I’ve taught music to children on and off for years, and it’s not the best of choices. First, I have about as much musical sense as a deaf dog, and second, my voice is so low, I sound like Gravel Gertie. In fact, one of my goals is to reach the level of Elvis Presley singing “Old Man River.”

But whether I can or should teach music, I have. I’ve plunged in there because most people just don’t want to. I also have an opinion about what should be taught to children about music and most teachers roll their eyes at my ideas.

I think music is a many level discipline and children should get a full range of sounds, experiences and information early on because “early on” is where the interest in music comes from. By creating experiences in music, we create desire usually for more.

That was not the case in my own young life, and I have to go back to my own childhood to find out why my music interest is so poor. We never listened to anything in the house. There was never any music played, and my parents did not think a car radio was important, and I vaguely remember listening to music perhaps twice although we had a huge record player in the dining room. I always wondered what it was. As I was reading a biography on Theodore Roosevelt, the biographer said that Theodore abhorred music and found it a nuisance and chore to listen to. I can truly understand Theodore’s point of view. It’s a hyperactive response to that which takes brain power that is not familiar.

I don’t remember much Church music as a child – mostly the priest said a twelve minute Mass, and we were out before we had time to sing anything. He had been a foxhole priest in the second world war, and he could shoot through a Latin Mass like a bomb was about to fall.

But I did learn Gregorian Chant in school as a young child, and some hymns as a teenager, and then there were the once a week gatherings to sing songs in the playroom at school, but I was always asked to mouth the words because my voice, even as a child, was lower than anyone’s.

I played guitar as a teenager and loved it because it was LOW. Played classical piano as well, but was horrible at it. I finally was able to sing songs as a young woman when I got married. My husband taught History at a men’s college, and at Mass, the men would sing, and it was there – for the first time – my voice found a niche. So add up those experiences, and the end result is deprivation, disorder and ignorance.

None of these things do I want to happen to my kids at the Garden School. I want them to learn to sing with a group as a full functioning member of a choral group. I want them to enjoy singing children’s songs, songs from different historical periods of time, from show songs both new and old, just for fun songs that everyone sang as a child, the classics of church, and more. So finding music the children like is important and learning the lyrics so that one can teach effectively, so that the children can burst into song occasionally is the goal.

Children should learn to listen to music and interpret what they hear because so many children transition from auditory learners to visual learners with reading. Children should learn how to listen to something beautiful like music in order to be able to rely on auditory skills their whole life. A child should be exposed to the great masters of music like Beethoven, Bach, Handel, and Mozart. A child should be able to say if he or she likes the music or not and why.

Children should experience playing little musical instruments. They should be able to explore making sounds and adding sounds to sounds. They should be able to learn to discover how to make ordinary things into playable instruments – making sounds is a huge step into making musicians. If a child never touches a musical instrument, he will never know if he has an interest in becoming a musician.

Now accomplishing this is not a one person job. It’s a combined effort, because it’s a huge undertaking, and not something everyone can do. But it is something everyone should have a part in teaching and should not be shy about. Children never know that a teacher does not have a good voice, and children certainly are not critics of fine music. So the sky is the limit once again.

Establishing a music program for early childhood should be as easy as assigning days of the week to do one of the essentials. Monday we sing; Tuesday we listen; Wednesday we play instruments; Thursday we put body movement to music; Friday we review.

Here are some wonderful pictures taken by Mrs. St. Louis of the play last month. Thought you would enjoy them!

Open at regular 7:00 time.

Please return your summer contract.

If we don’t have your child’s swimsuit size, please let us know.

Here’s a nice place to go for a family site. It has great ideas about rearing children. Click!

Here’s an article: Why Manners Matter

The iconic American actor, dancer and choreographer Fred Astaire once said, “The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing any.”

If only Fred were still around to see the state of civil society in our nation. I think he’d dance off into the sunset shaking his head in bewilderment!

The issue of public civility is often in the headlines, with politicians and pundits clucking and shaking their heads about the abhorrent examples of uncivilized debate that characterize today’s public discourse. Even our president seems to think that simply calling for a more civil tone will restore genuine respect for those who express opposing points of view.

But polite political discourse isn’t a path to a more civilized society — rather, it’s a reflection of social mores that should dictate public behavior. The reason we’re struggling with uncivilized behavior is because (hold onto your hats…) we’ve turned into a less civilized society.

