I believe that music is a wonderful thing for all people. Children tend to love music and to move to the beat of music. I also believe that children are often under exposed to music and not given the opportunity to have musical experiences. This can be because families have tight financial situations, limited resources, no time or energy and I’m sure there are other reasons.
Today I did some brainstorming because my two year old loves to dance. If music comes on she has always had to wiggle to it, right from her infancy. She is a musical little being. It is wonderful to see. Her sister who is five also loves to dance, loves to listen to music and loves to sit at the piano and just make up songs. My boys who are 10 and 11 love to listen to music and they are both learning to play the guitar. I am lucky enough to be able to have them both in guitar lessons.
Even though our home is a musical one I have been thinking of ways that we could use music more often. When the boys were small I used Sing, Spell, Read and Write and because all the concepts were put into songs, the children learned them faster than I could keep up. I truly think that a child can learn anything if you set it to music.
I play the piano and we have one in our home so we are at an advantage. Thanks to family members my children have guitars as well even though I am stumped by the guitar (thus the need for a teacher). My goal this winter is to get my children learning the piano and to put what I know to use for them, not just the other students that pay me to teach them.
It would also be grand for the girls if some extra money could come in to pay for dance lessons for them. I want to foster this love that they have and see if it is something they want to follow through with. In the meantime, I am investing in a DVD that teaches dance steps. It should be a fun thing!
If anyone out there has ideas of how they use music in their home or for teaching I would love to hear from you. Please post a comment! Whether it is for homeschool or other uses we can all use some ideas!
Sounds like music has become a big part of your family life. I write mostly about music, so my blogs may interest you.
sfrack.wordpress.com
Especially check out my virtual piano lessons and the summer institute where I teach. Both may be just what you are looking for. The institute has guitar, piano, strings and more!
In the mean time, enjoy your kids and the music!!!
What DVD are you using? Both my girls have done dance, but we are tight on money and I’m thinking I’d like to just have them do it at home. I would love to put my kids in all these things too…especially music and dance and art. But unfortunately, as a struggling family and homeschool mom, we have to sacrifice. And I too have a guitar that I can’t seem to master. I do have a DVD/booklet I got. I just need to sit down and practice then I’ll get it. I am thinking though I’d like to teach myself piano. I seem to catch on to that alot faster than guitar.
My kids have used the Hip Hop for Kids DVD and loved it. It was a bit too advanced for the younger ones though so I am currently shopping for a new one. The one I’m leaning toward is here:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=ballet+for+kids+dvd
This is not an affiliate link, just a product page from Amazon. Hope that this help you! I know how it is when things are tight. We are contemplating taking a break from the guitar lessons that our boys take just to save the money each month. Lessons, in general, are very pricey.