Maia (5 years old) and Camelia

Hello, everyone!

A. Our activity in the last 7 days was focused mainly on music appreciation, to be more exact, on Mozart.



1. We began our study with the book called “Mozart si curcubeul muzical” (“Mozart and the Musical Rainbow”), written by Cristina Andone.
In the Musical Forest, we met little musical elf, Mozart, and his best friend, the skipping bunny Allegretto. We understood why we can associate Mozart with the deep blue colour of the sky, why his favourite flower is the daffodil, why the butterflies, pigeons and bunnies are his best friends and that his favourite musical instruments are the violin, the piano and the clarinet.
While listening to the pieces on the accompanying CD (“Little Serenade” and “Concert for Clarinet in A major”) Maia realized how full of joy Mozart’s music is, why it brings so much happiness and so many smiles on the faces of everyone listening to it. She plays so much with the polymer clay figurines I made especially for this special week.



We were fascinated by the story in which Mozart managed to bring the sun back into the kingdom of the dull and gloomy king Dorian Dominic the Second, shortly the king Do.
He would never laugh, and he would never wear but white and black. His entire kingdom was white and black, nobody was happy until the day Mozart plays his flute and brings the sun and the colours of the rainbow on the sky, back into these people’s lives.



2. The second book we read is called The Magic Flute – An Opera by Mozart (adapted and magically illustrated by Kyra Teis).
I quote from the cover of the book:
"It is a retelling, based on Mozart’s opera, of how Prince Tamino strives to pass the three tests set by the ruler of the Kingdom of Light in order to overcome the evil power of the Queen of the Night and win the hand of her daughter, the beautiful Pamina."
What I love so much about this book, and why I highly recommend, is the fact that the story is told in such a manner that every child understands and love it. The illustrations are heart melting as well.



Maia wanted me to read it for her over and over again!
We also watched the opera “The Magic Flute” and, for days, Maia tried to sing like Papageno .

3. Inspired by it, we crafted a paper roll flute (after this idea: www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Pretend-Play-Flute ).



We had a blast with it and when Maia got tired of blowing in it, we made an interesting game – I covered her eyes and asked her to feel, with her hand, the instruments from the Safari ltd tube (Musical instruments) and put aside the clarinet, the flute and the violin.


4. We read again the pages where the woodwind instruments are described (in the book Orchestra, I read about in a previous post).



5. We listened to Mozart’s “Spring Time Song” and fell in love with it!

B. Piano
Maia played the “Spring Song” with R2 and R4:





Her left hand interpretation is not as good yet, but we are still working on it:



And, since Mozart used to play with his eyes covered, or even with a handkerchief placed on the keys, she tried to play the last part of the song with her eyes closed:



I realize the finger order is pretty chaotic in Maia’s interpretations, but since we are still at level 1 and the piece is a level 4, I rather wanted her to focus on the notes, than the fingers.
Have a nice weekend, happy learning everyone!

It is SO interesting to read your posts! Great books!
When i saw Mozart figurine I thought: where did she buy it? I want to buy it too! But you made it. It's incredible!
Maia played Spring Song very nice!
Does Maia play piano every day? How long?

I got " Listen to the birds!" My 2 years old daghter love it! Thank you so much!
And she likes your rabbit too!

Thank you so, so much dear Natalia for such nice words!
Oh, if only you lived closer to us, I would happily make a Mozart and a bunny for your little angel .

Yes, we play the piano every single day (it seems that even when she is ill, she cannot stay away from it).
I couldn't say exactly for how long though...it depends on Maia's mood, on what other lessons and activities we have on that day.

I can only say that this is how we start our day, with the piano (7 day a week). It became clear for her that the piano is not an obligation, but a miracle in our life - it brings joy and happiness and we are so, so happy when we find time for it!

When she studies new pieces, she spends more time practicing (even 5, 6 "visits" to the piano per day).
In fact, we like to consider the piano an excellent toy for Maia, so, between reading, playing with her toy, playing outside, we squeeze the piano lessons.
This idea of mingling a child's activities is perfect for us!
And this is one of the huge benefits of this program: you don't depend on a teacher's program. Your child is independent and free to practice whenever and for how long or short she wants.

I am so, so happy you liked "Listen to the Birds"! It is a great book and, if Hellene lets me, I'll recommend other fantastic ones, even though they are not in the piano curriculum. For instance, we have just read "Vivaldi's Four Seasons" ( www.bookdepository.com/Vivaldis-Four-Sea...elenza/9781570916373 ) - it is absolutely gorgeous!!!
In the same range as "Listening to the Birds", there is "Carnival of the Animals" ( www.bookdepository.com/Carnival-Animals-...-Saens/9780805061802 ) - still with accompanying CD, with listening exercises, many instruments etc. We are using it for approximately 2 years and Maia is still so interested in it!
I have other ideas, I need to ask Hellene to approve a post with recommendations .

Have a nice day, and take good care of yourself and your little one !

Oh, if only you lived closer to us, I would happily make a Mozart and a bunny for your little angel .

Oh, Camelia, thanks a lot for your kind offer!
We live in North California. I don't no how close it for you?

This idea of mingling a child's activities is perfect for us!

Great idea!

And this is one of the huge benefits of this program: you don't depend on a teacher's program. Your child is independent and free to practice whenever and for how long or short she wants.

Exactly!
Thank you for new book recommendations!
Have a good one!

Oh, Natalia, we live in Romania, that is Eastern Europe ((. It is so, so far away from you .