Violin teaching ideas needed

[arvi]

I have been learning Suzuki violin for the past few months and have learnt about 10 songs in it. So now I'm confident to teach violin to my son on my own for a few months/years until a teacher can take him. In the whole of the country where I reside, I found only one who was willing to take a student at the age of 2 years. Unfortunately, she found another job and she is no longer teaching.

So I need fun teaching ideas from others who are taking their young children to Suzuki violin classes. Would you please share here?

I have My Violin CD http://www.amazon.com/eMedia-EV12090-My-Violin/dp/B000VPRFSE/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1352994547&sr=8-4&keywords=violin+dvd and will use it for some fun lessons.

I am also showing Suzuki violin videos in youtube like the one here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bigswc0BMvk
It is so cute to hear my son say that he wants to play like the man in the video and not like his mom (blame my atrocious playing

So can you please share your ideas, step by step lessons etc that you follow for 2-3 year olds or even older kids.

[sonya_post]

Arvi -

My two year old just started taking lessons. The things are currently working on are:

1. Proper posture and foot placement. We use a piece of cardboard with feet drawn in or you can use a Twinkle Mat.
   
He should be able to practice the three foot positions. Bowing in position one.

2. We practice watching Mr. Smiley - we draw a smiley face on the outside of his violin hand just under the pinkey. When you hold the violin - the outside edge of your hand that you can see when you play. He must watch Mr. Smiley and wiggle his fingers while we listen to the twinkle variations. If he looks away the music stops. We try to get in all the twinke variations once a day. This gets him used to holding his hand up and builds up the muscles.

3. We purchased a foam-a-lin that my son is only allowed to use properly. Right now he is not allowed to touch it other than to practice his bow and hold.

4. With the foam-a-lin we practice holding up the violin with our chins only. The airplane comes in from above and lands - plop goes the head, and he crosses his violin hand across his chest and rests it there while we play through the twinkle variations. at least 1x a day.

5. Listen, listen , listen to the CD.

6. The foam-a-lin comes with a faux bow. He should practice proper bow hold. I can get a picture of ours later and post it. We also place dots on his fingers. He should be able to match the dots on his hand to the ones on the bow and then there is a cute little rhyme that goes with the bow hold as he moves his arm up and down , round his face and then places it on his head.

7. Once he is doing the above pretty automatically - he is ready for a real violin.

[arvi]

Thank you for sharing lots of info., Sonya! Please post a picture or video when you get the time. I already bought a 1/16 violin for my son and he has been playing it in an informal way. Now, I'm wondering if I should purchase a foam-a-lin.

[sonya_post]

Arvi don't know if you've seen this - but something to consider....

http://www.reddesertviolin.com/

[aangeles]

I highly recommend The Suzuki Violinist.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Suzuki-Violinist-International-ebook/dp/B004HFQUBM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1353029491&sr=8-2&keywords=Suzuki+violinist

 

[arvi]

Thanks Sonya, I haven't seen it but will look into it. Aangeles, thank you for the info. about the book. Just bought it!

[ruamulla]

hello aangle,
i would like to know where did u get Ella's violin from???
i checked the suzuki violins it self but they are expensive and not sure if it is worth it for a 1/16 violin or should i invest later.
thank you
Ru'a

[TeachingMyToddlers]

I saw a homeschool violin program advertised recently and went searching for it for you. Instead I stumbled on this funny blog post I thought I would share here anyway :P

http://homeschooling.penelopetrunk.com/2012/05/21/what-happened-when-i-let-my-son-quit-violin/

----

Okay, I found it. http://www.icanplayviolin.com/homeschool/ I ordered his free DVD out of curiosity and to see if it might be a good fit down the road.  Plus I figured the concepts would most likely apply to piano, too. I actually just watched about 3 quarters of the DVD before posting this. I can appreciate some of his ideas, one basically being the idea of using the "immersion  technique" for music to an extent the same way I used it for literacy. Making a decision of becoming a "music" family versus a soccer family, a swim team family," etc. rather than having your child go against the family grain. We are doing some of  this now unwittingly and I can see where I can incorporate it more, so the DVD was definitely worth viewing for me for even recognizing a few pearls that I want to implement more in our family. And there was a nice little reminder at the beginning about where the ultimate responsibility of parenting lies (not in the music teacher, etc), although it is 100% from a Christian background I think it can apply to anyone. He also has tips on correct musical technique being an big encourager because it results in better sound. I am sharing a few of these as an overview but I am not doing it justice versus watching the DVD and hearing it directly from him.

Anyway, I  remembered this thread and thought it might be worth sharing with you!
 

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