Musical ABC cards (printable)

In follow-up to my post yesterday about how I am trying to channel Damian’s learning more through music, I wanted share these ABC cards that I made for him last week.

He loves singing and dancing, watching concerts and videos on You Tube(like Yanni, Sarah Brightman, Andrea Bochelli, Enya, Celtic Woman, the Riverdance, etc), but he is also very fascinated with instruments and how they make music. Some days (most days) he will line various objects up from pots and pans to toys and drums and use his tapping sticks to play music on them. He will walk around the house using his hands or tapping sticks to hear the sound that various surfaces will make. Really a musical beat is just coming out of him all the time it seems.

So anyway, back to the cards :). I thought what better way to appeal to him, when learning the ABCs and phonics, than to do a set of alphabet cards that are instrument themed. Now let me tell, finding A-Z in instruments was not easy! I made them a mixture of classical instruments and folk instruments from around the world. I had to cheat a couple of times and use musical terms instead of instruments, because I could not find an instrument with the short vowel sound of the letter. And let’s face, X is near to impossible. I decided to go with xylophone, even though it is not the correct first sound.

You are welcome to download the cards, I suggest laminating them before cutting them out, to give them some durability. Here is the link, enjoy!

This has been added to: Preschool Corner & 5k too!

Incorporating music into our school days

I have been working, over the last few months at incorporating more music into our daily school time. Every member of our family loves music, so it has always been a part of the daily rhythm in our home, but lately I have been giving it a lot more thought. Why? As I watch Damian grow, I am seeing in him a very keen interest in music and a natural aptitude for it.

One of the advantages of homeschooling is that I can cater to my children’s specific interests during the course of their learning. With Rylan it has always been through his love of reading and animals, and I have had several years now of figuring out how best to orient his learning around those passions, but music is a new slant for me. It has always been there, but now I need to make it more of a focus, more of a vehicle for Damian’s learning, because it definitely lights a spark in him and makes his concentration keener.

Damian started Music Together classes around 12 months, and we have been going strong ever since. I have no doubt that these classes are giving him a good foundation in music, and have definitely made music a lot of fun. We also sing these songs together at home and in the car during the week, and as a result have accumulated a box full of instruments which he plays with every day.

You may have noticed that we sing a lot as a part of Damian’s school time, I am always looking for songs related to the theme or topic he is learning about. Also our circle time is filled with song, in fact, we sing most everything from our prayers, to our school song, to the calendar songs, to our virtue quotation memorization. Not only is it a wonderfully cheerful way to start the day, but it aides memorization.

I also incorporate music into our geography studies. It gives a glimpse into the culture and “vibe” of the people we are learning about.

Another thing I have started doing in the last few months is playing classical music during our school time. After we have completed our circle time, and Rylan moves onto his workboxes and I am doing one-on-one time with Damian, I turn on some classical music. It plays quietly in the background while we are all working. I can say, without a doubt, that it has the most wonderfully calming effect on our school time. It aides in quiet concentration, it is uplifting, and it helps to feed Damian’s passion because he is definitely happier when music can be heard. On the weekends Ramtin gives the boys little tidbits of information about classical music – the composers, the type of music, etc; during the week we just listen to it and enjoy it.

I am just starting to research Suzuki piano lessons, as a possibility down the line for him. I have heard a lot of good things about this program, but I am uncertain about him starting so young in more formal lessons. I am going to try to attend a preview lesson with him this summer, so we can both see what it is all about.

To those out there who have musically inclined children, I would love to hear what you have done to nurture this interest in your children?

Learning about children around the world

We took things slowly this past week, to ease ourselves back into the school day rhythm. I planned some themed activities, that both my boys could comfortably participate in together. We dedicated the greater part of one day to learning about children around the world. With a focus on our similarities, despite outward differences – unity in diversity.

We read several books, spread out in-between the different activities I had lined up for the boys on the theme. Here is our book list for the day:

In addition to the books, we put together this Melissa and Doug “Children of the World” puzzle.

We made paper people, the idea for which I got from Counting Coconuts. You could also make a paper doll chain and color them to look international.

While we worked we listened to a mix of international music with our Putumayo world music.

The boys completed a worksheet from The Baha’i Children’s Workbook about the oneness of humanity.

Then I pulled out a set of international play figures that I had purchased at the Lakeshore Learning Centre. The boys loved this set. After we discussed where the different children came from, and used them for a couple of formal activities, they took them all downstairs to the play room, built a city for them out of blocks and played together for a couple of hours.

This has been added to Preschool Corner & 5K too.

