This week at The Music Box was Hawaiian week. I spruced up the place with bright paper flowers, birds, a flashy palm tree, pineapple and coconut, We danced the hula, made paper leis and underwater scenes, dove in a pretend ocean complete with fish and seashells, played pineapple bingo and made patterns out of shells….
I was 10 years old when I wrote my first song, but Mozart wrote his first noted composition at 5 yrs old. Pretty amazing stuff! Did you know that MYC students begin composing at age 3?! They do, and they blow me away year after year. Writing music is a hobby of mine which began with the sudden…
Why study music? It has been a popular area of study for centuries. What is the attraction? What can you do with your musical background? Why is it important? Music is an element that binds all people from ancient to modern civilation, across time and across the globe. It is akin to breathing. In fact,…
Away in a Manger, Jingle Bells, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Silent Night, O Come All Ye Faithful, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. When I reflect on Christmases past, some of my fondest memories are anchored by those well loved Christmas carols. Not just hearing them, but sharing them. As a very young…
Have you ever worked with your child at the piano when you are stressed?…pressed for time?….trying to meet the needs of other family members?…cooking dinner? If your head isn’t nodding up and down then I am amazed!!! The lives of parents are busy…and that is an understatement! Ideally we would all love to do practicing when…
A few years ago as I sat in grade 9 typing class…yes it was actually a class at one point…I remember my teacher raising her eyebrows at me every time I looked at my fingers to type. Eventually she covered my hands with a piece of paper taped to the type writer so I HAD to…
If you took piano lessons from someone other than an MYC teacher or if your only music instruction occurred at elementary school, it is likely that you learned to memorize the patterns FACE and Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge. I have parents ask me frequently why I don’t use these phrases in my teaching. My answer….they…
“The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn’t been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him.”Pablo Casals It is hard not to compare one child to another. We want to be sure that our children are…
Did you know that the average time a teacher waits for a response from students after posing a question is 1 second?????? Consider that for a moment. The teacher asks a whole classroom of students a question and waits only 1 second for a response before rephrasing a question or offering a prompt. When one…
Children do amazing things when they feel that you are behind them. Self-esteem is a delicate part of human character. It is like a balloon that can deflate with just one sharp comment. Though some people have tougher balloons of self-esteem than others, I don’t think anyone is impervious to negative or belittling comments. Children who…
