Which Chair is the Smartest? 

Have your child play her preview spot on each chair in the room and see which one is the "smartest." 

There are lots of other cute ideas to help make practicing fun on the 

Aber Suzuki Center Parent Handbook website! 

It's football time!!!

As I've mentioned before, I'm taking some classes with Pat D'Ercole. A while back when I told her of some struggles I was having with a student, she said, 

"Dress it up in a new costume!" 

This football game is a variation of her "Chip Game" she likes to play. 

SUPER BOWL PRACTICE

Here's how the game works… 

*The student chooses the pink or the orange touchdown zone she wants to get to and the parent takes the other. The student in this game is going for the PINK touchdown

*Set a clear and specific goal that must be accomplished. By setting this goal, it will define what doing the repetition "correctly" means.

*The football starts on the 50 yard line

*Each time the student does the repetition correctly, the ball moves 10 yards. The student has done the repetition correctly 2x, so the ball is now on the 30 yard line.

*The student didn't do the repetition correctly. This means the ball moves back 10 yards, to the 40 yard line towards the parent's ORANGE touchdown. 

*Thankfully, the student makes a breakthrough and is able to do the repetition 4 more times correctly to get to the PINK TOUCHDOWN and gets 6 points!!! Now in the real game of football, the team that makes the touchdown has 2 options. They can either, kick the ball to try to get 1 extra point or they can run the ball into the end zone to get 2 more points. Let your student decide how many points they want to go for. If they play the repetition 1 more time, they can earn 1 extra point or if they want to play it 2 more times for 2 extra points…but  shh!!! don't let the student know they'll be getting extra reps in while they're earning their extra points ;)

Now that practicing is taken care of, go make some yummy treats and enjoy the weekend! 

Christmas left overs

My sweet friend Rebekah gave me this great for your leftover bubble wrap. For each review piece or or repetition, let your child pop a bubble! What kid won't love to do that?! 

Count Your Blessings

...name them one by one...

I was asked to give a talk in church about GRATITUDE this past Sunday. As I was preparing I  was humbled and have seen the Lord's hand in the details of my life in grater abundance. A short video I watched about living in Thanksgiving daily, said something profound.... 

Our minds have the capacity to notice the unusual. The opposite is true as well. The more we see the same beautiful things, the  more they become invisible to us and this is why we take things for granted. 

At Thanksgiving dinner, my Grandma always puts a cornucopia at each place setting. Each is filled with yummy treats and one in particular that is my favorites.... CANDY CORN. Yummy! :) I remember hearing that there is some hiddin meaning behind candy corn, so I googled it and sure enough I found something! Lois Graham put it this way

Count

All your blessings!

Never

Doubt

Year-round that

Christ Jesus

Offers

Rest in His

Never ending love.

I found this Candy Corn Game at Target. I thought of a few different ways you could fill in all the pieces.

1. As you practice with your child, and they do a practice spot correctly 5x (or whatever the assignment is), tell him why you appreciate him playing the violin or why it is a blessing to you or your family. 
2. Have your child why they are grateful to play the violin or maybe why they like playing the violin
3. Use it as a review game and have each pin be a different review piece and take turns saying why you like that piece. 

My hope is that we can all see the blessing that music is in our lives and how our Heavenly Father has blessed us with talents to make music and bless the lives of others as we use our gifts for good. 

Perfect Practice Makes Perfect

This past year I have had the amazing opportunity to participate in the 

Suzuki String Mentoring Program 

with 

Pat D'Ercole 

through the 

University of Wisconsin at Steven's Point. 

I have learned so much and I have made so many improvements in my teaching. Pat is so knowledgeable in helping a student do the work required to obtain the necessary skill while keeping her mind engaged. The most fascinating thing to me is that she dresses all of this up in a "game" and the student doesn't even realize how hard she is working! I have done a lot of the 10x spots and had my students get 10 pennies in their pile, etc. While this game is similar, there is a slightly different mindset that Pat has helped me to understand and apply. These things really help the student to think about what she is doing and keeps even the youngest mind active in the practice process so there isn't mindless repetition happening.

No one likes to fail. Set your child up for success. 

This is easy to do! 

