My Circular Calendar

Circular Calendar, by Jodie Mesler

Happy New Year!  Now is a good time to look at the calendar and look ahead into the months to come with dreams and future plans, (Inner Light).  As I have made my journey with my children, as their first and primary teacher, I have always wanted to bring them education in a fun and wholesome way.  As we made our way in the Waldorf-inspired route, we began having more rhythm and routine in our lives revolving around the seasons and holidays, in which as a teen and young adult, I got way out of rhythm and sync with nature.  My children brought me back into routine and rhythm, as well as Waldorf education, which went deeper into understanding rhythm.

In the early days of my studies on Waldorf education and young parent, being in rhythm with nature was a huge part.  One night I awoke around 3am and got this great vision of a circular calendar.  I could clearly see a clock with numbers around it and they each represented each month.  Then as I sketched it out, I began to see how the autumn and winter months were divided on the top half as inner light time, a time to have prayer and meditation, and to plan ahead.  The line went across, an equinox line, split across the middle going through the months September and March.  Then I saw the lower bottom half were divided into the outer light, a time to take action of all the inner thoughts and ideas.  Also, each solstice could be seen perpendicular.  What a beautiful, rounded, and living way to teach your child the calendar!  It is circular, as time never stops, it just keep going and going, around and around.

I was so excited about this lovely gift that was given to me by our loving Divine.  I couldn't even go back to sleep and had excited energy to take me throughout the day.  I hope that you can use this, as it is my gift to you.  I finally was able to take the sketch and paint it with water color, into what it is today.

Skype Music Lessons

Now offering Music Sessions via  Skype.  

*Weekly Flute Lessons 
*Weekly Penny Whistle Lessons 
*1/2 hour Consulting Sessions


$20 for 30 minutes


Contact Jodie Mesler at homemusicmaking@gmail.com to get started today

Living Music From the Heart: Music Curriculum Volume 2 for Ages 7 and Up****A Beginner Music Kit****

 Yes, you can begin here!  Volume 2 is a beginner book with all the tools you need to get started!
The only difference between Volume 1 and Volume 2 is the ages; Volume 1 is for the child at age 6, (imitation stage/HANDS);Volume 2 is for the child at age 7, he is now entering the HEART stage.  Please consider this when purchasing. 
Living Music From the Heart: Music Curriculum Volume 2 by Jodie Mesler(click here to read the review)

Living Music From the Heart: Music Curriculum Volume 2 is a playful and artistic teaching method that is for everyone, for experienced musicians, as well as for teachers with little or no music training, giving all a very easy and pleasurable experience. For the beginner music teacher, you will find it easy to sing and play music with the aid of the DVD tutorials and lesson book. For the more experienced music teacher, you will find many helpful tips on how to teach in a more playful way, unlike the strict academic methods of our youth. Your child must be at least 7 years old, this approach is for children who have already started school and is appropriate up to age 9. Twenty lessons are included with techniques, games and more than 50 simple pentatonic songs for you to enjoy. The music lessons are set up so that children learn music by listening and imitating the teacher; therefore, you will learn how to read music notation in my next volume which will be specifically designed for children 9 years or older. Here you will get ideas on how to integrate singing, rhythms, games, and songs in a creative and natural way.

My method, which I call The Heart Method, is based on Rudolf Steiner’s study of human development, inspired by my love of music and deep respect for the way children learn. It is for those who long for a more nurturing and living way of learning and teaching music, remembering that music is the language of the soul. In Living Music From the Heart Volume 1, the primary focus was on pleasing sounds, rhythms and listening skills taught through imitation. Around second grade, it is time to learn simple pentatonic songs. By staying simply within the five note scale pattern, music becomes fulfilling and enjoyable. For the child we will weave in playing high and low, slow and fast, soft and loud, long and short. We will guide and inspire the child to have great technique through these songs and games as we teach him how to tongue, slur, listen and make up his own songs.


Some of you may enjoy using the pentatonic or soprano recorder for your child and that is a fine choice. I will be using the penny whistle during the tutorials and throughout my entire music curriculum series, but I will include a clip on how to finger the pentatonic recorder and how to finger the soprano recorder. Once you feel comfortable with the fingerings, you will be able to follow the tutorials and lesson plans more easily.


My recommendation for the penny whistle comes from Steiner’s reference to a blowing instrument. In The Kingdom of Childhood, Steiner says, “As early as possible the children should come to feel what it means for their own musical being to flow over into the objective instrument…if you can you should choose a wind instrument, as the children will learn most from this and will thereby gradually come to understand music…” In another lecture, The Child at Seven, Steiner states, “until approximately the end of the ninth year, the child wants to experience everything that comes toward it within its own inner rhythms – in what belong to beat and measure. It will relate everything to the rhythms of breath and heartbeat…” While many Waldorf schools and homeschooling families have traditionally used the recorder or flute, I believe the penny whistle is a wonderful blowing instrument to begin a child’s music education and is consistent with Steiner’s indications.


Please take a moment to read this review from Lauri Bolland, a Waldorf Homeschooling parent who has experienced the entire method.


