An Unexpected Visit

Good Morning, Last week I had an unexpected stop over in Calgary, Alberta.  Traveling home to Abbotsford, after visiting Jakob (the most adorable grandson I know) spring thunder storms shut down the Calgary airport for several hours stranding 70,000 people.  With the "Global World Oil" Conference happening, there were no hotel rooms for airlines to put up passengers and rental cars were quickly snapped up. I was one of the few who was able to make arrangements for a place to stay overnight but I still needed a ride to the airport in the morning. I commented on the craziness of the airport on Facebook and Beth Nicholson, an  MYC teacher in Calgary read it and graciously offered a ride to the airport the next day.   In the morning we met for coffee, chatted music, teaching, children and students.  It was such a blessing, not only for the ride but for the opportunity to to glean from her, her talents,  ideas and tips.  Then we then dug out our iPads and shared our favorite apps! Beth's two favorites were Piano Notes (staff and key identification) and Right Note (Ear Training). I once lived in a community where I was the only teacher and I realize how valuable my colleagues are because they help me become a better teacher when they share their knowledge along with my passion for bringing music into the lives of children.  It's so important to stay connected and  unexpected encounters are a bonus.  Thanks Beth. Lately, I've been asked what games are there available for certain levels with in the Music for Young Children program.  This month I've listed the games and aids for the Moonbeam 3 level and students preparing for the Advanced Rudiments exam.  Over the summer, I will list what's available for all the other levels within the MYC program. Cheers and sunny summer days to you all! Musicallyours, Lois Dicknoether  MYC Certified Teacher  Solo Time Music Games info@solotimemusicgames.com  Solo Time Music Games are designed to instill a life long passion  and understanding of music and its concepts  through a fun hands on experience.

To Market To Market

As teachers we often struggle with charging enough for our expertise, our time and our talent.  Here is an article from Wendy at "Compose Create," where she puts it in black and white how  and why we need to charge what we do. I couldn't write a better article on how to set up your fee structure  for your studio and the reasons behind it than her recent blog post on "No more Charging for Lessons by the Week!"

Moonbeam 3 Games, Printables and Teaching Aids

Music For Young Children - Moonbeam 3 Flashcard Games Don't Put your Apples - Introduction to Enharmonic Notes Out of Space and Lines : Introduction to Intervals Burger Intervals - Which burgers are major, minor and perfect Shoot Out -Hockey theme - Whole tones/steps and Semi- tones/steps Shoot for the Stars - Chromatic, Diatonic, and Enharmonic Pyramid Triads- Root, First and Second inversion triads What's that Dot? - What is the value of the dot! Weak and Strong Beats - Choose one rest to complete the measure- quarter,                             8th,  half and whole rests. Strike Out - Choose one rest to complete the measure - adding the 16th rest Give it a Rest! Level 1 - uses quarter, 8th, whole and half rests.                             Level 2  - Introduces the 16th rest                            Level 3 - Triplets and increased difficulty                            (over 30 measures in each package)                                 You Print - Printables  $2.99 or less  Give it a Rest - Time signatures with examples of note values used in different measures. Use with Give it Rest.  Go Ahead! Make Me! - 10 pages of printable  major, minor and perfect                                              intervals. Print, Laminate and use erasable markers. Large Circle of 5th's - Giant circle of 5th's - Use as a game and teaching aid. Small Circle of 5th's -  Print off individual circle of 5th's for each student. Coming! Three Steps Down!  Major/ Minor  Key Signatures- Teaching aid