Articles on Music Education
by Bonnie Ward Simon, BA, MA, M.Ed, M.Phil
"As a mother of one child who was passionate about music and one who was not, over the years I have shared my experiences in hopes that others would find their way into the wonderful world of music."
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Arts Camps: Finding the Right Balance for Your Child
As I sit on the brink of sending my oldest off to sleep-away camp for the first time, watching videos, calling former campers, reading brochures, I realize that I must honestly answer the question of what makes him (not me!) happy. I greet the process with a fair amount of trepidation. After all, I was the camper who wrote impassioned letters to my parents about my abject misery in the woods of Maine and when they arrived to pick me up, I announced that I had decided that I wanted to stay!
As I sit on the brink of sending my oldest off to sleep-away camp for the first time, watching videos, calling former campers, reading brochures, I realize that I must honestly answer the question of what makes him (not me!) happy. I greet the process with a fair amount of trepidation. After all, I was the camper who wrote impassioned letters to my parents about my abject misery in the woods of Maine and when they arrived to pick me up, I announced that I had decided that I wanted to stay!
Buying a Piano: the Best Advice is Take Along a Professional
I grew up in a house with a music closet under the staircase to the second floor. My father was an amateur violinist and my mother an amateur cellist...
I grew up in a house with a music closet under the staircase to the second floor. My father was an amateur violinist and my mother an amateur cellist...
Buying an Instrument
How to choose and buy the best instrument for you and your child: A violinist once commented that a great instrument makes you want to replay everything you have ever played. When you take the step from renting to purchase, it should be to purchase an instrument that excites your child. It's like welcoming a new child or puppy to your home.
How to choose and buy the best instrument for you and your child: A violinist once commented that a great instrument makes you want to replay everything you have ever played. When you take the step from renting to purchase, it should be to purchase an instrument that excites your child. It's like welcoming a new child or puppy to your home.
Can My Child Play the Trumpet with Braces?
Playing wind or brass instruments while wearing braces is no fun :(
Playing wind or brass instruments while wearing braces is no fun :(
Can Music Make Your Child Smarter?
Exploring the Mozart Effect: While people have understood for centuries that music was capable of eliciting emotional responses, like good food and wine or a beautiful painting, in the last decade neuroscience has discovered that music actually promotes brainpower.
Exploring the Mozart Effect: While people have understood for centuries that music was capable of eliciting emotional responses, like good food and wine or a beautiful painting, in the last decade neuroscience has discovered that music actually promotes brainpower.
A review of the popular "Classical Kids" CD series including Mr. Bach Comes to Call, Beethoven Lives Upstairs and Vivaldi's Ring of Mystery. If you're already a fan of Maestro Classics and looking to purchase more classical music for your children stop whatever you're doing and read this article!
In this day and age when professional parents often treat raising their children with much the same diligence as they prepare legal briefs or write academic papers, the question arises, "Is my child musical? And should I be doing something about it?" The first question might be phrased a different way, namely, are you, as parents musical...
Does Your Child Really Need Band?
Bonnie Ward Simon explores the important role being in a band plays for children's social and mental development: Band offers something else. It is being part of a team. It builds instant friendships. It takes the young person beyond the common meeting grounds (same age, same class, same neighborhood, same new brand of sneakers, etc.) and gives him or her an immediate new common bond. Learn how to choose an instrument in this article.
Bonnie Ward Simon explores the important role being in a band plays for children's social and mental development: Band offers something else. It is being part of a team. It builds instant friendships. It takes the young person beyond the common meeting grounds (same age, same class, same neighborhood, same new brand of sneakers, etc.) and gives him or her an immediate new common bond. Learn how to choose an instrument in this article.
Finding the Right Instrument is Like Falling in Love
Children should not have to stick to the first instrument they (or their parents!) choose: Playing an instrument is like falling in love. The infatuation with one person as opposed to another is totally unpredictable. If one does not marry the first person one dates, one is not accused of being incapable of falling in love. One is encouraged to continue searching.
Children should not have to stick to the first instrument they (or their parents!) choose: Playing an instrument is like falling in love. The infatuation with one person as opposed to another is totally unpredictable. If one does not marry the first person one dates, one is not accused of being incapable of falling in love. One is encouraged to continue searching.
Homeschool Parents Have a Unique Opportunity to Put Music into Their Children’s Lives
Living outside the constraints of school buses arriving, homework due at 9 AM, and being able to let children get enough sleep, homeschool parents have a wonderful opportunity to enrich their children's lives with music.