Only a generation ago, it was still shocking to hear course language in public or in mixed company. It was still considered rude to pry about personal subjects like sex and household finances. Children used to learn not to criticize someone’s religious or political beliefs and to treated elders and strangers with genuine respect. We valued modesty in dress and humility in demeanor.

Ponder those social mores as you sit in a restaurant, listening to the folks at the next table cuss about their relatives and loudly discuss their colonoscopies, as you wait for a waitress to arrive at your table and cheerfully ask, “You guys ready to order?”

Not long ago, pretty much everyone practiced America’s social mores. Not just the rich or well educated. Not just those from intact families or those raised “in the church.” Everybody knew and exhibited the manners and etiquette that reflected an elevated civilization. In fact, back in the day, even the poorest of the poor in America took pride in practicing impeccable manners, revealing the inherent dignity that our founders spoke of when they formed our nation.

Sure, there were bullies and thugs. But they were the exception, not the rule. That’s why they were labeled bullies and thugs.

Here’s a not-so-shocking revelation: An Associated Press annual “rudeness poll” finds that almost 70 percent of Americans believe as a society, we are ruder than we were 20 or 30 years ago. When asked who was to blame for this trend, the number one response — wait for it — was “parents not teaching good manners to children.”

Let’s assume that a majority of the people polled are parents. That mean parents are able to see and admit a problem and realize that they are at least partly to blame for it (in this case, mostly to blame), yet they aren’t changing their parenting styles or their expectations of their kids.

We parents need to make it our priority to teach our children to practice proper manners. Speaking and acting in a mannerly fashion shows that we respect others. And respect for others is the foundation of all public behavior, including political discourse.

What happens if we don’t stress the fundamentals of good manners? We’re already seeing the results, with rude, hurtful and violent behavior cropping up among tweens and teens all across the nation. When middle schoolers routinely threaten and abuse each other in the school yard, on Facebook and in text messages, we’re watching an uncouth and uncultured generation devolve into barbarism.

Every mom routinely coaches her pre-schooler to use the “magic” words, “please” and “thank you.” But unfortunately, because the standards for social behavior and manners have sunk so low, we might decide it’s no longer necessary to teach the rest of the rule book.

Yet, as Mr. Astaire noted years ago, our kids won’t learn proper manners without a clear example. Nor will they practice mannerly behavior without our diligent training.

Here’s some reassurance from a mom whose children were often complimented on their manners — it’s worth the effort! Not only will your kids learn to exhibit respect for others, they’ll be rewarded with frequent praise for demonstrating a level of civility that has become far too rare among our youth.

Not to mention, if we work hard to instill good manners in our children, perhaps we can improve America’s political discourse, one well-bred citizen at a time!

Thanks for reading and sharing Family Events!

Take good care until next week,

Marybeth

We will be there on time. We will open at 7:00 a.m.

Good morning! It’s going to be another rainy day, as is the whole week. I’m hoping we can get the kids outdoors at least a little. I hope you enjoy this picture of South Green River Road.

We are introducing a new class today – Physical Education. It’s an attempt to get the children to follow directions through listening skills. We hope to introduce the relay race.

It’s time to get serious about the summer program. A letter is going out to every parent who has not paid their summer fees. Please read the letter, sign it and return it to Miss Judy or Mr. Terry.

Swim suits will be ordered on Wednesday. Make sure your child’s size is registered with Miss Judy.

We will be trying our new yogurt with tacos today in place of sour cream. A full report follows. And Thursday, we will be trying out a new bacon chicken cheeseburger. Melons are back in the store, so that’s a go this week as well. New ice cream for those who eat lunch. We will be making toffee this week as well, and that’s always a good deal for the kids who all get a taste.

If you want daily reports on facebook, you are welcome to befriend me. Judy Lyden.

This week we will be looking at oceans. It should be lots of fun.

Our book fair has sold nearly $1,000.00 worth of books. Thank you all so much for your wonderful involvement and your generosity. We hope you enjoyed the Spring Sing and the fair.

Have a great week and don’t forget about facebook!

Just shopped at the grocery store for the second day in a row. I always do this. On Saturday, it’s my family day when I go marching off to the store just for Terry and I. I’m always delighted with what’s new, what’s delicious, what’s hiding on the shelves. It’s one outing I always find fun and exciting. Yes, I have no life. And Saturday is also my scout day for Sunday when I do a big expensive shopping for school.