• Make CLEAR parameters for how the child will win a chip. 
• The child must understand the task at hand and it needs to be fairly objective. 
• Skills that can be easily accomplished can have a higher number of repetitions. Larger tasks should have a lower number of repetitions. 
• If you have a younger child, you will need to reward them sooner. Example: put a bead in their pile after each repetition (or let them do this). With an older child, you could have them do 3 correct repetitions before they put 3 beads in their pile. 

CHIP GAME RULES

• The parent and child each get 5 chips (this number can be more or less depending on the situation as mentioned above). 
• Define the task. Example: play a note, measure or phrase with a round pinky on top of the bow. 
• If the child is successful in completing the task, she gets a chip from the parent's chip pile. If the child is not successful in completing the task, the parent gets a chip from the student's chip pile. 
• The first person to get all of the chips in their pile wins the game! 

I can see a difference in my students as I set them up for success and play the chip game with them. This game has made a tremendous difference for my studio and I owe it all to Pat! 

In honor of Halloween, I've been letting the kids pick to play the chip game with spiders or ghosts with table scatters I found in the dollar aisle at Target.

101 ways to say "VERY GOOD"

1. You've got it made
2. That's RIGHT!
3. You're on the right track now!
4. That's GOOD!
5. You are very good at that.
6. That's coming along nicely.
7. That's much better!
8. GOOD WORK!
9. I'm happy to see you working like that.
10. You're really working hard today.
11. I'm proud of the way you worked today.
12. You're doing a good job
13. You've just about got it. 
14. That's the best you have ever done.
15. THAT'S IT!
16. Congratulations
17. I knew you could do it.
18. That's quite and improvement.
19. Now you've figured it out.
20. You are doing that much better today.
21. Now you have it.
22. Not bad.
23. GREAT!
24. You are learning fast.
25. Keep working on it, you're getting better.
26. Good for you!
27. I couldn't have done it better myself.
28. You make it look easy. 
29. You really make my job fun. 
30. That's the right way to do it.
31. One more time and you'll have it. 
32. You're getting better everyday.
33. You did it that time!
34. That's not half bad!
35. WOW!
36. That's the way!
37. Nice going.
38. Now you've figured it out. 
39. SENSATIONAL!
40. You haven't missed a thing. 
41. That's the way to do it. 
42. Keep up the good work. 
43. That's better. 
44. Nothing can stop you now!
45. That's first class work. 
46. EXCELLENT!
47. PERFECT!
48. That's the best ever. 
49. You're really going to town!
50. FINE!
51. TERRIFIC!
52. You've just about mastered that!
53. That's better than ever.
54. Nice going.
55. OUTSTANDING!
56. Now that's what I call a fine job!
57. You did very well.
58. You must be practicing!
59. FANTASTIC!
60. You're doing beautifully.
61. You're really improving
62. Right on!
63. SUPERB!
64. Good remembering!
65. Keep it up!
66. You did a lot of work today!
67. You've got that down pat!
68. You certainly did well today.
69. TREMENDOUS!
70. You're doing fine.
71. Good thinking!
72. You are really learning a lot. 
73. Keep on trying!
74. You outdid yourself today. 
75. I've never seen any one do it better.
76. Good for you!
77. Good going!
78. I like that.
79. MARVELOUS!
80. I'm very proud of you.
81. That's a good boy/girl.
82. I think you've got it now.
83. Good job (name of student)
84. You figured that out fast. 
85. You remembered.
86. That's really nice.
87. Its a pleasure to teach/practice when you work like that.
88. You're right!
89. CLEVER!
90. That makes me feel good.
91. That's great!
92. That's it!
93. Way to go kiddo! 
94. Well, look at you go!
95. Now you have the hang of it!
96. Congratulations. You got (name the behavior) right. 
97. You've got your brain in gear today.
98. That was much better!
99. WONDERFUL!
100. Super!
101. You're making great progress

*Adapted from: Family Living. Newsletter from Colorado State University. 

Online Flash Cards

Does this look scary or what?! 

If you are a Suzuki parent and aren't a musician yourself, having a teacher tell you that you have to read music could be a little overwhelming. If you need help knowing how to read music and how that coorilates to where and when your child is suppose to put his fingers on the violin, these flashcards will be your new best friends!
Here are some online flash cards for you to use. The computer will give you instant feedback and you'll be reading like a pro in no time ;)