Please, follow the sample curriculum here, if you have the program already:

http://softmozart.com/forum/63-school-year-2013-2014.html

[This year we developed a real online music school that will be following the highest academic standards in the world.]

Our Academy is almost ready for the new school year.

We are having a hard time keeping quiet as many people are asking too many questions.

Well, since your inquiring minds have asked the same questions over and over, we provide the following sneak peak:

What are you doing?

This year we developed a real online music school that will be following the highest academic standards in the world.

How many years it would take to graduate the academy?

It would take you from 5 to 10 years.


What will be the most advanced levels of Soft Mozart curriculum?

Our credits will match the requirements of the freshman college level in any music school in any university in US and worldwide.

How much is this going to cost my family?

We are not charging for the academy initially. We expect that the cost will range from $30-$50 a month, which is less than the cost of piano lessons for one child.

What courses are you offering now?

Piano, piano sight-reading, theory, Solfeggio, ear training, music appreciation and music history.

What is the age of students?

2 years to adults. Your toddlers can join and the parents who either never took lessons and wished they did, or quit lessons and wished they hadn't, can all learn together in the privacy of their own home and yet be connected to a globe of online learners and teachers.


We are creating the music school Hellene Hiner had envisioned for 50 years. We are going to teach you theory concepts with the help of puppet shows, sing solfeggio for the joy of it, and read music history from sheet music as the exciting and fun story that is really is!

We are excited, because our dream of a new, more effective music school has come true. School that is silly, fun, and makes everybody want to learn. Our music school is for every child – even very big ones.

Our Mr. WhatIf told us that it is very scary to ruin the old tradition that makes a school a very serious and tedious place of learning. ‘What if we fail?!’ – he asked us.

EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE AND FUN, Mr. Whatif!
We tried to learn music hard way and have nothing to lose!

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Cayla is teaching her little sister to play piano:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/z-23XXbrTzA&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/z-23XXbrTzA&rel=1</a>

A video about speech to pitch post.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/mLtbEXQCMVc&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/mLtbEXQCMVc&rel=1</a>

In connection with my previous post here is a video about baby Cayla teaching her little sister how to play 'Hot Cross Buns' with Soft Mozart.
Ability to SEE a note and its connection with a key is CRUCIAL in teaching music as a written language:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/z-23XXbrTzA&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/z-23XXbrTzA&rel=1</a>

Soft Mozart: EVERYONE CAN. Credits

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/QRRF3EwJMAk&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/QRRF3EwJMAk&rel=1</a>

Here is a video about VISUAL PERCEPTION in learning music literacy:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/5sMGHC3A2aM&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/5sMGHC3A2aM&rel=1</a>

Soft Mozart Recital May 2013 Liliana, 13 y. o., plays The Thorny One by F Couperin after learning piano with Soft Mozart for 5 months:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/aTJSRx3fbMk&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/aTJSRx3fbMk&rel=1</a>

As you can see on the first picture, there are 4 'legs of table' that we need for successful piano learning:

1. SPEECH MEMORY - this skill every child develop from birth by mimicking the words from people around. This is very strong point of support in learning music notes on speech level. To repeat 'do do so so la la so' is much easier for a beginner then to 'c c g g a a g'
Russian school of music, Yamaha and Suzuki has a lot of success teaching beginners with the use of Solfeggio. It simply links speech to pitch. It also promote music memory, develops music ear and voice.

Here is an amazing video of students, who sing jazz song with Solfeggio syllables. I won't be surprised that after such training all of them will develop ability to write this music down, transpose and create their own pieces:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/eyVeQI84Bdc&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/eyVeQI84Bdc&rel=1</a>

There are 2 pictures that explains, what it takes to learn playing instruments successfully and how we get to abstract thinking through our main channels of perception.

Well, I will continue my explanations in this thread.

One of the most important rule of neurophysiology is to use with young children as many 'channels' of perception in learning something new as possible: vision, hearing, voice, touch even smell!

With Soft Mozart we also use fairy tales to explain very abstract music concepts. This year we are starting Soft Mozart Theater for exactly the same purpose:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/-v5vCAzegQ8&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/-v5vCAzegQ8&rel=1</a>

I thought you found it best to put rhythm and beat on hold and that is what we were disagreeing about. But now you are showing that you don't put it on hold...? Well, there seems to be a disconnect.  And since you posted your wonderful videos, I would like to share mine as well. Mine is of my little girl age 4.5 at her first recital here at home. She knows 20 songs and we chose 6. She has been focusing on rhythm, tempo, and proper key strikes at the same time for each lesson.  She began playing 3 months ago. 

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/2JQWfjOP4JA&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/2JQWfjOP4JA&rel=1</a>

Thank you very much for sharing your video! Your daughter is brilliant! She obviously enjoying to play piano, has naturally good ear, music memory and voice... your attitude towards her is just right. You care and she has enough motivation from you.

We thoroughly develop piano technique first using timer that counts each delay in muscle development and after that moving to the next stage - playing with metronome:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNlqK0um3vc

On this video you will see some parts of the piece being played with metronome and without (0:44). There in the left hand is 7th, 2 notes that need spreading of a little hand. Therefore, the child can't follow the beats and need more time to work 2 fingers coordination first.

Here how we do it with no teacher at home:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/l6HJqOS5IsA&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/l6HJqOS5IsA&rel=1</a>

Maybe if you tell me where you are going with this so we can go from there. 

Will be happy to! I will start with very plain example. Marionettes. Each string connected to a body part. If to cut one - one movement is gone.

Neurons of our brain should have connections with each muscle of our body. Each of our 5 senses also build strong foundation for the future development with children's cortex.  This what I call 'rule of stationary bicycle'. If we run stationary bicycle, we won't be able to learn how to manage the real one with no training of balance.

http://softmozart.com/our-library/articles/47-the-impact-of-vision-on-learning-musical-notation.html

In Soft Mozart one can see, when and how exactly fine motor skills and piano technique built, because every delay of coordination is measured. Therefore, we teach students to keep steady rhythm and beat, when muscles responsible for the task are developed and ready to cooperate.   

 

And I am not sure if you have children or not, but I don't MAKE my baby do anything. We do things together according to my more experienced mind and body. That's something babies love us for.  And yes, I have physically moved my child's body to a beat while I have counted.

I have thousands of children. 

Yes. I cannot think of any other way. Either the parent is keeping the timing and count for the child while music is playing or parent is moving baby's body while keeping time or counting aloud or just moving to the beat of the music without saying anything but that is still keeping physical timing so it still a form of counting and timing with a baby. 100% yes. Even when we dance with a baby with no music, we keep time and tempo with our bodies otherwise the child wouldn't be able to tell dancing apart from seizures.

Sorry, maybe, I didn't spell my question clear enough... Will try to re-phrase:
Do you MAKE your 1 year old baby's muscles keep the steady beat and dance, when he/she still develop skills to walk and use his/her balance properly?