I do enjoy food seasons, and I’m always interested in the new stuff that my favorite store is offering. Yesterday, I bought fillet of sole at the fresh fish counter. It was yum. I usually fill my cart with veggies and some fruit, and then go off to the butcher and fish counter. Then it’s a trip through the baking and dish isle. My grocery store as a marvelous kitchen department with darling dishes and all kinds of kitchen gadgets and cookbooks. Then it’s staples, dairy, cat food and I’m done. I’m done without going down all the isles because most of what is sold I wouldn’t buy.

Over the years, I’ve stopped buying a lot of things I used to buy simply because they are too expensive, and I can make them, and make them better. I never do anything hard, and I collect the machinery necessary to make life a little simpler. It’s a matter of a few minutes several times a week, and the difference is a real savings and much better food. I feed Terry and I on about $5.00 per day each and we eat extremely well.

One of the things I started with years ago is making my own cereal. I never buy it with the exception of oats which I use in a lot of things like pancake batter and bread and meatballs. Not buying cereal means a savings of at least $4.00 a week.

I’ve stopped buying sausage. I can make sausage and have it taste like I want it too, for about $1.00 less a pound. If you buy ground pork and you season it yourself, it makes a much better product than the same old same old sausage.

I don’t buy bread because since Terry bought me the bread maker, I have kept him in his now favorite bread for months. I don’t need a bread maker, but it’s simple, easy and makes good bread, so why not use it? Making my own bread saves me about $3.50 a week.

I don’t buy jam anymore. I make it. It costs about $1.00 less a week to make your own. It takes about ten minutes to make, so that’s something I do about once a month.

I don’t use pancake mix, cake mix, or canned frosting. We eat scratch sweets which probably saves me $10.00 per week. This week, if I have time, I will make toffee for our baked goods at school. This will save another several dollars.

I never buy soup because I use left overs and make them into soup. I have a spaghetti -coq-au-vin – chicken stir fry- rice and peanuts soup on the hopper right now. This saves me about $6.00 per week in soup plus it cuts out cold cuts, deli cheese, and other foods that one would grab for lunch. We have soup instead. If you add up what I’m not buying, it comes to about $10.00 per week.

I make my own crackers. This is not hard and it’s fun. You can make crackers in about 45 minutes for about a quarter.

My husband Terry loves yogurt and eats it for lunch about three days a week. He balked and balked about my making yogurt as a substitute for his precious store bought yogurt with all the sugary fruit. When I explained to him that half of his precious treat was sugar, he went over Greek yogurt at about $2.25 for five ounces. That comes to a whopping $6.75 for 16 ounces of yogurt.

When I bought a quart of whole milk and made 37 ounces of yogurt for $2.29 plus the original yogurt of $2.25 = $4.55, he was thrilled. It was good, and with some of our homemade strawberry jam, he was sold. Next week, I’ll use my own starter and the cost will be cut in half.

I figure I’m saving about $40.00 per week and spending perhaps a half hour a week more in the kitchen.

I’ve started making yogurt at school in a thirty two ounce maker. Once the yogurt is made, we can either use it in place of sour cream, or make it into cheese and substitute cream cheese.

This past week at school, I’ve made ice cream. It’s a treat for those kids who eat their lunches and drink their milk. It takes 2 cups of cream, 2/3 cups of sugar and some left over cookies, and the children are delighted. At home I make it every once in a while, and the cost saving is about $2.00.

All of our breakfast muffins, french toast, pancakes, waffles, cakes, cookies, bars and pies are all scratch. Once you make it, you never want to go back to those horrible box mixes. They all taste like chemicals and homemade cookies or cake can be the best thing you ate during any day.

Time, you say, I don’t have the time. I never do anything hard and I really don’t spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I know how long it will take to put ingredients in the bread maker – maybe three minutes, and I know how long it will take to make yogurt – five minutes. Jam is about ten.

If you think about store isles, and you think about shortening your visit to the store and your time hauling in bag after bag of pre-made food, and putting all this stuff away, the time spent doing this would be more than the time spent making a few things at home.

Think about it, and look at the right column of this blog for some of those recipes.

Have a great Sunday!