February 2009: Schumann and Brahms

In February we learned the special musical words for fast (allegro) and slow (adagio). This was a month with lots of activity. I think the children went home class exhausted! We listened to the music of Schumann and Brahms.

Doing a song about clapping.

Moving slowly like turtles.

Getting ready to follow our listening map to "Hungarian Dance" by Brahms.

Jumping like rabbits from square to square.

Balance beam while listening to our balance beam song.

Playing "London Bridge". This was more of a hit than a thought it would be. We had to do it multiple times.

Getting instruments ready to follow the listening map.

Nursery Rhyme song books.

Making popcorn sheep on our farm day. We listened to Schumann's "Happy Farmer".

Friday class following the map to Brahms, "Hungarian Dance"

Maurice Ravel: "Mother Goose Suite"

fast/slow activity Coloring nursery rhyme song books Fun with bells.

Playing "London Bridge"....we had to do this over about 5 times. The children loved it.

Jack Be Nimble .....while listening to our music the children (and me) jumped from mat to mat.

Vacation at Cocoa Beach Florida

I am loving my vacation on the beach. While Kevin is his conference at Patrick AFB, I am on the beach walking the shoreline. It is so much fun. BUT, I miss my sweet little students and all the fun we have. February will be full of fun for us.

January 20th & 23rd: Mozart

January 20th & 23rd: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

"Ah, Vous Dirai-je Maman"

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star!

Friday class doing our balloon game while listening to "Twinkle-Twinkle..."

Friday class following our listening map....

Friday class making patterns with quarter notes and quarter rests. They were having so much fun with this that they made 3 or 4 different patterns to play for the class.

Friday class singing the 'star shape' song. Who knew that stars could be so much fun??!!!

Friday class doing our "Can You....?" game. I had the music going and I hold up cards that instruct them in different things to do to the music......jump, fly like a bird, crawl like a turtle, walk on heels, etc.

Tuesday Class Practicing quarter notes and rests.

This week the children each got a set of quarter notes and rests to use to make a pattern. After they completed their pattern they used either the bells or the rhythm sticks to play their pattern for the class.

Tuesday class: Singing our 'Star Shape' song. They got to keep their stars....I think they were happy about that!

Tuesday Class: Reviewing "Miss Mary Mack"

Tuesday Class: Using our listening map to play Mozart's, “Ah, Vous Dirai-je Maman” (the tune to Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star) on our hand bells and jingle bell bracelets.

Tuesday Class: While listening to “Ah, VousDirai-je Maman” the children had to keep the balloons up in the air....or at least try to!

Scott Joplin

January 12th and 17th

Scott Joplin

"Maple Leaf Rag"

Our obstacle course....hopping with bells, balance beam, running through cones, ball toss

Working on our rhythm worksheet

working on their rhythm worksheet

Following the listening map as we listened to "Maple Leaf Rag". They used a different instrument for each section of the music.

Playing handbells for section 'A '

The children did an obstacle course as they listened to "Maple Leaf Rag".

Balance beam, crawl through a box, play handbells, jumping, ball toss.

Walking across the balance beam (obstacle course)

Throwing balls into the bucket (obstacle course)



As we listened to "Maple Leaf Rag" by Scott Joplin the children followed a listening map. The pattern of the song is AABBACCDD. (teaching them about how music repeats itself in songs.) For each section of the music they used a different instrument to play. A was a handbell, B was an egg shaker, C was a jingle bell bracelet, and D was a drum. They had to follow my lead as I pointed to the Letter on the board telling them what section was being played. They were amazing at following directions and playing their instruments!

December at Klassical Kids

Tuesday Class: 2nd, 9th, & 16th (9-10am)

Friday Class: 5th, 12th, &19th (9-10am)

This month's class themes include:

Tchaikovsky's, "Nutcracker Ballet"

Handel's, "Messiah"

Christmas carols and songs

Month Fee: $15.00

It is going to be a wonderful time enjoying the music of this blessed season!

Peter and the Wolf

Playing a matching game with our "Peter and the Wolf" character and instrument cards.

Peter and the Wolf visuals that I made....in the musical story each character is represented by a particular instrument. They used these cards to help them as they played the matching game.

A closer view of the matching cards I made.

Playing with some instruments

Using some extra time to make musical patterns.

I am leaving town on Friday to head back to Indiana. My dad is dying of leukemia...a long-fought battle that he braved with the greatest of courage and patience. We are going home to say our goodbyes. Kevin and the girls will stay for a week....I will stay until he passes, so I plan on being gone for the rest of October. I will miss my Klassical Kids sooo much. They bring joy to my mornings. For the Tuesday and Wednesday class we will be learning all about "Peter and the Wolf"...a fun musical story by Sergei Prokofiev.

A new week!

New Composer Notebook!

This week our focus will be Haydn and his "Surprise Symphony". It is going to be a fun week of learning dynamics....forte (loud) and piano (soft). and I finally got real binders for the kids...they have been asking for them the past couple of weeks. The paper folders have lasted a month, now they are ripping and not too cute. So, I am ready for some musical fun!

Benjamin Britten's, "Playful Pizzacato"

Our composer of the week was Benjamin Britten. He wrote a fun song called, "Playful Pizzacato". Pizzacato is the term used to describe plucking a stringed instrument. The children had fun playing on my little lap harp. They understood what pizzacato meant and I had fun hearing them try to say it... I did apologize to the moms for any variations of the word, 'pizzacato' that might come out of their children's mouths! : )

So, in honor of "Playful Pizzacato", we had "Play Day"...we did musical activities that were all about playing and having fun. I think we were successful.

While listening to "Playful Pizzacato" the children followed a listening map to help them hear the different parts of the song. Afterwards they made their own 'listening maps' and we had fun using instruments to play their music.

Making a listening map....then the children follow the map to know what instruments to play.

Coloring their favorite thing to play while listening to music.

Throwing balls into the cans ...part of our 'play day'

Playing hard and having lots of fun!

Playing instruments using her 'map'

Beethoven's "Ode To Joy"

This week at Klassical Kids we listened to Beethoven's, "Ode To Joy". What a fun time we had!

We were all about feelings: I read a book to the children about feelings, we 'jumped for joy', we made our own book of feelings. We also learned about quarter notes and how to draw them. The children were fantastic at this! They each got to play their pattern with their rhythm sticks. It is amazing what these kids can do.

Next week will be "Play Day" as we listen to Benjamin Britton's, "Playful Pizzicato".

Making quarter notes

Using Rhythm sticks to

play his quarter note pattern.

Making quarter notes.

Playing, "Follow the Leader"

with patterns on our drums.

quarter notes...

Taking a snack break!

Hard at work on quarter notes

Our little book we made:

Showing off some

great quarter notes!

Making musical patterns

with quarter notes.


making quarter notes.

Drawing Quarter Notes on the staff.

As they listened to "Ode to Joy"

tey drew in the 'feelings' book.