Practicing Game Board

Today is Sunday and our kids don't typically play with friends because it's a family day.  However, my 3-year-old's best friend lives next door and it's very easy for them to meet and play outside without us knowing.  Today was one of those days.  When I found her making a "nest" in my front yard out of all of my beautiful daffodils I knew she wouldn't want to come in to practice - but it was time.

Because of this, she wasn't too happy, but I had a fun game up my sleeve.  We are practicing twinkles after twinkles every day.  They are slowly getting better, but it's still not time to move on.  Because of this practicing is becoming hard for the little one so I'm having to find creative ways for her to want to practice.  I've had these music dice for a while.  Each side is half of a twinkle variation.  I made a game board with the corresponding rhythms.  She got to choose her favorite Japanese eraser as her game piece.  She then got to roll the rhythm die and move it to the matching rhythm.  We then played the twinkle that matched the rhythm.  Some rhythms (like 4 16th notes) can be used for more than one variation (var. A or var. E).  Overall it was a very successful practice and she was so happy when she "won" (got to the end of the chart.)

Well, the other girls saw these games and wanted to play as well.  For the older ones, I had a blank game board that was laminated.  I used a dry-erase marker to write various portions of the practice.  6 year old picked her Japanese Eraser (a panda body with a giraffe head.)  She also chose a big green die to roll.

My 10-year-old had a longer chart because she has much more to practice.  Because of this, she got to use a 10-sided die.  Since this game is a game of chance as to what they will practice some things got skipped and conversely some things were played multiple times.  Because of this, it wouldn't be an ideal way of practicing all the time, but it sure was fun for a sunny Sunday afternoon.  The great thing about these game boards is that you can make up your own rules!

You can find the music dice for sale here.  

There are lots of other fun dice for sale here.  
You can find tons of fun Mini Erasers for sale here.

You can download the game boards here.

Have fun!

More and more twinkles!!!

We're to the point where my 3-year-old knows all of her Twinkles, but it's definitely not time to move on.  There is still a lot of work with tone and bow control and posture and so practicing has become less desirable.  I will post our top 10 Twinkle games soon!  However, I just wanted to let you know that I have found a WONDERFUL tool that makes practice charts and games even more awesome!  My laminator!  I don't know why I never thought of this before.  Someone gave me a laminator years ago and I ran out of the plastic stuff and always thought it was too expensive to replace so I gave it away.  Recently I was looking around for the best store to get stuff laminated and someone mentioned just buying one.  So, I looked on Amazon and found one for only $25.  I got 100 of the plastic sheet things for $16.  That's only 41 cents per page for my first 100, then only 16 cents per page after that.  That's a great deal AND I don't have to load all my kids in the minivan to take them to the office supply store.

ANYWAY - I started laminating some of the charts and games I've been using.  This is totally awesome because stickers stick - but they can come off as well so the chart can be reused!  Also, whiteboard markers and wet-erase markers work great so you can customize some of the blank charts and games - then erase and start over.

Right now we're still working on our 100 var. A twinkles (only 10 left!) and 100 Twinkle Themes.  But, darling daughter loves to put stickers on charts so I am using the Pineapple/Ice Cream Cone race as well.

Also - I'm finding that I really have to break up the practice into little segments because it's just a killer for her to stand and concentrate while playing nothing but Twinkles.  So, we're practicing 1-2 twinkles 3-4 times a day.  It's not so bad as long as I make it fun.

Toys Can Practice Too!

Notice something weird about this picture?

Sometimes it takes a little creativity to get a child to practice.  Yesterday my 3-year-old didn't want to practice because she was playing with her Polly Pockets.  So, I told her the Polly Pockets could watch her practice.  She loved playing the pieces and looking at her dolls and she also kept her scroll up high.   We ended up having a great practice!

How to Practice with a 3 Year Old

My darling daughter, Caroline, has been wanting to play the violin since she could walk!  This is one of my favorite pictures of her as a toddler climbing up on the piano to play one of the violins.  She knew she wasn't supposed to do it!  That's why she has a mischievous look on her face.

I've let her play on a little tiny violin for years now, but finally, I've decided to make an effort to practice with her every day.  My other kids take from another wonderful teacher, but because of time and money, I've decided to take on being her teacher for a while.  She's 3 years and 4 months old now.

Several people have asked how I can teach {practice} with such young children.  Here is a little glimpse of how we practice each day.

1. First of all, you need a darling little child.  Students in my studio can start as young as age 3, but it's sometimes easier for the parent to wait until age 4 or 5.  I know a teacher who is teaching some 2-year-olds this fall.  It's possible, it just takes time and patience.  Practicing with a young child can sure be fun, though!  They love to learn new things and play fun games!

2. I start all my students on a foot chart.  This keeps them focused at the lesson and during practice.  It's customized for them and I let them color or do whatever they want with it.  This foot chart is made out of vinyl that I got at Joann.  You can make 4-foot charts out of 1 yard of vinyl.  I've seen other teachers make them out of folder files, paper, you can even buy them online premade with feet and rhythms.

3.  I keep a practice book to organize my practice.  Since I'm teaching my own child I fill out another chart every 7 days with updated material.  I let Caroline put stickers on when she wants with the things that we've practiced.  You can make your own practice books like I did, or they can even be found premade online.  