Living outside the constraints of school buses arriving, homework due at 9 AM, and being able to let children get enough sleep, homeschool parents have a wonderful opportunity to enrich their children's lives with music.
I Got Rhythm: Buying Quality Percussion Instruments for Your Preschooler
When you purchase rhythm band instruments you are purchasing sound, and plastic instruments sound like plastic food tastes. In short, it is worth the trip to the local music store and a visit to the percussion section. In order to get what you are looking for, however, you may need a few tips...."
When you purchase rhythm band instruments you are purchasing sound, and plastic instruments sound like plastic food tastes. In short, it is worth the trip to the local music store and a visit to the percussion section. In order to get what you are looking for, however, you may need a few tips...."
In an Increasingly Visual World, Listening is a Learned Art
Psychologists are now saying that no child should be put in front of a TV or computer before the age of two, and neurologists maintain that listening to symphonic music improves the hardwiring of the brain. Step one of learning to listen is to think about music.
Psychologists are now saying that no child should be put in front of a TV or computer before the age of two, and neurologists maintain that listening to symphonic music improves the hardwiring of the brain. Step one of learning to listen is to think about music.
Introducing Children to Classical Music
"How do I introduce my child to Classical Music?": The aural world is as varied and rich as the world of sight, and yet, the same parents who consider the reading of Shakespeare and Dickens and the viewing of Michelangelo and Rembrandt integral parts of an educated mind, will suddenly hesitate when asked about the importance of listening to a Beethoven symphony.
"How do I introduce my child to Classical Music?": The aural world is as varied and rich as the world of sight, and yet, the same parents who consider the reading of Shakespeare and Dickens and the viewing of Michelangelo and Rembrandt integral parts of an educated mind, will suddenly hesitate when asked about the importance of listening to a Beethoven symphony.
It is Never to Late to Ask: Would You Like to Begin an Instrument this Fall?
In the world of music, we constantly hear of the violinist who began playing at the age of 4, or the great pianist who just sat at the instrument at the age of 3 and began to pick out melodies he or she had heard.
In the world of music, we constantly hear of the violinist who began playing at the age of 4, or the great pianist who just sat at the instrument at the age of 3 and began to pick out melodies he or she had heard.
Keyboards: Your Computer, Your Piano and Your Child
The computer age is entering all phases of our lives. I am delighted with computerized scanning at the supermarket and the ATM machines.
The computer age is entering all phases of our lives. I am delighted with computerized scanning at the supermarket and the ATM machines.
Leave the Paint Cans at the Door
Bonnie Ward Simon explains why age-appropriate concerts really matter. Organizations that set age limits for children's programming are often reproached by parents who take exception. Good program creators, however, have good reasons for setting these limits: they know that if a child is not ready for a particular concert, neither parent nor child will enjoy the experience.
Bonnie Ward Simon explains why age-appropriate concerts really matter. Organizations that set age limits for children's programming are often reproached by parents who take exception. Good program creators, however, have good reasons for setting these limits: they know that if a child is not ready for a particular concert, neither parent nor child will enjoy the experience.
Every music student has heard his or her teacher say, “Use the metronome!” How often the metronome seems like the cruel judge, the unsympathetic counter, seeming to speed up at every difficult section and slow down at the easier ones. Many people have often wanted to throw the metronome across the room, or at least, put it away and pretend that it doesn’t exist....
Most parents know the importance of play, even for the youngest baby. Mobiles hang from cribs, busy boxes adorn their sides, and soft and cuddly animals keep him or her company inside. Videos instruct parents on exercises that they can do with babies. But what about your baby’s ears? Most of that we seem to leave to happenstance, yet hearing may be one of the baby’s most acute senses from birth.
Listening Habits Begin at Birth
There's no such thing as "Too Early" for teaching children about music: Each child enters the world like a sponge – ready and eager to soak up everything. For hearing children, listening is one of the key ways of getting information. It’s up to the adults to make those listening experiences count.
There's no such thing as "Too Early" for teaching children about music: Each child enters the world like a sponge – ready and eager to soak up everything. For hearing children, listening is one of the key ways of getting information. It’s up to the adults to make those listening experiences count.
