Education

My take on the different aspects within education which relates to ongoing societal concerns.

Teaching Toddlers to Write

The giraffe stepped on a pizza, it was hot
Image by Brande Jackson via Flickr

Last week Ryan came back from school with his termly workfile. Inside the file were worksheets and booklets that he had completed in the past few months.  While browsing through his work I was amazed that at Nursery 1 they have started to teach the children how to write in simple sentences.  Back when I was a kid we were only taught our ABCs at a much later age.

Looking at his work it got me thinking that I needed to start teaching him the basics of writing now instead of waiting till he was much older.  I have to start teaching him the skills needed to write proficiently.

Browsing through the notes that I used to explain essay writing to my students I revisited the different websites that I referred to back then and how it could the lesson plan could be simplified to suit the needs of a 4-5yr old.

Since Ryan has already learned and fully understood Uppercase and Lowercase alphabets and can read phonetically most words independently I feel that it is the right time that I start him on something more advance letter writing.

For the past few months we have been sending short e-mails to his aunt in USA. Ryan absolutely loves typing at the keyboard and sending the e-mails. Now is the time to work on actual writing of letters as he still needs to work on his handwriting skills.

In the next week I will be starting another short 5 part series. This time it would be on how I plan to teach the writing skills to Ryan and be sharing with all the resources that I will be using.

Stay Tuned!!

Muscial Notes 101 – Part 5 (Care for your instrument)

To conclude this series on Musical Notes I find that it is fit to mention

Violin and Piano
Image by P Wood via Flickr

about Instrumental Care.

For a musical instrument to preform at its optimal condition it should be well taken care of. The

violin which I had cost $3K when bought way back and had to go through a few minor repairs when neck came lose.

Violin Care Tips

 

  • Keep your violin out of the humidity and extreme changes of temperature as it would cause the glue at the joints to loosen and warp the wood.
  • Wipe the violin daily to rid it of dust and dirt.
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    Image via Wikipedia
  • Monitor your violin for any crack and send it for repair if necessary.
  • Loosen the strings of the bow before putting it back into the case.
  • Wash your hands before you use your instrument.
  • Keep your instrument in the case when not in use.
  • Remove the shoulder rest and place it separately into the violin case.

 

 

Piano Care Tips

 

  • Any change in humidity and temperature may adversely affect the piano. Therefore it is advisable to keep the heating rod installed in the
    piano inclinato
    Image by regolare via Flickr

    piano switched on 24/7

  • Tune the piano at least once( or twice) yearly.
  • Use a soft moist wet cloth to clean the keys of the piano.
  • Use the feather duster or static free cloth to dust the piano frequently.
  • You can use a vacuum cleaner to clean the soundboard of the piano.

 

 

Hope that you have enjoyed reading this series on Musical Notes.

If you have missed any of the earlier posts here is a recap of the whole series.

 

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