Fun & Special Moments

Doesn't it make you feel special when your child draws a picture for you? My own children have created many drawings for me over the years. But a couple weeks ago was the first time a student of mine drew a picture for me!

It was a drawing of me and her together. How sweet! She drew it on a page in her student manual, so I don't have a copy of it. (Maybe I should take a picture of it next time she comes.) Thanks Morgan!



She's on the left with our Echo Ed puppet. The kids have a great time echoing Echo Ed and learning about his silly antics.

Another favorite activity is our puppet show.



The students are learning to recognize themes in classical music. They are so good at it already! Last week they did the actions for each character in our Magical Lamp puppet show with their eyes closed!



Everyone loves a turn with the autoharp.



We can't forget our lively Red Balloon song!





Teaching Let's Play Music is so rewarding. I know there will be many more special moments with these great students!





P.S. I now have a Blog Button, which you can find to the right. You can even put the button on your own blog. Remember referring a student gets you a $20 coupon for tuition!

Hand-Clapping Songs Improve Motor and Cognitive Skills

A university in Israel conducted studies of hand-clapping songs which revealed a link between those activities and cognitive skills development in children, young adults, and university students.

Practicing motor skills while singing and staying on beat helps develop auditory processing, visual processing, and attention. Children—particularly those in first through third grade—who participated had neater handwriting, better writing skills, and made fewer spelling errors, too!

One researcher stated, "There's no doubt such activities train the brain and influence development in other areas." Even adults benefit by becoming more focused and less stressed. Who knew the songs weren't just for fun? Read Research Confirms Hand-Clapping Songs Improve Cognitive Skills.

My Awesome Students

The first two weeks of class were great! I had so much fun, and I think my awesome students did, too!

Tuesday 6:15 PM Class




Wednesday 4:00 PM Class




Wednesday 5:00 PM Class




What cute kids!

The first semester of Let's Play Music is the Red Balloon semester. One of the favorite songs is "The Great Big Red Balloon," which teaches how the staff makes the notes sound. The balloon goes up the staff and then back down in the song.



Each student received their own real red balloon on the first day of class. So fun! I'm excited to see them build upon the concepts introduced in the beginning. There's so much exciting stuff in store!

Symposium 2011

When I learned that Let's Play Music holds a Symposium each summer for teachers, I was stoked! I was excited to meet other teachers and soak in the Let's Play Music vibe.

It was a day packed with classes, workshops, presentations, motivational speakers, announcements and goodies. There were even professional photos taken by the event photographer Cherie Mask.

The attendees



The administrative board



Having a good time