Music teaches much more than just music. Music encompasses reading, math, social studies, science, and the other fine arts as well. For example:
- Following written music or a listening map helps students fine tune the tracking process that is essential in reading.
- Learning about note values makes learning about fractions a lot easier.
- Singing songs from other countries or from earlier time periods in our own country make those countries or time periods come alive in a way that simply reading about them cannot.
- Learning about the different instrument families leads naturally into how the sound of each instrument is produced.
With all that being said, music class should be fun! We will sing songs, dance, play instruments, and listen to music that many students might not know. Sometimes we will watch movies about music, or play musical games. And we will read books. Some will be about music or musicians, some will be rhyming or rhythmic, and some will be so beautifully written or illustrated that they lend themselves to being accompanied by beautiful music.
Thank you for sharing your children with me. I am at Mt. Caesar on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Feel free to contact me there if you have questions or suggestions.
