Hooray! Music class is underway! As soon as the teacher starts to play his guitar and sing, the kids are whirling and twirling and having a blast. But for one hesitant little music maker, it is all a bit overwhelming at first. With energetic and bright illustrations, this reassuring story about the courage it sometimes takes to try something new will resonate with children everywhere. From David Weinstone, the creator of the wildly popular Music for Aardvarks program, and the pitch-perfect Vin Vogel comes this infectious celebration of music class that will make you want to sing and dance with your own little ones!

Music class is the perfect place to learn about different sounds. Readers will love exploring loud and quiet noises with the help of this delightful book. A relatable narrator and the familiar setting of a school music class will engage beginning readers and young listeners alike. Children will love learning about the different sounds they can make in music class using their voices and different instruments. Bright illustrations bring the story to life and make learning about opposites fun.

Introducing young children to the basics of music in a way that is fun, interactive, and developmentally appropriate. The key is to engage their natural curiosity and love for sound, movement, and rhythm through hands-on activities, simple songs, games, and the use of simple instruments. This syllabus provides a broad overview of foundational music concepts for young children, presented in a playful, engaging way that fosters a lifelong love for music. The key is to make each lesson interactive and fun, so that children learn naturally through exploration and creativity.

Creative listening activities from a master music educator! These dynamic ideas invite students to experience, analyze, and reflect on an array of musical genres, including Motown, pop, rock 'n' roll, bluegrass, opera, Broadway, and film. Teacher preparation will be minimal as materials are few, and lesson planning is easy as Common Core and National Standards are listed on every page. Assemble your playlist online, and then explore the lessons for each song. With hits like Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and the Disney classic "Let It Go," music class has never been so much fun! Recommended for grades 4 and up.

Benjamin dismantles Americans' preconceived notions of the Japanese education system "Gail R. Benjamin reaches beyond predictable images of authoritarian Japanese educators and automaton schoolchildren to show the advantages and disadvantages of a system remarkably different from the American one..."—The New York Times Book Review Americans regard the Japanese educational system and the lives of Japanese children with a mixture of awe and indignance. We respect a system that produces higher literacy rates and superior math skills, but we reject the excesses of a system that leaves children with little free time and few outlets for creativity and self-expression. In Japanese Lessons, Gail R. Benjamin recounts her experiences as a American parent with two children in a Japanese elementary school. An anthropologist, Benjamin successfully weds the roles of observer and parent, illuminating the strengths of the Japanese system and suggesting ways in which Americans might learn from it. With an anthropologist's keen eye, Benjamin takes us through a full year in a Japanese public elementary school, bringing us into the classroom with its comforting structure, lively participation, varied teaching styles, and non-authoritarian teachers. We follow the children on class trips and Sports Days and through the rigors of summer vacation homework. We share the experiences of her young son and daughter as they react to Japanese schools, friends, and teachers. Through Benjamin we learn what it means to be a mother in Japan--how minute details, such as the way mothers prepare lunches for children, reflect cultural understandings of family and education.