White Board Fun

Tell me folks, who doesn't love to write on a 

WHITE BOARD!!!! 

I know I do & I'm not even in grade school anymore. haha

I substituted for my dear friend Jentry one day and she had me use a whiteboard in each lesson. In her lessons, she writes down all the things that needed to happen and the kid got to put the assignments in order.

So how this works for a parent at home...
Write down all of the assignments from the lesson and then let your child write the numbers of what order he wants to do them in.

In this way he can practice taking ownership of his practice with your guidance, and he knows exactly what he needs to accomplish during this time.

The whiteboard is for him, and the parent uses the practice chart to clarify specific assignments for each exercise or piece that week.

*if you don't already have one of these babies, get a magnetic one - so you can have much more fun with other practice ideas I'll put up :)

Twinkle Bean Soup

Twinkle Bean Soup

A parent came to the lesson the other day almost in tiers because her little boy refuses to practice. This same little boy won't play the entire Twinkle Variation A from start to finish. The thing that KILLS me is that he'll play it and just when I think he's got it, he'll stop 2 or 3 measures from the end and tell me it's "too hard."

There is a program that the SAA is doing from January 30-June 30 that is called "Parents as Partners." It gives me a little motivation each week. It's so wonderful. It's like a little teaser for summer institutes!

I found this practice idea from Irene Mitchell in her lecture Motivated to Practice, I know this is similar to the last post about filling the jar, but it's even cooler! The teacher counts out a variety of 600 beans. I bought huge bags of beans so I could get a variety (and because 600 sounded like a really BIG number). Later in the week when I was at a different grocery store, I found a small bag that had an assortment of 12 beans that would have given more variety than what I have, but it will all be okay! haha Also, this is the cheaper route if you're only going to give this assignment to a few students, but hey - now I have some food storage!

The way Irene does it, is that 1 bean gets to go in the jar for every Twinkle Variation practiced. Since I'm trying to work up to that with my little guy, I'm giving 1 bean for each time he plays the "bread" or "cheese" section and 3 beans each time he plays the Twinkle Variation all the way through. I told him to bring it to his lesson each week so I can see his progress (and I'm letting him earn beans at his lesson too). When he's earned all of the beans, I'll give him the recipe to make the famous Twinkle Bean Soup! You can also make your own "variation" of this game- the kids will LOVE it!

….THE FAMOUS “600 TWINKLES” BEAN SOUP….

Ingredients:

·        600 Beans of all shapes and sizes, earned by careful practicing (WHOLE FOODS has large beans which are fun to count :o)

·        4 slices bacon (turkey, tofu or pork), cut into small pieces

·        1/2 onion, chopped

·        2 cloves garlic, minced

·        3 stalks celery, chopped

·        2 large carrots, chopped

·        salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1.     Soak beans in water overnight.

2.     Fry bacon slightly, then add onion, garlic, carrots and celery. Cook until veggies are tender.

3.     Place drained beans. bacon and veggies in large pot; Add water to cover

4.     Cook on medium-low heat until beans are tender (this takes a while...at least 2 hours)  Add salt and pepper (& hot sauce!) to taste.

CONGRATULATIONS! PLEASE SHARE YOUR SOUP AND A TWINKLE CONCERT WITH YOUR FAMILY!

Fill the Jar

Fill the Jar

For every review piece the child gets to put a pumpkin (you could also you beans, marbles, piece of candy, etc.) into the jar. You'll probably have to make some rules so the jar doesn't get filled up by only playing the Twinkles (unless those are the only pieces you're working on). When the jar gets filled, you can have a reward for your child.

• His favorite candy bar
• an ice cream cone from Aggie IceCream if you live in Logan, UT GO AGGIES!
• a special afternoon with just the two of you
• if you filled the jar with candy - he could keep it and eat all of it - YIKES! that's a lot of sugar!
• a special trip to the music store (where I live, Columbus Music has a section of music paraphernalia that's inexpensive) 
• Choose what to have for dinner and/or make it!  

Also note that you can make this less/more challenging by using bigger/smaller objects and jars. 

I got these pumpkins at Target in the dollar isle (where else... right?!) during the fall, They came in a pack of 250 or maybe they were $2.50 - I can't remember, but I know I have A TON of them! I use them for EVERYTHING - mostly counters. The kids LOVE them! I gave them each 3 to use as they practice the hard spots in their pieces. They're magic I'm tellin' ya. They know they have to do it 3 times correctly in a row and then they can move on. LOVE THEM! I also have hearts that I found in February and my eyes are always looking for more - let me know if you see them around!

Clearance Isle

I've taken teacher training classes at the Intermountain Suzuki String Institute and the Idaho Suzuki Institute with Cathy Lee, a wonderful Suzuki Pedagog. She is very "cutesie" and kid friendly. I have heard her say on multiple occasions that when her children were younger, SHE would be the one to go to the toy isle to find toys that she could use in her teaching - and that her little boys would say "Mom, do we have to go to the toy isle?!" haha I am grateful I know this, because I find myself spending the most time in the toy isles thinking, "How could I use this in my teaching?" A perfect example was on Saturday - my husband and I were at Target. I told him I knew exactly what I wanted and I'd be in and out, so he stayed in the car. Well, that's what the plan was until the dollar isle sucked me in. I was in my own little world when I heard from behind me a voice that sounded familiar, but somewhat funny sounding man saying "Ma'am..." I can't remember the rest because when I turned around to look at him, all I could focus on were bunny ears that he had on on his head. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture, but I do have these ones...

Elmo on his head at Halloween

Gobble, gobble, here's our Turkey from Thanksgiving

I asked him how he knew where to find me. He told me that after sitting in the car for 20 min, he knew that I was scouting out the dollar isle and had come into save his wallet. Oh my sweet husband! Although this post isn't about him, I will say, he's a good man. He sure puts up with a lot!

So here ya go folks, the point of the Elmo and turkey hats is to get you to GO TO THE TOY ISLE and to the DOLLAR SECTION and the SALE/CLEARANCE SECTION! There are AMAZING things to get there both for the teacher and the parent at home trying to get creative to create a practice friendly environment.

These are my Target finds - they are squishy balls. My plan is to have my students understand that they can HOLD them with out SQUEEZING them = no tension :)

Beautiful felt flowers from the dollar bin at Michael's

Walmart had this cute little Mr. Frog

...and these sports ball Easter eggs!

Now, how perfect are these for little boys (I think it's SO hard to find stuff to entertain them) and your sporty girls. Just think about the possibilities of games you could play during each one of these sport seasons. 

Even if you don't end up finding anything you can use for teaching, you'll have a great time - especially if you take your husband along ;)

Hoppy Practicing

I can't count how many lessons I've spent thinking "How can I get this kid to practice?!" 

What I've realized is that the parents don't know that practicing can be "fun" and enjoyable for them and their child. All that they know is that more times than not, it's a painful experience. I want to help parents help their children. I want the children to like to practice review pieces so they can see their progress and enjoy what they are doing.

Hoppy Practicing

I have a lot of these kind of things hangin' around my house lately... Do you?

I filled each egg with a piece of paper that I had put a review piece on.

The child gets to pick an egg, open it, and play the piece.

Yes, it might take a little bit of time to put the violin down, pick an egg, sound out the words on the paper, get the violin up and play, but hey! - if it's enjoyable, then who's complaining?