Our 2010-2011 curriculum

Over the last week I have been doing a lot of research, sifting through catalogues, books, and websites; and have finally settled on an outline for our upcoming year. I ordered everything we did not already have yesterday, and both Rylan and I are eagerly awaiting their arrival (yes, I know we are total nerds! ;) ).
Here is Rylan’s 1st grade curriculum (oh my gosh, I have a first grader!?! Where did the time go?) Although I have this outline to follow, everything is subject to revision if it doesn’t work for us:
Reading: I purchased Rocket Phonics last year, and we worked through the first few lessons. Although I like what I have seen so far in the program, and we may continue to work through some of it, Rylan has by in large taken learning to read into his own hands and doing very well, so we will see if is is necessary to add this into our days. Either way, I don’t mind having purchased the program because I will use it for Damian eventually.
English language and writing skills: we will be starting with First Language Lessons this year. As well as using The Complete Writer: Level 1 Workbook for Writing with Ease.
Math: we will continue working through the Math-U-See program. I will also incorporate math work into other areas of study, as I have before, because Rylan does tire of working on math only through the workbook.
Handwriting: We will continue with Handwriting Without Tears, this year using My Printing Book.Spiritual/religious: We will continue with our virtue lessons as a part of our daily circle time, as well as learning new prayers. In addition, we will continue reading through "Children’s Stories From The Dawn-Breakers" and Rylan will also be working through the Baha’i Children’s Workbook.Spelling: We will be starting with All About Spelling using Level 1 of the program. I am very excited about this program because I have heard a lot of great things about it from many people.
History: I just ordered The Story of the World and its activity book.
Geography: For now we will continue moving through the continents as a general introduction to world geography.
Science: I read through Rebecca Rupp’s Home Learning Year by Year as a general guide for what should be covered for science in first grade, and to be honest Rylan has already covered most of the areas, since he has such a passionate love of science related subjects, especially animal and nature studies. So, I am not investing in a science curriculum of any kind. We are going to stick with interest led learning here, although I think I will plan a unit on the human body at some stage during the year.
Spanish: I just ordered Rosetta Stone Spanish (Latin America) Homeschool Edition Level 1. And I am going to do it too! :)
Art: We will continue working through Drawing With Children. I am also looking into using Discovering Great Artists to incorporate some art appreciation (thank you Jolanthe for pointing out this book!).Music: Music appreciation with Ramtin on weekends, focusing on classical music.
PE: Rylan will continue with swimming lessons and gymnastics during the year.
Damian at 2 1/2 will have no set curriculum, of course, just lots of play and reading time! He will, however, participate in much of what we do, like virtue learning, prayers, circle time, and so on and so forth. As he gets older and I see the need for more focused learning I will incorporate it into his days, but what is most important for him now is to learn through play and to continue to develop a love of reading, so that will be our focus.
And I think that is a wrap! I am super excited about this year and cannot wait to get started! I am aiming to start in about two weeks, we have to wait for the materials I just ordered to arrive and for me to get a look through them and a feel for how to use them. I also need to fix up the school area. Over our unplanned (but much enjoyed) summer break our school area has become a storehouse for various items I have piled up to go be sold on craigslist or go to charities. I need to actually get those things out the door so we have a nice, organized space to work in again!

Music Together

Tuesday is our Music Together day. There is a lovely playhouse on our island, run by a wonderful couple and they hold various classes there, including the Music Together classes. Uncle George, as he is affectionately called by the kids, is the teacher of the class (after the class he plays with them too for an hour or so and they adore him for all the fun games and activities he has up his sleeve). He is a professional musician and a natural with kids, which I am sure adds to the quality of the classes, but in general, I am very impressed with the Music Together programme. I really feel that the boys are getting an excellent introduction to music – rhythm, tone, harmony, beat, etc. And of course it includes instruments and movement which they love.
We have always done these things in our home, but I am not a musician (though I hope it is not too late to change that!), so there is a level of training I could not offer.

We do the class with a wonderful group of fellow moms and children, this combined with George’s teaching, and the atmosphere of the playhouse; it makes for one of our favourite activities of the week (plus the boys and I go out to eat for lunch afterwards, as a little mid-week treat!).

Today when we got back home, Grandma was there waiting to play, much to Rylan’s delight (what will I do when they leave us next week???). The two of the them (and Damian was well, for the first while) spent an hour and a half playing with playdoh making every animal they could think of and then some! Here is one of their creations – animals at a watering hole, Rylan is holding the sun in the sun. :) Grandma’s are just so much fun!

Oh! Last night we went to a full moon BBQ on the beach with a group of friends. My pics came out horribly, but we had such a lovely evening, I felt like I should include it, it also marked Rylan’s first time making s’mores!