April 2015

Dear Friends and Teachers, I'm loving this season! Spring came a couple of weeks earlier than usual this year and it's wonderful to see the daffodils and tulips in bloom. I'm always trying to find ways to nicely suggest to my students' parents that they need to be involved with their children's practice at home. When parents help their child at home the student comes back to class with confidence and is excited to play for me. I feel really sad for the child who hasn't practiced because the parents are too busy with work or other things, and comes in to his or her lesson feeling unhappy before even getting started.   Below is a picture of a parent helping his child by pointing, because she had insisted that he do so. He had just undergone major surgery and was helping out any way he could. There's creative thinking for you. There are many other creative ways to help your child with practice but this is one I had never considered.  On another subject, the Solo Time Music Games recent website upgrade has been having issues with  the page called "My Account".  I'm expecting this to be cleared up soon. If you order any games please order directly through me at info@solotimegames.com not through the website as there is a glitch and it can't be fixed until my computer guy gets out of the hospital! In this newsletter, I have attached a list of games that are in groups of Sunshine, Sunbeam, and Moonbeam levels that might make it a little easier for you to order any flashcard games that you would like for your students. All games ordered (10 or more) in May will receive a 15% discount. There will be no shipping charged if I am able to take them to the MYC Conference in Halifax in July for you. If you are not attending the conference, you can still receive the 15% discount but postage will be extra.      I'm also very excited about the game that I was commissioned to design for  the teachers who attend the Music for Young  Children Conference in Halifax in July. It's looking great; it has to do with rhythms about Nova Scotia, and this set includes 16th's, which I haven't done before. I think your students will love it. I hope to see you in Halifax in July. Musicallyours, Lois Dicknoether 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.     Social Networking Sites

I attended a business seminar a few months ago and the topic was social networking. I asked the presenter this question:  With so many options on the Internet, in how many social networking sites I should be active? The instructor suggested I participate in only two or three sites and spend only about thirty minutes a week updating and keeping them current. My shoulders sagged and I sank down in my chair as I thought, no wonder I get so discouraged. I'm trying to fit  all my fingers into every social network pot there is. I even joined Ello, and still don't know what that's about. Trying to be active in business and in my life, clean the house, teach, cook, and remain sane at the same time was getting to be a little to much, never mind having time to take care of myself or just relax. So I took a few months off just about everything to re-group and remove a few things from my to-do list that weren't serving me or my goals, and to add ones that seemed more enjoyable, both from a personally profitable perspective, and business-wise. One of my decisions was to choose which social networking sites worked best for me. Of the eight or nine I was trying to be active in, none seemed to bring me any pleasure or business, just guilt that I wasn't being active enough. So I decided that Facebook seemed to be the only one where I can connect with friends and business contacts, so I'll stay there. I love Twitter but after a while I realized I wasn't using it for my business, only for information about what's going around the world. I will stay on Twitter because I enjoy it but will change my focus to make it more useful. I decided to drop out of LinkedIn as it brought nothing new to my business. Google circles was just time-consuming, so I dropped it and also Instagram. Pinterest will be the final site that I spend time on (who doesn't love Pinterest?) but the rest have gone by the wayside as they just don't fit into my personal and business goals. To help you make your ordering decisions prior to the conference...  Click this link for a list of all the Flashcard games and which level they belong too Deadline: May 30, 2015.  There is a special treat for you there in the pdf file. I do admit to playing Candy Crush on occasion, though. You tell me which level you are on and I'll tell you mine. (Privately, of course, I wouldn't want anyone to know I'm wasting my time on that game.) New this month! MYC critter note review Finally, I have gotten around to completing this project and testing it with my students. It has been sitting around undone for ages but it's ready now. This note review game has fourteen pages designed for beginning students in the Sunshine 1 and 2 and Sunbeam 1 and 2 levels. There are seven colourful Critter Game Boards with seven pages of notes. Students name the notes and place the correct note on the game board. The  Edyth the Elk game has been such a favorite with my girl students that I had to print a second one so there wasn't any conflict in class! Take a look at it - Critters for MYC