The Weekly Review: Week 36

Blog to commiserate with this Week

You know when your child does something they shouldn't for the millionth time and you fuss (or possibly even yell a little). They apologize, sincerely even, and you know the mature adult thing would be to let it go and move on. And yet, you're having trouble letting the transgression go. Linda wrote a post about encountering that very situation more times than she'd like in her week. I completely understood.

The Weekly Procrastination Update

I did slightly better this week. I got 5 additional CEU's. That leaves me with 5 more to get in the next three days. Why, oh why am I always leaving this to the last minute? Oh yes, the answer to that would be the children. Well, that and my natural tendency to procrastinate.

The Weekly Thing for which I am Extremely Grateful

My amazing parents took both children for three days. My husband and I booked a beautiful room at an inn 6 hours away and spent two nights there together. It was our first getaway since we became parents a little over four years ago and it was wonderful. We had a private balcony overlooking a river. I went out there once, but it was cold, so I went back in our room. The room had a gas fireplace and an amazing whirlpool tub. It had cozy comfy chairs and a canopy bed. They brought us milk and cookies at bedtime. And there was silence and adult conversation. It was peaceful and rejuvenating.

Ava this Week

Ava is blossoming. She's come out of her silent bubble and is fully participating in the world around her. It's amazing to see. Three months of occupational therapy has worked wonders. I didn't realize how much of what was holding her back was due to sensory issues. Those are mostly under control now and what a difference. She tolerates noise and being near others. She tolerates being touched and touching things. She's so much better about trying new things to eat.

And as she tolerates all of those things better, she's talking more. She's talking in more settings and more situations. She's initiating conversations and drawing attention to herself. Kudos to early intervention. We still have a long road to go on clearing up the speech, but now we have some speech to clear up and she's willing to use it.

The Weekly Michael

We came back from our mini-vacation and picked up the children from their grandparents' house. Once we got home Michael said to me, "I thought we were going to stay at Grandpa's house forever." He sounded disappointed that he had to come home. Hmm. Always nice to be missed.

Early Pentatonic Music

As a companion to my review of early pentatonic instruments from a couple of days ago, I wanted to discuss pentatonic music.

Given that the notes you'll find on the early pentatonic instruments include only d, e, g, a, b, D, and E you need music that only includes those notes. It was more difficult than I expected to find songs for early pentatonic instruments.

Music Book Reviews: Pentatonic Music Books

These are the four books I found.

Music Book Review: I love to be me: Songs in the mood of the fifth

The first book is I love to be me: Songs in the mood of the fifth. Music is by Channa A. Seidenberg and illustrations are by Kingsley Lou Little. This book was first published in 2002. The book includes 32 songs written for a 7-string lyre in the pentatonic scale. Almost every song is accompanied by a beautiful full-color illustration and includes lyrics. The songs are presented very simply. Notes are not divided into measures. Some of the songs are very simple musical accompaniments to children's poems. Others are more lyrical. This would be a nice way for a preschool teacher to introduce children's poems with a picture and simple musical accompaniment.

Music Book Review: Clump-a-Dump and Snickle-Snack

The second book is Clump-a-Dump and Snickle-Snack by Johanne Russ. This is a translation of a book published in Holland in 1966. It includes 42 fairytale themed, holiday, and lullaby songs written in the pentatonic scale. The music and lyrics are handwritten rather than typeset for the most part. The book also contains occasional (beautiful) black and white pencil drawings. Due to the handwritten appearance of the music it is a little harder to follow than the Seidenberg book. Also, this music is significantly more complex. However, the content is original and there is a lot there to learn and enjoy.

Music Book Review: Pentatonic Songs for nursery, kindergarten and grades 1 and 2

The third book is Pentatonic Songs for nursery, kindergarten and grades 1 and 2 by Elisabeth Lebret. This book was published in 1985. This book contains 45 simple songs. Many were written by the author or based on nursery rhymes. This book includes no illustrations. The music is done in a handwritten style and the lyrics appear as if they were typed on a typewriter.

Music Book Review: Familiar Songs for Pentatonic Playalongs

The final book is Familiar Songs for Pentatonic Playalongs published in 1991 by Noteworthy Press. This book has the music and lyrics for 11 pentatonic songs and named notes (not full music or lyrics, but just the names of the notes) for an additional 14 songs. For 8 of the songs the book includes song cards that show a visual representation of the music for easy use with a lyre. This book begins with an introduction to the lyre and the pentatonic scale. That is followed by the 8 song cards and the full lyrics and sheet music (and small black and white illustration) to the 11 pentatonic songs. That is followed by the named notes for 14 additional songs. Finally there is a short information page on reading musical notation. If you were only going to get one of the four books, I would recommend this one. Yes, there are fewer songs overall, but the songs are familiar and accessible. The book also provides some introductory information to the instrument, the pentatonic scale, and musical notation. The song cards are a great bonus as well.

These books are not easy to find. Most websites had one or two, but not all. I finally found all four of them here.

My Pentatonic Song Card Adaptations

So, to be perfectly honest, even after several years of piano as a child I am not a great sight reader. Also, the lyre is a completely new instrument to me. I use intervals a lot when I'm trying to sight read and the translation from a traditional music staff to the pentatonic instrument was challenging for me. So, I took a couple of familiar tunes I knew were pentatonic and made my own song cards. I'm sharing these arrangements with you. I hope someone finds them to be useful. (I checked and both of these are public domain songs so I do not believe I am violating any copyright laws. If someone believes otherwise please contact me so I can address the issue.)

Permissions

I give permission to copy, print, or distribute these music cards provided that:

1. Each copy makes clear that I am the document's author.
2. No copies are altered without my express consent.
3. No one makes a profit from these copies.
4. Electronic copies contain a live link back to my original and print copies not for merely personal use contain the URL of my original.

Sand on the Light Box: Storytelling

After we finished making our sand shapes the other day, I decided on a whim to use the light box / sand combo to do some impromptu storytelling. The first story that popped into my head was Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The children loved it! Now, keep in mind that I draw about as well as your average 4 year old, and yet somehow even my stick drawings in the sand on a light box are entrancing to young children.

Here are a few pictures I snapped during the storytelling.

Goldilocks

The Three Bears taking a walk in the forest.

Three hot bowls of porridge.

Goldilocks testing the three chairs.

Goldilocks waking up to see the three bears looking down at her.

The story reached its natural end and I was encouraging the children to do a little free play in the sand before it was time to put everything away. Most of my attention was on Ava, but then I realized that Michael had been busy. Next thing I know I turn my head and see this:

Everything you see there he drew on his own. Then he told Ava and I the story of Mama Cat and Michael Cat who had to go out and take their dog to the vet. While they were out a little girl from their village went into their house, sat in one of their chairs and ate up all their food... So, yes, his story was closely modeled after Goldilocks and the Three Bears, but I was very impressed with both his drawing and storytelling nonetheless.