How do you schedule / plan Pianimals ???

[Aludlam]

I'm trying to work on a schedule for our whole school year. By nature, I'm not a box checker, but by nature a LOT of things have fallen through the cracks and not gotten done --- like the Pianimals that I've had for months and months and not even started. I realize that this is something that my kids will move through at their own pace, but I still want to at least skeleton plan it. From what I see of the books, they are not divided into lessons. (Are they???) Anyway, I'd like to know on average how many pages you do per lesson/ how often you have a lesson / how often you practice/ how long it took you to finish the whole program???? I'm primarily using it with my 8dd, but 5dd will also be tagging along (3ds already thinks he's Elton John, so he wil be "doing" some piano too!) Any advice for my "schedule" would be greatly appreciated.

 

thank you so much for your time

 

Angela

[Aludlam]

Please!!!

[crl]

I just received the program and have yet to look it over to decide about lessons. As for how often to practice, you would need to have children practicing most every day. Obviously there are some days that life happens, but you should aim to have them practice at least a few minutes every day.

[Jeanne in MN]

I doubt I can be much help, but I know what it's like to post a question and wait for answers, so I'll try. We have Pianamals and like you, it's fallen through the cracks as well. I think what I would do, though, is determine what you think each child could handle in a week's time. Would it be one page, two pages, three pages? You would want them to practice nearly every day and master what they are working on before moving on too far. Adjust accordingly as they go along. Maybe it's too easy for them and they can move faster. Maybe it get's harder and they need to slow down. But make a weekly goal, write it down by week what you want them to accomplish and then do it. :) Don't know if that helps any, but I ever get around to doing it, that's how I'd probably tackle it. good luck!!

 

 

I'm trying to work on a schedule for our whole school year. By nature, I'm not a box checker, but by nature a LOT of things have fallen through the cracks and not gotten done --- like the Pianimals that I've had for months and months and not even started. I realize that this is something that my kids will move through at their own pace, but I still want to at least skeleton plan it. From what I see of the books, they are not divided into lessons. (Are they???) Anyway, I'd like to know on average how many pages you do per lesson/ how often you have a lesson / how often you practice/ how long it took you to finish the whole program???? I'm primarily using it with my 8dd, but 5dd will also be tagging along (3ds already thinks he's Elton John, so he wil be "doing" some piano too!) Any advice for my "schedule" would be greatly appreciated.

 

thank you so much for your time

 

Angela

[Aludlam]

Thank you so much for answering. I'm just determined to get some things done this year!

 

Angela

[Dmmetler]

I suggest scheduling activities, not time. There's a wonderful book called "How to get your children to practice without resorting to violence" (I think it may be out of print, though). I do Music For Little Mozarts rather than Pianimals, so this may need some tweaking.

 

What I do is similar to workboxes-for example, today's reads:

 

1) Play " Stepping up, stepping down" for L and R hand, 3x each, slowly

2) Follow steps 1-6 for "The playroom surprise" (Clap and count, point and count, say finger numbers and air play, play and say finger numbers, play and say note names, play song).

3) Fun song-Puff the magic Dragon-follow steps 1-6 for the first page.

4) Call mommy for a concert!

5) Workbook p 2-3 (only about 2x a week-the other three days are music listening activities)

 

This takes about 10-15 minutes, and is one of the squares on her daily schedule. I do her schedule the day before, since I've discovered that if I schedule any farther in advance, I'm going to end up totally redoing it anyway, either because her pace didn't match my expectations, or because life threw a monkey wrench into the works. (For example, I've spent a lot of time sitting waiting for a car this week. And while much of homeschooling is very portable, piano isn't!)

 

I don't know if Pianimals has a CD, but if so, I'd also include a listening block or listening time, because that's very, very helpful. I make playlists for my DD that includes the week before's songs, the current songs, and the ones she'll do next, our discovery selection and "listen and sing" ear training exercise, plus whatever songs we're doing for memory work, and put it on my iPod for in-car listening. By the end of the week, we've heard those songs about 18,000 times, it seems, and we're ready for the next week's playlist.

Edited June 9, 2010 by Dmmetler2

[Kuovonne]

I tell DD that she has to practice piano for ten minutes every day. The Pianimals book sits right next to the piano and she goes through it herself. This setup is far from ideal, but so far the alternative is that it wouldn't get done. I'll be watching this thread to get ideas.

[mommy4ever]

We are just starting Pianimals :) I'm very excited. I'm also trying to decide on scheduling.

 

As for practice, my older dd is in formal lessons, and she was told NOT to practice more that 3x a week for 15 minutes. Not sure why. I wonder if it is reverse psychology.

[girlymama]

I probably am repeating what other posters have said but my children basically do it on their own. They will have to practice for at least 15 minutes a day and the older 2 will go to the books and play. They usually will play until they basically have it memorized. I do look over their shoulder now and then to make sure they are going forward. They tend to like playing the songs they have mastered.

 

Now for my younger dd5, I have to sit and help her with a page and we just go through it until I feel she is comfortable doing it. Then she will practice for a few days on the pages she has done and we move on to the next new thing.

 

HTH,

Madonna

[Satori]

Pianimals has fallen through the cracks for us as well, so I'm all :bigear: on the scheduling thing.

[Jenny in GA]

Oh wow! I'm so happy to see that people are using Pianimals! I'm a professional pianist/music educator who knows Flo Arnold personally and had her mentor me some a few years back, so I always plug it, and I'm glad to hear people are using it!

 

I agree with the person who said to schedule time, not pages. Also, I would strive for less time, more often. Even ten minutes a day would be great, I think.

 

I've found that having a Repertoire Sheet and making it look really nice, and then scheduling a recital -- even if it's just for the family in the living room one evening -- goes a long way toward not letting piano slide.

 

Good luck!

Jenny

[birchbark]

We don't do Pianimals, but with our piano, we have found it works much better to practice first thing in the school day, rather than last.

[LindaOz]

Oh wow! I'm so happy to see that people are using Pianimals! I'm a professional pianist/music educator who knows Flo Arnold personally and had her mentor me some a few years back, so I always plug it, and I'm glad to hear people are using it!

 

Jenny

 

:iagree: I am a piano teacher too, and I am impressed with Pianimals. My dd is on book 3 and really enjoys it. I had to have it shipped to Australia from the US (I couldn't find it here...) but it is worth it.

 

Anyway, I don't pre-schedule Pianimals because my dd is happy to just go to the piano and sit down and play through her pieces. Sometimes she will move ahead and work out the next songs herself, and sometimes I will talk her through some things. If she needed more structure, however, I would set a time rather than an amount. And I also agree that a little frequently is better than a chunk of time every so often (sorry, I don't agree with the 15 mins 3x a week thing).

 

Maybe, if you really wanted to pre-plan, you could schedule the first half of Book 1 to be completed by the end of September (or whatever month or term) but still give a daily amount of time to practice. Another idea is to have your dc play each song 3 times each day.

 

Anyway, HTH