4.  The downloads at The Practice Shoppe have so many fun charts.  Kids this age love charts, stickers, and goals.  This particular chart is for 100 bow holds.  When she finishes the chart she will get a prize out of my prize box - and have a beautiful bow hold!

5.  Of course, an instrument is important.  I often start 3 year olds on a foam-a-lin, but Caroline has been playing around with the real thing since she was one so I just let her use her own violin.  Notice I have to put lots of stickers and stuff on the violin to help her, especially on her bow.

6.  I have lots of these bead counters at my house and my kids and students use them a lot.  This is great for all types of practice.  This week we do a bow hold then flip a bead (the later I mark her chart).  Maybe next week it will be the number of times she plays a little pretwinkle song.  The goal constantly changes, but the bead counter is always a constant 10 TIMES!  No quitting until you've done it 10 times.

7.  Magic wands are a wonder with little kids.  OK - they aren't magic, but I tell them they are.  I first start off by practicing bow hold on a magic wand.   This is a picture of the wand rubber-banded to the violin to help with playing straight on the highway.  You can also use a pencil, but the wand is so much more FUN!  I can even still hang up the violin with the wand on the violin.

8.  Another gadget we practice with is the "elbow stick."  I'm not sure who came up with this idea, but it's great for practicing opening up the elbow and singing all the pretwinkle songs.  It's just a dowel and sprinkler part with some rubber bands to provide a stop for the sprinkler part.  We sing all our songs with it every day.  I have to help her a lot still, but she's gradually getting so she can do it on her own.  Another way to practice this movement is by doing "soaps" which is just rubbing the bow hand up and down the violin arm while doing the twinkle rhythms.  We do both. 

I hope this gave you some good ideas about practicing with young children.  It can be a challenge at times, but oh so fun!  And it's awesome to be able to show other people that your amazing children can do something hard like play the violin!

Twinkle Flashcards

For a twinkler, flashcards are very versatile.

I start teaching the young twinklers to recognize a twinkle rhythm. As soon as they master this we do it to break up practice sessions. There's something fun about flashcards for a 4-year-old.

The twinkle flashcards are also a good way to decide what to play next during practicing. My 4-year-old has learned all variations of twinkle and we have to play them all every day. However, she HATES when I tell her what to do, so she chooses a flashcard and plays that particular twinkle.


Other flashcards that I use to break up practicing or lessons are note value cards (quarter note, half note, eight note, quarter rest, etc.)

I'm also starting note flashcards with my early twinklers and they are really picking it up. I start with the open strings, then the A string notes, E string notes, etc.

I don't do flashcards every day, but it is a great excuse for a child to put her violin down and have a little break - but still be learning.

You can download these twinkle rhythm flashcards here at The Practice Shoppe.

A SMART way to practice

My ambitious, excited 4-year-old wasn't so excited to practice this week. The first day after her lesson we started practicing and we only got three things done and my daughter sighed, "Mom, I'm running out of gas! I'll finish later." Well, after this was said there was no use. I tried to be upbeat, but I started to get irritated so I just quit practicing. And, because of my busy life - it didn't get done later either.

So, the next day I pulled out some treats from my studio. Smarties to be specific. There are 15 little Smartie treats inside a Smartie package and I told my sweet daughter that she could have one little treat every time we did something for practice. So, we bowed and said "Good Afternoon" and she got a treat. We did a bow exercise and she got a treat. It turns out that A LOT of practicing can get done with 15 little Smartie treats. Aside from the first day - this has been the best week of practicing.

{other things we practiced: Up Like a Rocket, Stirring the Witches Brew, chin holds, Tuca on E string, Tuca on A string, elbow stick, Pop Goes the Weasel, clapping rhythms, and everything all over again.}

How to Practice with a Twinkler

It's been three weeks of practicing with my 4-year-old daughter and I'm reminded of some essential steps to practicing with a small twinkler. 

1. Make it short - most 3, 4, and 5 year olds are not used to standing still for very long. The time will gradually lengthen during practicing, but at the beginning make it short and consistent so they have a good experience with practicing. If it's drudgery from the beginning you will not succeed.

 

2. Make it fun - There is no problem with using fun practice charts, toys, and treats with practicing. My daughter gets so excited for her 1 candy corn after practice. So far her teacher has given her some simple chart to X off each day. This week we have a 25 chart to complete for her new song, Pop Goes the Weasil. Wands, toys, animals, etc. all make practicing fun for a little child. Think of their preschool class...they aren't sitting in desks all day learning their colors and shapes - they're learning in a fun environment. Make that fun environment at home.

 

3. Do it over and over and over and over and over again - If your practicing is short you can do it a lot of times throughout the day. The first week my daughter just had to bow, clap the rhythms, make a simple fox with her bow hand, and hold her violin up with her chin. All together that took about 5 minutes. We'd do it all over after she did everything once. If she was still focused we'd do it all over a third time. Then later that day we'd show dad what she was practicing and do it again once or twice. That's practicing everything FIVE times each day. What a great way to start getting geared up for repetitions - which any person learning an instrument will have to do A LOT of!