Kids with ASD, ADHD, preliterate, and beginners in general love our Musicolor Method curriculum. They can shine with our unique visual vocabulary for music.
Category: Teaching Methods
And how to ask a better question “What’s in it for me?” This is the underlying question almost everyone has running in the back of their minds. Someone makes you an offer and you automatically ask it. “What’s in it for me?” Parents ask a variation, “What’s in it for my child, my family?” It’s […]
Should All Music Students Learn to Read Music? As a music teacher, I’m often asked about reading music. Some parents want to know,”Will my child learn to read music?” These are usually parents who have had musical training and see the benefits of being able to read music from the last 1000 years of music […]
Music lessons for special needs children? If you ask the average music teacher about special needs children as students, you may get a blank stare. There isn’t much literature focused on this. Children with special needs may include those with learning disabilities, developmental issues, as well as those on the Autism spectrum. At Park Slope Music Lessons, […]
Most of our students at Park Slope Music Lessons have some experience with early childhood music programs. But you can even start singing to your baby in the womb. I came across this delightful and educational infographic from the fine folks at Mom Loves Best. Our Musicolor Method® is a fun, simple and effective […]
Did you ever go to a library or coffee shop just to have a bigger desktop? There’s something so spacious and freeing about just having more physical workspace right in front of you. Last week, I visited several co-working spaces in New York City just for that reason. Having a bigger desktop is incredibly freeing. […]
The best way to praise your children Take a look at these two sentences. 1) “Great job, you must be really smart.” 2) “Great job, you must have worked really hard at this.” So similar but a vast difference in results. If you say “Great job, you must be really smart,” the child hears, […]
Pick a time of day when you can always practice, even for just a few minutes. Choose a small amount of time that you can always do, for example, 5 minutes. Set it on the calendar or sticky note or smartphone alarm. Practice for just the allotted time. If you feel you can do more […]
When I was a kid, I felt like loneliness was my best friend. It’s not like I wanted to be around him. He just clung to me. We were the only Asian family in an all-white neighborhood in a suburb of New York City. The typical question was, “What are you, Chinese or Japanese?” […]
What can we do to help our children become successful? It’s a question that reverberates deeply in every parent. [box] “To give our kids the best possible potential for a successful life, we need to teach and model for them how to work well.” – Cal Newport[/box] The summer I was 10 years old, I would […]
Recently, one of our teachers, Sean Spada, had an interesting gig…at a hospital! Held February 8 at Maimonides Medical Center, the event celebrated Black History Month, focused on highlighting influential women, and even featured some employees from the institution for the first time. During the program, staff members represented influential women in the fields […]
There are several sizes of Ukulele. This instrument, from Hawaii, has had a major resurgence in the last decade or so. (If you’ve never heard of Jake Shimabukuro – just google him now.) And why not? It’s so fun! And portable! Plus you can get a really nice one for less than $100. The four most […]
When you’re searching for a music teacher for your child, you want to get a feel for the teacher. What is a lesson like? What’s their philosophy? What can I expect? We have taught hundreds of kids in the Park Slope area of Brooklyn over the last decade. The secret to our success is in […]
Our preschool piano lessons are virtually unmatched. Most teachers will not accept a student until 7 or 8 years old. Why is that? There is a gap in most music curriculums that do not cover the pre-literate preschool aged child. The curriculum we use with our young preschool students is what makes us stand out. […]
Our music lessons are fun! We not only want our students to learn how to play songs. We also want them to understand the concepts of music theory which make it easier to transfer to other instruments. Many of our students have started at the keyboard and then added other instruments like ukulele, guitar, recorder, […]
Welcome back to the new school year. It will begin on Wednesday September 9, 2015. Have a great last few days!
My family loves to watch American Idol as well as The Voice. These competitive singing shows are fun and introduce a new audience to a lot of great songs, old and new. The shows are both well produced and fun and get you involved with each contestant’s story so that you care whether or not […]
This is a fabulous little animated video. It’s as if it was designed specifically for my students. I’ve been send all kinds of articles to my parents through the years. This just makes it more fun and easier to digest. Thanks Ted Ed!
As an independent, private music teacher, I am always being forwarded studies and news articles about the benefits of music lessons. It definitely feels good to be on the right side of this issue! And it certainly validates my profession. This weekend’s Wall Street Journal has an article, A Musical Fix for U.S. Schools, which […]