When we learn something by rote, we start by listening, then experiencing it ourselves — imitating what we see or hear, listening again, and repeating it until we can do it on our own.

Today, I want to talk about why rote learning is important and three of the primary benefits of rote learning in music education, and offer some practical, step-by-step techniques for incorporating rote-learning into your teaching approach.

At the beginning of this year, I had a buddy lesson with 2nd grader, Samantha and 1st grader, Colby. Both students started with me about 9 months ago. They are halfway through the Faber Piano Adventures Primer book and we’re also working through the second book in the Wunderkeys Primer series by Andrea Dow for skill and concept reinforcement and some supplemental repertoire and games.

Today, I’m giving you a behind-the-scenes peek into one of our buddy lessons this spring—these are notes straight from my teaching journal.

I love working with five-year-olds.

I love their creativity, their fearlessness, their willingness to try new things, their crazy imaginations, and the way they make everything silly and fun.

Of course, we were all five once. But it’s all too easy to forget what that sense of wonder feels like, to be curious and inquisitive, to ask questions and seek out the answers, to try something you’ve never tried before. Today, I’m sharing eight ways to channel your inner child and see the world differently.

Your curriculum is a basic framework for all the teaching and learning you hope will take place this year. It’s important to be just as intentional with the overall plans and goals for your year as you are with your week-to-week interactions with your students. Today, I’m going to show you how to write your very own curriculum, tailor-made to fit your students.