How Music Paves the Way for Proficient Readers

Soundtrack to Fluency In a world where technological distractions seem to be the norm, nurturing a child’s literacy skills can be quite a challenge. However, there is a melodious ally that can make this task not only enjoyable, but also a whole lot more...

GUITAR LESSONS FOR KIDS

 Teaching children guitar is not the same as teaching adults or even older teens. This essay shows some of the typical mistakes guitar teachers make with students. Forewarned is forearmed. Parents know that children’s interests and thinking ability grows with age....

HARRY POTTER AND THE MAGIC OF YOUR CHILD by Kevin Taylor

    When the Harry Potter books began to appear I had no interest in them. However, I had never seen such a phenomenon of mass interest in reading among kids. The fever reminded me of when Elvis hit the scene back in the 50’s and the Beatles in the 60’s. But...

Pokeman Go Practice

POKEMAN GO PRACTICE By Kevin Taylor      Many Childbloom parents have discovered that having time to practice during the summer doesn’t guarantee practice. There is nothing inherently motivating about having a lot of time on your hands. Hands just have more time to be...

Blog – Practice Fables

6 FABLES OF PRACTICE By Kevin Taylor As many of you parents know, the issue of home practice is a thorny one. Taming the music monster is not easy in this day and age of recreational screen time, social media and the distractions of the 21st century. Since I’ve been...

Playing Guitar and Learning to be a Musician

Several weeks ago I had a young student in a class of four whose head really looked like it was going to explode. I had set an assignment for the class to learn a new tune. They all did it – except for this one 8 year old student. Now he wasn’t a slacker....

The Month School Ends

IDEAS FOR THE SUMMER Music has the ability to accompany all aspects of our lives. Not only have I performed music for christenings, brisses, weddings, anniversaries, bar mitzvahs, governmental gatherings, private dinners, and various and sundry celebrations, I have...

The Growth of Introspection

THE GROWTH OF INTROSPECTION by Kevin Taylor Jean Piaget, the Swiss “father of child-development theory”, once wrote a book largely based upon the answers he received from one question he asked children. This book explored, not only how a child perceives – and...