After clicking on Level 1, this is the page I saw. There are 10 weeks in Level 1 and each week has 4 lessons.
When the Week is clicked on, a new tab pops up with the video for the lesson/session.
Yes, the video is small, you can maximize the screen by clicking on the full screen icon. I have added a red arrow to show where it is. This will enlarge your screen. The only downside to doing so is that the large picture tends to be blurry.
We will watch and interact with the video and then go to work on the worksheet.
Here we are working on high and low sounds. I played them on the keyboard and they had to fill in an apple either on the tree (high sound) or on the ground (low sound).
Here we are working on our rhythm.
Here we are finding the 2 black keys where Dodi's house is and playing the Dodi's House song. The children are to play the 2 black keys along with Miss Karri as the music plays. They are learning to play walk notes, or what they later learn are called quarter notes. I love that she uses terms that are easy for the children to understand and then after they are used to them explains what the correct musical term is. Though I was a little confused as to why the first thing they actually play on the piano uses two keys at a time (and then the next song has them playing the 3 black keys). It was a little frustrating for all of them (and the three girls are in the correct age range), but especially for Hannah, to have to learn to keep the rhythm and hit both (all) the keys at the same time for the entire song.
Harold has a blast clapping along with the songs.
Here they are matching the finger numbers with the correct star.
Even daddy has enjoyed getting involved (no surprise there). Here he is helping the children stay on rhythm. He is clapping the rhythm by watching the video while they focus on him. I am not sure if it is our internet connection or the video itself, but as the song plays the animation doesn't seem to stay on beat at times
Sometimes they use their new clipboards so they can be in the living room with the computer to listen to the music/lesson while they work. On this day they were coloring Dodi's House and Train Station Cards.
When they were done coloring they decided they wanted to play the game on the piano, matching Dodi's House to the two black keys and the Train Station to the three black keys.
I think Hannah's face shows very well how she feels about this program.
They all love music time and gathering at the computer to watch the videos. Tabitha's favorite part of the program is, "Dodi the Donkey," because she likes donkeys. She also likes, "doing the coloring pages." Amelia enjoys, "listening to the songs, especially Hot Cross Buns and playing the piano." Hannah says she likes "singing."
Mommy loves that they are gently being introduced to musical terms and are learning to play the piano. Miss Karri is so energetic and I enjoy the way she interacts with the children. The children are also working on other skills, in addition to music, such as numbers, counting, opposites, and fine motor skills with coloring and cutting. In fact, you can check out their information on The Three R's to get a good look at all of the learning and development that is going on.
The only problems I have encountered would be the concerns I mentioned above regarding the blurry picture plus my confusion on having young children start out by having to play 2 or 3 keys at a time while learning to stay on beat. Additionally, there are times the sound quality makes it really hard to hear Miss Karri. In parts of the video she is loud, but later on in the same lesson we can barely hear her. I am thankful that we have words to the songs because there were times I couldn't understand what she was singing as the music is louder than the singing.
All in all this is a wonderful beginning music program for children, which is especially wonderful for this mom with no musical talent. Even Harold enjoys joining in and he is only 2.
The Online Piano Lessons Membership is their most popular and economic product. Right now you can get this program for only $95.88 per year (which breaks down to $7.99 per month) and this can be used with more than one child at a time making for some very affordable piano lessons.
sounds like this program worked really well in your household. :)
ReplyDeleteI love that your husband jumped in and got involved with their music time. Looks like a lot of fun.
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