Studio of Leah Brammer: 02/01/2009

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Nurturing with Attention

When the parent is focused on the lesson, the student can become fully engaged. Taking notes and making a video recording of the lesson also helps to create the environment of importance and awareness.
This quiet attention connects the parent with the teacher and the child.

Parents who are completely involved are less likely to be distracted by the other children. So it is ideal not to give any attention to the other siblings. This will help younger students want to have their turn. It is good to bring books for them to look at or read. Toys are a distraction to the child having a lesson. It is also important that the parent not help the other siblings with homework. This is a time for them to study/read/observe independently.
So, with this as our goal we can create a quiet focused environment for optimum learning. In between lessons is a good time to talk, stretch, and enjoy each others company.

During the lesson, the assignment sheet is on the teachers piano. Please take notes in a small notebook. Also, in addition to your child's book which is on the piano during the lesson, please have another copy of the musical score to look at and take notes directly onto (if you do not have one already) This is a good place to mark things like spots, notes/fingering to fix, and tempo markings.

It is good to watch the video at the beginning of the practice week. The video is useful for remembering things like how to say "ready-go", the posture, and generally good reinforcement. Children really enjoy and benefit from watching themselves too.

After discussing the lesson with your child and reviewing the video and notes, please edit the last weeks assignment sheet to reflect changes, goals, and main points.
The assignment is the basic outline and should be easy to quickly update. The details can be left on the music score.

This organization of the assignment at the beginning of the week connects the lesson given by the teacher with the home practice and helps the child be able to follow through with the assignment. Children will be much more motivated to do the assignment if it represents what was taught at the lesson, and much more able to do it well if the exact cues and words are used at home that were used in the lesson.

The continuity of completing the actual assignment is what makes the child feel successful. During the lesson I will listen first, focus on the core skill that will make the most significant developmental improvement and prescribe a point to focus on. I will give that point and reinforce it over the rest of the lesson. Each piece will have spots that reinforce that skill. At home, focus mostly on that point for the assignment during the week and you will feel less overwhelmed. Your child will feel that the assignment is much easier and doable this way as well. By applying this main point to the pieces and the spots the child is playing you are following Dr. Suzuki's philosophy to "Raise your ability on a piece you can play."

Children will concentrate much better when they practice everyday. This is primarily because the habit of practice has been established and the emotional content involved in the decision about whether or when to practice is out of the way.

The habit of practicing everyday with balanced body/mind/emotions/inspiration is the most important thing to establish in the beginning years. Our intention is on creating the right environment for optimum learning at home as well.

I am grateful to all of you for your commitment to your children. Your child will also internalize the intention and nurturing you give them.

Core Education Principles

1. Life Ability
Core Education develops life ability- the ability to live life optimally.

2. Natural Learning
Core Education utilizes and preserves natural learning, which is direct learning from the environment.

3. Whole Learning
Children learn through absorption of the total environment rather than part by part. This is sometimes called ”right-brain learning” Whole learning is a better way to describe this absorption as it involves both the right brain (learning through the senses/intuition and left brain (analytical) types of learning working together.

4. Ability Development
Pattern recognition and the forming of relationships between these patterns can be developed through repetition for optimum learning. This then includes physical ability, mental/memory, emotional balance and spiritual development as well. This is the balancing concept of whole learning and involves understanding of learning in relationship to sequencing and the development of ability through the acquisition of foundation skills

5. Integral Learning
Core learning involves recognition and support for the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of development in combination with mental/cognitive learning to form life abilities.

6. The core focus principle of nurturing:
This principle is that the most fundamental aspect in a child’s learning must always be addressed rather than focusing on the content of what is being learned. It is finding the core aspect of the process that will produce the easiest and quickest way to learn. It is closely connected to Ability Development.

7. Positive affirmation
Core education involves affirmation as a critical component of feedback for the child. Using verbal acknowledgment of that which is correct will accelerate learning. It is not a judgment such as good or bad, but is a positive statement of fact to the child about how they are learning.

Through understanding and applying these principles teachers and parents can recreate the concept of education from the learning of facts to the development of ability.