Here is a complete overview of the curriculum:

SONGS

1. My Fingers Are Dancing
2. Jack Be Nimble
3. Like the Turtle
4. Hush Little Baby
5. One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
6. Inch Worm
7. Five Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Gate
8. Little Miss Muffet
9. Thunderstorm
10. Old MacDonald
11. Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater
12. Tick Tock, Hear the Clock
13. There Was a Man and He Was Mad
14. Jack Sprat
15. Jolly Old St. Nicholas
16. Star Light, Star Bright
17. A Song From My Heart
18. Mary Had a Baby
19. Little Jack Horner
20. Turn Into Light
21. Morning Song
22. Polly Put the Kettle On
23. Whisper Then Shout
24. Shortnin’ Bread
25. Little Poll Parrot
26. Jogging With My Doggy
27. Did You Go to the Barney?
28. Georgie Porgie
29. Clap With Me
30. Little Liza Jane
31. Little Robin Redbreast
32. Swing Your Partner
33. A Frog Went A-Courtin’
34. Mary, Mary Quite Contrary
35. Crocuses
36. In the Springtime
37. Humpty Dumpty
38. Hot Cross Buns
39. Johnny Get Your Haircut
40. March Winds
41. The Tooth Fairy
42. Ducks in the Mill Pond
43. It’s Raining, It’s Pouring
44. The Dance
45. Bought Me a Cat
46. Little Tommy Tittlemouse
47. Willow Tree
48. Run, Chillen, Run
49. High Diddle, Diddle
50. Goodbye Old Paint
51. Hickory Dickory Dock
52. Fresh Tomatoes
53. The Farmer in the Dell
54. A Wise Old Owl
55. We Are One Big Family
56. The Crawdad Song

TECHNIQUES

1. long tones
2. pentatonic scale D, E, G, A, B, D', E', G'
3. tonguing
4. slurring
5. rhythms
6. improvisation
7. high to low
8. low to high
9. descending
10. ascending
11. building a repertoire
12. long tones and short tones and rests
13. measuring tones
14. tempos; slow, moderate, fast
15. soft and loud
16. swinging tempos

GAMES

1. Blow Dragon Blow to strengthen lungs and build strong long tones
2. Call & Response to fine tune rhythms and techniques
3. Fix Your Leaky Tire to work on proper hand position
4. High to Low or Low to High? learning how to hear the differences in tones
5. Blowing Up Balloons to strengthen lungs and build strong long tones
6. The Stopwatch Challenge to strengthen lungs and build strong long tones

Video Comparison: Penny Whistle, Soprano, or Pentatonic Recorder?

Are you curious about these instruments?  Hear what they sound like, and get a glimpse of how each one works....

DVD tutorial samples Volume 1 LMFH music curriculum for the 6-year-old

This is a sample from the DVD tutorials of Living Music From the Heart. Volume 1.

Living Music From the Heart: Music Curriculum Volume 1 for Age 6

For the 6-year-old child.  


You can use in your Waldorf Homeschool Kindergarten.

Living Music From the Heart: Music Curriculum Volume 1 ebook and Video Tutorial is a playful and artistic teaching method that is for everyone, for experienced musicians, as well as for teachers with little or no music training, giving all a very easy and pleasurable experience. For the beginner music teacher, you find how easy it is to sing and how to play music with the aid of the DVD tutorial and lesson book. For the experienced musician, you will find many helpful tips on how to teach your child in a more playful way, unlike the strict academic methods of our youth.

This approach is for the 6-year-old child taught through a child's world of play using rhythm, singing and movement.

Volume 1 includes:

*7 Teacher Lessons- following each lesson in the ebook along with the video

- learning how to play penny whistle; using scales, techniques, finger position, improvisation

- offers teaching tips for your child

- singing with confidence

*Articles in the ebook

- Your Singing Voice

- Understanding the Lesson Format for the Six-Year-Old Child

- Before Beginning Lessons with Your Child

- Understanding the Importance of the Pentatonic Scale

- The Penny Whistle Instead of Recorder (choosing the penny whistle leads us on a historical journey and we can become more familiar with folk tunes) read this article for more info click here.

*20 Lesson Plans

- contains listening, pleasing sounds, creative breathing styles, creative finger positions, rhythm games, rhythm songs, singing with movement, and games.

- brought to the child in a imitation way, Waldorf-inspired

- each lesson has a video tutorial, showing you how to do it

*One thing you won't have to worry about is reading music. There is no hurry to do this with your child because this comes later in a child's education. You will be learning by ear along with my examples in the ebook and the DVD tutorials. It is written to go along with a six-year-old, but if you have older kids, you can still benefit from learning how to play the penny whistle, also you can benefit from the many songs, games, hand claps, techniques and much more.

For all those who are NEW mothers and want to get a head start on playing the penny whistle and singing songs, volume 1 is a great place to start.

*testimonial 
My daughter and I absolutely LOVED your Vol 1 music curriculum. Thank you for all the dedicated work that you put in to it! I am looking forward to solidifying our work with Vol 2. What a difference this will make for my daughter's music journey; much better than my own :o) And as a bonus I am learning and understanding music a little more than I ever did in the 20+ years that I spent in lessons and instrumental & vocal groups. What a blessing to have you in our Waldorf homeschooling community! -Joyce from Ohio

Order Now.............. $65
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