Parent Resources
Welcome to Our Parent Resources Page
We are pleased to offer a page specifically for our music families. Please see below for our annual lesson calendar, music app recommendations, information on our games, and other great resources.
Clicking on the buttons below opens up secure folders within Corey's Google Drive. Parents may ask their teacher for a game recommendation (links to download all CEMA games are emailed to families).
Apps We Recommend
The use of apps can be a key way to engage students of all levels in their practicing at home and overall musical growth. Why not have your child play games that legitimately work on musical concepts while away from their instrument?
In addition to musical backtracks for the method books, these apps build musicianship skills, such as grand staff recognition, sight-reading, ear-training, rhythms, theory, and keeping a steady beat.
Apps can also assist the student by recording their practice sessions, making composing music more accessible, providing backtracks for improvising and practicing scales, and creating a "choice wheel" for a fun way to randomize practice strategies.
Music Theory Games
It's a Proven Fact: Students Learn Through Play. So Why Not Find New Ways to Keep Lessons Fun and Enjoyable?
We value "learning through play" and our teachers understand the pedagogy behind making learning music exciting and engaging. Playing games also helps our students bond and create meaningful friendships with each other. If a concept is difficult to understand, instead of repeatedly working through the issue, we utilize over 500 music theory games and off-the-bench activities to keep students engaged in their lessons... and now, you can at home too!
More Movement - Off-the-bench activities help kids re-engage their brains. And the younger we are, the more often we need to do that.
More Fun – Having FUN keeps students engaged, attentive, and staying “in the moment,” which will help them retain what they are learning. How much are you actually learning when you're bored?
Different Perspectives - Reinforcing the theory homework with games leads to a deeper understanding of the concepts. The information then becomes more durable and flexible to be re-used in other contexts.
Teaching in Action
See below for students participating in music games, rhythm work and performing a piece learned by rote!
Musical Games
Raina has been hard at work learning new paired eighth-note rhythms. She has been counting 1+2+ and saying “tee tee tah...” while she plays, practicing slowly and carefully, and working with her KJOS IPS app! Here she is, clapping the rhythms to one of our music theory games: "Rhythm Vocab."
Reading & Rhythms
Scott is learning through Faber Piano Adventures, currently in Level 1! Faber's curriculum is one of the most popular reading-based methods, full of great pedagogical ideas and loads of additional resources. Here he is, playing the drums to "Forest Drums Rhythm".
Learning By Rote
Sierra is learning through Piano Safari, with patterned pieces taught by rote that provide engaging music for students from the first lesson, improvisation ideas for developing creativity, animal-themed Technique Exercises for piano technique, and much more! Here she is, playing "I Like Bananas".
Leave Us a Review
You might see a poster like this at your teacher's studio. Please take a minute (if you have time) to leave your teacher a review in the next week or two. Reviews are worth their weight in gold for us as music educators. Without the reviews we already have, we might not have met some of you!
P.S. You can also tap the QR Code embedded above, and leave a review right now! Thank you for considering.