How can YOU nurture your child's interest in music?

Private music lessons are always a great step for students with an interest in music, but your child's interest in music can benefit from inteacting with YOU, too!  Here are a couple of places to start:  

• Sing and move with your child.  It doesn’t matter if you think you sing well or not – studies show that parents who sing have children who sing.  Turn on that car radio, or pick out some of your favorites on itunes and share the music you love with your child.  (One of my favorite memories from my own childhood is singing “Barbara Ann” – and a myriad of other tunes from the 60’s – with my dad in the car.)  Moving to music (or dancing!) reinforces your child’s sense of beat, creates self-confidence and can just be a lot of fun (and good exercise!)!

• Take your child to a classical concert.  The Elgin Symphony offers a Family Fun series with concerts designed just for kids!  The first one takes place on Sat., Oct. 28, “Halloween Spooktacular.”  The orchestra will be dressed in costumes and you child can come in his as well! Go to www.elginsymphony.org for more details.

• Explore music online or write music online.  Try any of the following on a rainy day:
• www.dsokids.com
• www.classicsforkids.com
• www.sfskids.org
• www.creatingmusic.com

NY Times: Early Music Instruction Improves How We Hear & Learn

Check out this NY Times article printed last week discussing a study by researches at Northwestern University on how the brain responds to sound.  They determined that those music lessons you took when you were in elementary school will pay off even when you are 70!  Active engagement and disciplined study of music early on improves how your brain processes sound.

“To learn to read, you need to have good working memory, the ability to disambiguate speech sounds, make sound-to-meaning connections,” said Professor Nina Kraus, director of the Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory at Northwestern University. “Each one of these things really seems to be strengthened with active engagement in playing a musical instrument.”

As you age, your previous music instruction has created "auditory processing skills that can help you understand speech against the background of a noisy environment." 

 http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/10/early-music-lessons-have-longtime-benefits/

National Anthem Day: Friday, September 14

Franzen Students will celebrate National Anthem Day on Friday, Sept. 14 by singing the Star-Spangled Banner in an all-school sing.  This day marks the anniversary of when Francis Scott Key wrote the poem that eventually became our National Anthem.  According to a 2004 Harris Interactive Survey, 2 out of 3 Americans do not know the words to the Star-Spangled Banner!

Franzen Students have been learning about the text, melody and history of the Star-Spangled Banner in class.  To kick off Special Friends' day on the 14th, select 5th graders will lead the National Anthem over the intercom while the rest of our school sings along!  It will be a red, white, and blue day at Franzen to mark the event - have your child wear red, white, or blue on the 14th!  To learn more about the Star-Spangled Banner, the war of 1812, or the flag itself, visit the link to the left.