Over 40?...Maybe it is Time to Order Concert Tickets and Take up an Instrument
Two of the most difficult decisions for busy parents who, for years, have given up most evenings out for homework and weekends out for soccer and children's exhibits at museums are (1) "When is it time for ME to go to a concert, dinner out, or take up an instrument?" and (2) "Has all this exploration with my child opened new pathways in my life, which I would now like to pursue?"
Two of the most difficult decisions for busy parents who, for years, have given up most evenings out for homework and weekends out for soccer and children's exhibits at museums are (1) "When is it time for ME to go to a concert, dinner out, or take up an instrument?" and (2) "Has all this exploration with my child opened new pathways in my life, which I would now like to pursue?"
Ten Easy Ways To Bring Music Into Your Child's Life
Bonnie Ward Simon shows you that bringing music into your child's life is easy: Ask yourself each day if your child has sung, played, or listened to some music; if not, sing a lullaby or play a CD softly as you say good night. How to make music part of every day.
Bonnie Ward Simon shows you that bringing music into your child's life is easy: Ask yourself each day if your child has sung, played, or listened to some music; if not, sing a lullaby or play a CD softly as you say good night. How to make music part of every day.
Teenagers: Classical Music Your Children Should Know (and will enjoy!)
Many parents, when faced with the teenage years and teenage musical tastes, buy their child a headset and hope that their child's hearing will survive the next ten years. (The generation gap can often be measured in decibels!)
Many parents, when faced with the teenage years and teenage musical tastes, buy their child a headset and hope that their child's hearing will survive the next ten years. (The generation gap can often be measured in decibels!)
Thanksgiving to New Year’s: Building Traditions for the Holidays
In days when life was simpler, when grandmother lived in the same state and families married within the same religion, the building of traditions happened by itself.
In days when life was simpler, when grandmother lived in the same state and families married within the same religion, the building of traditions happened by itself.
The Do’s and Don’ts of Concert Etiquette
When your child misbehaves, you are judged not on his or her behavior, but rather by how you, at that moment, respond.
When your child misbehaves, you are judged not on his or her behavior, but rather by how you, at that moment, respond.
The Music Teacher: A Guru for Your Child
Years ago in The New York Times, I read about a study which had been conducted by a group of social scientists who examined 100 top people in their fields, from sports giants to musicians, scientists to writers.
Years ago in The New York Times, I read about a study which had been conducted by a group of social scientists who examined 100 top people in their fields, from sports giants to musicians, scientists to writers.
Turn Down the Volume or Plug Your Ears!
Several years ago I read with alarm that 40% of the incoming students at the University of Tennessee who had listened to rock music suffered from loss of hearing.
Several years ago I read with alarm that 40% of the incoming students at the University of Tennessee who had listened to rock music suffered from loss of hearing.
When Do You Let Your Child Quit Their Music Lessons?
I was sitting with a mother whose children were now in their 20s. She grew up in a very musical family and was very disappointed that, with both her son and her daughter, the piano lessons “never took.” She had told them if they continued their lessons for five years, they could quit. They did their five years and then they were free to quit…
I was sitting with a mother whose children were now in their 20s. She grew up in a very musical family and was very disappointed that, with both her son and her daughter, the piano lessons “never took.” She had told them if they continued their lessons for five years, they could quit. They did their five years and then they were free to quit…
Why Doesn’t My Child Have Time to Practice?
Is increased academic pressure depriving our children of an arts education?
Is increased academic pressure depriving our children of an arts education?
Why on Earth Would My Child Play the Tuba?
Sitting in the audience of an orchestral concert at Michigan's Interlochen Center for the Arts, the oldest music and arts camp in the country, last month, my husband, conductor Stephen Simon, leaned over to me and whispered, "Why hasn't someone taken some of those larger kids in the violin section aside and suggested that they play the viola?"
Sitting in the audience of an orchestral concert at Michigan's Interlochen Center for the Arts, the oldest music and arts camp in the country, last month, my husband, conductor Stephen Simon, leaned over to me and whispered, "Why hasn't someone taken some of those larger kids in the violin section aside and suggested that they play the viola?"
Will Your Child’s Musical Instrument Go to Camp this Summer?
If you have been enforcing piano, violin or flute practicing all year, the thought of your child at camp for two to eight weeks while his/her instrument sits collecting dust in the living room is almost more than one can bear.
If you have been enforcing piano, violin or flute practicing all year, the thought of your child at camp for two to eight weeks while his/her instrument sits collecting dust in the living room is almost more than one can bear.
