It has been quite a while since I have heard a song catch on as well as this one. I completely understand why “Let it Go” it has been banned in some schools. It can be disruptive if one child starts humming the tune and EVERYONE bursts out in song. BUT IT’S JUST SO CATCHY! Even though I’ve sung this song at least 5 times a week for the past few months and I know every word, I’m not quite ready to let it go. This song is golden for so many reasons. When working at the hospital, it has provided me an instant “in” with nearly any child ages 2 – 10. I immediately gain their trust and attention if I start singing their FAVORITE SONG! When a client needs a little extra motivation to complete a task, singing, playing, or watching “Let it Go” serves as a great reward. Recently, I used “Let it Go” in a session with three sisters. We used colorful scarves to dance and encourage specific movements while singing along. One of the girls, Read More
Tag: lessons
Teaching Lessons: Taking Advantage of the Weather
Yesterday, I was sitting outside on my porch swing, doing some work, when my student was dropped off 15 minutes early for her lesson. She walked up to the house, piano books and ukulele in hand, ready to play. I didn’t have another lesson going on at the time so we didn’t really have an excuse to wait for the scheduled time to start. I decided to take advantage of the situation and the weather. The student took a seat beside me on the porch swing and we decided to do our ukulele lesson outside! It was so gorgeous out, how could I not take the opportunity to do a lesson outside??? After tuning the ukulele, practicing the new chords we had been working on, and reviewing a familiar song, we decided to take things one step further and use the glorious spring weather to write a song. With very little prompting and only a couple suggestions, my student was able to use her surroundings to inspire the lyrics to a multi-verse song with a full chorus and a set Read More
Practice Olympics – Wrap Up
A few weeks ago I posted that my students were going to be participating in the Practice Olympics, in which they would work on different practice related events. In order to “medal” they had to complete a certain number of events. 2 events = Bronze level prize (sheet of stickers) 3 events = Silver level prize (Stickers + Kazoo + Harmonica) 4 events = Gold level prize (Stickers + Kazoo + Harmonica + Gold Medal) I am pleased to announce that ALL of my students that participated earned at least a Bronze prize and most earned Silver or Gold. They were THRILLED about the events and excited to work toward the different level prizes. Parents also appreciated getting to see their kids excited about practicing. This was also a great way for me to see what kinds of practicing motivates each individual and what specific areas (ex. note naming, note writing, identifying parts of music, sight reading, etc.) might need a little extra work. All around, I call this event a success and plan on doing it again in 2 Read More