Is Music Education for Children Hard?

The benefits of music education for children are enormous and many parents are aware of this fact. And yet, statistics reveal that only 6 percent of all children really take up an instrument to play. Why is it so? Why don’t parents want their kids to develop this wonderful art?

The answer is obvious – many parents seem to think that music education for children is too complex and difficult. Maybe, these parents are totally unaware of how musical notations are taught. Or secondly, it could be that during their own childhood they had bad experiences in music education. Perhaps they were forced by their parents to practice for hours upon hours against their will.

Actually, there can be various reasons why parents are unwilling to provide music education for children. The number one reason is that they fear that their investment will go to waste, as they have heard that many students drop out after just one-and-half to two years of education. It’s true that as soon as the training gets a bit tougher, many students quit because of laziness in coping up.

But let me assure you that the complexity of the syllabus is not the real culprit here. There are several reasons why kids find it hard to cope up. A major one is – wrong choice of instrument. I’ve often seen that parents decide which instrument their child should play.

A long-time friend of mine once said to me that she was always interested in learning the piano, but her parents insisted on a violin for her. The poor girl developed severe pain in her hands because she had to carry the heavy instrument not only during lessons and home practice, but also to and from school.

When I asked her whether she could remember the reason why her parents preferred violin over piano, she answered, “Of course! It was the cost factor. The price of the piano was $250 and tuition fee for piano lessons was $22.5 per month. The price of the violin was just $20 and the tuition fee was just $7.5 per month.”

This case happened more than forty years ago, but it is still very much relevant today. The cost factor drives parents to make their own choices of instrument instead of heeding to their child’s desire.

Right from the start of music education for children, the parents should pay close attention. They must know what to expect from the music school for their child. Most importantly, they should understand the criteria on which to select the teacher. Recommendations from friends and relatives may seem convenient, but they don’t always work.

If the teacher complains that your kid is getting lazy, understand that you didn’t select the right teacher. Kids can never become lazy and bored with music lessons if they get constant inspiration from teachers and parents. No inspiration means – no interest. And no interest means – the end of studies.

 

Fire Safety Education For Children – 3 Tips To Teach Children About Fire Safety

Educating kids about the importance of fire safety is very important… especially children between the age of 5 – 12. This is because, children around that age range are generally more curious about the things happening around them.

Given their natural rebellious nature and the tendency to try everything the adults are doing, fire safety education for children becomes something that all parents must teach their kids about.

So how do you go about teaching and educating children about fire?

Well, here are some activities you can do with your kids to help them understand and be more aware about the dangers of fire.

1) Plan a field trip – It is always good to organize a field trip to the fire department. This will help the children learn more about fire safety and also help them get more comfortable with the fire fighters.

Because of the experience and the many different stories fire fighters knew about, it further helps to enhance the children’s learning experience. As we all know, children learn best through stories… and who else could be more qualified to tell these stories other than the expert themselves – The fire fighters.

2) Role playing games – Have a family meeting and discuss about what to do during a fire. In this meeting, several guidelines and rules should be laid out.

One such topic that should be discussed is the family fire evacuation drill. Lay down the escape routes and what everyone should do during a house fire.

Once all the family members know what to do during a fire, carry out a mock up fire evacuation drill every 3 months. This will help to instill confidence and cut down any confusion about what to do during a fire.

3) Fire Themed Crafts – Paper crafts such as making fire fighter hats or coloring competition also helps to instill fire fighting awareness into the children.

During the activities, it is also a very good time to let the children know more about the dangers of fire and why they should not play with one.

Once children gets to know about the dangers of fire, they will then avoid playing with fire.

Fire safety education for young children can be fun, exciting and at the same time, foster better ties within the family. More importantly however, it can help save the lives of your loved ones. Click for more FREE information – children fire safety.

In order to safeguard your home from fire, one of the things you can’t do without is a fire extinguisher. The top recommended extinguisher in the market today is the cold fire extinguishers… Click to find out more about this little spray can that has already replaced the traditional ones… and is currently being used even by the fire departments themselves!

 

Resumes For Recent Graduates – 5 Great Tips to Organize Your “Education” Section

If you are a recent college or even grad school, law school or medical school graduate, your education section is probably the first on your resume (after your header and possibly a summary/branding statement). Why? Because school what you’ve done most recently, and it is most relevant to your potential employer. (There may be exceptions to this rule if you have an extensive and relevant work history. If you think you are one of those people, ask an expert for advice.)The following are five useful tricks for organizing your Education section. Follow these suggestions to pack in lots of information without taking up half the space on your resume:1. What should the basic format be?a. List your educational institutions in reverse chronological order, just as you do with your employment history.b. The most important part of each school section is the name of the school you attended. Put it in bold and/or Small Caps, followed by the city and state. Use the same format you use for your employers.c. Next put the degree you received. If you are anticipating a degree, write “Candidate for B.A,” “B.S. expected,” or “M.A. anticipated.” Fill in the appropriate degree of course.2. Do I need a separate line for my GPA and for each of my honors?To save space, you can combine your GPA and honors onto one line, and even put them on the same line as your major. How much you combine things will depend on how much room you have on other lines. Here are some possibilities:a. BA in Political Science, cum laude, 2006 (GPA: 3.41)b. Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, concentration in Psychology, May 2005Major GPA: 3.73; Cumulative GPA: 3.683. How should I list Honors and Activities?You do not need a separate section for either Honors or Activities. Only create these separate sections if you need to fill space! Instead, put them under the appropriate school entry.Do you have a lot of honors and/or activities? If you need space, you can group them together. For instance, you can have a bullet that says “Honors:” and follow that title with your honors, separated by semicolons. Then have a bullet that says “Activities:” and list your activities, separated by semicolons. You can put any relevant dates in parentheses after the honor or activity, and before the semicolon.Examples:a. Honors: Undergraduate Honors Thesis Research Grant (Honors Program award); Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society; Golden Key International Honour Societyb. Honors: Dean’s List (2006-2009); Baylor University Alumni Scholarship (2005-2009); Greek Women’s Leadership Award (2009); Midwest Conference Academic All Conference Team (2008 and 2009)c. Activities: Latino/a Student Association, Secretary (2006-2007), Delegate/Community Service Committee (2005-2007); Mexican Student Organization, Social Chair (2005-2006); South American Student Association, Member (2004-2007)d. Activities: Varsity Women’s Basketball Team, Four Year Letter Winner; Pi Beta Phi Fraternity, Board Director (2006-2007) and Member (2004-2007); University Chapel Choir, Member (2004-2007)4. Do I need a separate section for Study Abroad?No! Study abroad is part of your undergraduate education. It can be a bullet, or if you want to emphasize it because of your international interest or language ability, you can bold it. Do not put a space between your undergraduate degree section and the study abroad section, unless you need to fill space.Example of bullet format:[end of undergraduate section here]
• Junior-year semester at University of East Anglia, Norwich, England (1993)Example of bolded section under undergraduate section:[end of undergraduate section here]
Reid Hall, Columbia University, Paris, FranceSummer 2003 Study Abroad (Coursework: 19th Century French Painting, French Language)5. How long should the Education section be?Unless you’ve already earned five different degrees from five different schools, your education section generally should take up a maximum of a third of a page. This means it’s important to get Experience to put on your resume and not rely on your Education to get you a job!Implementing these five suggestions will give you a great start on your Education section, making it both efficient and effective.