant, memorable tradition (which, if you talk to the food nanny, you’ll see that it is a dying tradition)?

My son and daughter-in-law play 20 questions at dinnertime at their house. When I visited them for a few days, I was quite amazed at how this game brought the noise level down and focused the grandkids on eating and thinking instead of complaining and fighting.

And think of all the good side benefits for your children like: 1) involving the whole family (their 4 year old LOVES to think of the object but usually switches it 2 or 3 times during the game :)

2) analyzing/categorizing objects into groups of animal, vegetable or mineral 3) using deductive reasoning 4) using creativity 5) learning how to phrase a question….the list goes on and on.

Because that’s what families do--they have fun together!

Parenting Tip - Cooperation!

Treat your children with respect. They are people, albeit immature people. They have feelings and want to be understood, so don’t talk down to them. Don’t lecture and issue commands for them to follow.

Instead,

Talk with them. Understand their needs. Tell them your needs. It all goes back to Sesame Street and kindergarten when your child learned about COOPERATION. Both children AND parents need to cooperate with each other.

Parenting IS work. But oh, so rewarding when you invest the best of you and appreciate the best in your child.

The Give-away Winners are......

Parenting Tip - BRR (Bedtime Reminiscence Routine)

Wow. Who would have thought so much learning could come from 3 minutes of bedtime reminiscing?

Parenting Tip -No Fuss Hair Do Idea

She also had a basket that contained everything she needed like combs, brush, rubberbands, etc.

A Give-Away is Here!

I took Press Here to school and used it with my Kindergarten and 1^st grade music classes and they LOVED it. They squealed with excitement each time I turned the page. I let them take turns pressing the dots and gently rubbing them or whatever the book said to do and they were totally engrossed.

3^rd day….some chicken noodle soup, compliments of the three French hens.

4^th day…a telephone message pad designed by the four calling birds (telephone message pad)

5^th day…five golden rings ( a can of sliced pineapple rings)

6^th day... the eggs we found when we were looking for the six geese that laid them

7^th day…the bubble bath left over from the seven swans after they went swimming.

8^th day…the chocolate milk we got from the eight maids milking eight brown cows .

9^th day…some canes used by the nine ladies who were out dancing all night—they needed the canes to get home! (candy canes)

10^th day…some vitamins recommended for use by the 10 Lords we saw out leaping (or give them Ben gay instead)

11^th day… some pickles since the pipers stopped piping and started picking a peck of pickled pickles (we changed it to whistle suckers one year and other years used candy bars and said the pipers decided to “hum a few bars”)

12^th day…the drumsticks we wished the drummers had used when they were drumming (pretzels sticks—plain or dipped in chocolate).