What do you do when kids are showing signs of trouble with note reading? I have a little girl in MFPA Lesson and Writing books B. She is very smart and catches on quickly but lately she has been slowing down and having trouble knowing what the notes are if I don't help her. I have been reviewing and spending longer on each song but what else can I do to help her? Any and all ideas greatly appreciated!!!

I think many students encounter a 'bump in the road' in their learning curve when they go from playing by ear to note reading. MFPA tries to make the transaction smooth, but it's often a matter of intergrating eye tracking, ear and hand/finger movements. Slowing down is good, as long as students don't get too bored.

Perhaps you could -

1 - check if they know the letter A-->G keys. Have them name notes you play, then say the letter and have them find and play it.

2 - have them find the first RH and LH notes of the song on the keyboard. Many younger kids have trouble remembering their right and left, and often forget which line is which. I point to notes and ask, "is this right or left hand?"

3 - MFPA A does a good job with note direction. Try to reinforce that in B with asking, "does this go up or down?" Then have them play up or down on the keyboard. I think there is a page in the first part of the Writing B book that uses horses to do this.

Yamaha had these letter-paper sized metal boards with Treble/Bass staves and little round magnets. Use something like that, or flashcards, show the note and have the student find and play it...

I use the same ideas as bnich. Using round magnets on a metal staff (you can draw a staff with permanent marker on a baking pan) really helps. My students like poker-chip notes on a cloth or paper staff too.

One thing that seems to be a huge help is having the student DRAW the note. We draw notes on a laminated staff using white-board markers. (Be sure to draw kitty-ears on all middle C's!) Then we play a game where the student has to draw and play the note I call out. Kids love white boards, so this is always a hit.

I will also have my students occasionally compose a simple song in pre-reading notation (SusanParadis.com has great composition activities!) and then transfer it to the staff. Early on, it can be intimidating to draw all of those notes, so we use stickers as noteheads the first few times. Susan's site also has a large staff that prints out at just the right size for chart stickers. We use dark-colored stickers for quarter notes and light-colored stickers for half notes and whole notes.

You can also turn a really large staff sideways on the piano keyboard so that the lines and spaces line up with the corresponding key on the piano. I measured and drew one of my own on cardstock; maybe someone else knows where to print one out or purchase one.

Is it just not identification or does she also have difficulty seeing when the notes go up - down - stay the same?

Thank you bnich and Melody T for your ideas. I will definately try having her write out some notes besides what we have been doing in the writing book, which by the way, is so fantastic. I think I love the B writing book even better than the A book!! Pianoc, I think she has some trouble with which way the notes are going..up or down. I see now that we will have to work harder on that. Thank you all so much for your ideas! They really are so helpful!