Author: Christine

Christine Bellew loves teaching children, playing music and having fun. Her goal is to use playful teaching strategies to make doing hard things as fun as possible for parents and children of all abilities.

Christine and her husband Josh have three children that have provided loads of adventures. Their family has opened their home to serve as foster parents to children with special needs which adds to the adventure.

With a Master’s degree in Early Intervention, Christine started her career providing Early Intervention services as a Special Instructor and Service Coordinator.

Most recently Christine has branched out to teaching piano using creative teaching methods to serve children with a variety of learning needs. Music brings her and her students joy when she makes the learning fun and engaging.

Outside of work Christine enjoys watching Parks and Rec, doing puzzles and reorganizing her piano music.

Piano Lessons

Piano Hands: Piano Body Movement And Stability

Post author By Christine
Post date April 12, 2024

Piano Hands: Developing Body Movement and Stability

To have good posture for piano lessons, a student needs to have a good understanding of what good posture is and maintain it in other settings as well. In order to do so, one must have the muscles required to maintain balance. These muscles can become strong through movement. If a student has bad posture at the piano because they have weak core muscles, simply telling them to “sit up straight” won’t help. They need to strengthen those muscles first through repetitive movements, and then practice calling on those muscles to maintain balance for good posture.

Tags gross motor development, music education, piano hands, Piano Lessons

Piano Lessons

Piano Eyes & Piano Hands: Visual Motor Integration In Piano Lessons

Post author By Christine
Post date April 12, 2024

Piano Eyes and Piano Hands Working Together: Visual Motor Integration

Visual-motor integration refers to the smooth teamwork between what we see and what our hands do. Think of it as your eyes sending information to your brain, and your brain sending it to your hands.

Tags fine motor development, music reading, piano Eyes, piano hands, visual processing

Piano Lessons

Piano Eyes: Visual Processing

Post author By Christine
Post date April 12, 2024

Piano Eyes: Visual Processing in Piano Lessons

Just as my brain struggled to decipher unfamiliar handwriting, students with visual processing difficulties may encounter similar roadblocks when trying to read music.

Tags music education, music reading, piano Eyes, Piano Lessons, visual processing

Piano Lessons

Piano Eyes: The Simple View Of Reading

Post author By Christine
Post date April 6, 2024

Piano Eyes: The Simple View of Reading Formula Applied to Music Reading

The Simple View formula demonstrates the widely accepted view that reading has two basic components: decoding and language comprehension. The Music Learning Theory compares learning music with how a child learns language. Understanding both can help educators teach reading music.

Tags music education, music reading, piano Eyes, Piano Lessons

Piano Lessons

Personal Piano Teaching Philosophy

Post author By Christine
Post date March 25, 2024
No Comments on Personal Piano Teaching Philosophy

Piano Teaching Philosophy Inspired By Early Intervention

Piano instruction includes five key areas: hands, eyes, ears, play, and work. Each element is interconnected, and I strive to incorporate all five into every lesson.

Tags music education, piano Ears, piano Eyes, piano hands, Piano Lessons, piano play, piano work

Discovery Toys

A Puzzle’s Journey: From My Playroom To The Classroom

Post author By Christine
Post date February 12, 2024

A Puzzle's Journey

These puzzles had a fascinating journey. They started as my toys, bringing me countless hours of fun and learning. As I grew older, my mom repurposed them for her kindergarten classroom. They entertained and educated generations of young minds.

Tags Discontinued Discovery Toys

Discovery Toys

Blast From My Past: Discovery Toys Gears Go Round!

Post author By Christine
Post date January 15, 2023

Gears Go Round

I couldn’t recall the exact name of the toy until it was gifted to me and I could read the box. It’s called “Gears Go Round.” It was kind of like Legos, but the bricks were bigger and the texture was softer, and had pokey dots to decorate with and attach spinning gears to.

Tags Discontinued Discovery Toys

Discovery Toys

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Post author By Christine
Post date August 16, 2022

Here Today Gone Tomorrow, Discovery Toys Products

Have you ever seen a Discovery Toys product and thought, “Hmm, that looks interesting. I’ll think about it”? Don’t wait too long! Discovery Toys has a wonderful selection of toys designed to spark creativity and learning. But, like all good things, these toys can sometimes disappear from the catalog. I’ve raved about certain toys to […]