All Things Early InterventionChristine 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.
We might not turn every student into a concert pianist, but we can do something far more valuable: plant the seeds of a lifelong love for music. Imagine former students, years down the line, casually picking out a melody on a piano at a party or surprising themselves by jamming along with a favorite song. That’s the power of fostering musicianship.
Research suggests that activities targeting the vestibular and proprioceptive sensory systems can enhance our sense of rhythm. So, what are these mysterious systems, and how can they help students feel the beat?
Integrating both fine and gross motor activities into piano teaching can significantly benefit students. Their full piano-playing potential will be unlocked by laying a strong foundation in motor skills.
These skills won’t magically appear just by playing some Bach. We, as teachers, need to be intentional about fostering them. But with a little planning, piano lessons can become a training ground for some seriously valuable life skills.
Remember: The key is to create a safe and supportive environment where exploration and creativity are celebrated. We’re not aiming for perfection but for the joy of musical discovery.
Imagine you’re trying to pat your head and rub your tummy at the same time. That’s using bilateral coordination – using both sides of your body together in a coordinated way. It’s like your left and right hand are working as a team, even if they’re doing different things.
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.
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.
Just as my brain struggled to decipher unfamiliar handwriting, students with visual processing difficulties may encounter similar roadblocks when trying to read music.
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.
All Things Early Intervention