Dogs and Birds - Book 1 (Animal Notes Edition)

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1. Great products

   I love the Dogs & Birds books for young beginners - they provide such a visual and story-based method for teaching them the notes, and children quickly pick up the way the notes repeat in a pattern across the piano, so they are not as constrained as with five-finger methods. Mich Mazzocco (piano teacher) on 6th Apr 2015

2. review- the method i use for young children

   I've used this method for young children (age 2 and up) for a couple of years now- it is the only really successful way I've found to teach young children the piano, before they can read. I usually avoid doing too much on the rhythm exercises until they're at primary school ,as I find they pick it up really quickly by the time they reach the age of 4+ whereas most struggle before then with the counting however I teach it. But we do lots of other exercises- eg marching, clapping etc to develop a sense of rhythm.
   
   I use this method with children with various learning difficulties (seems to work well for children with dyslexia), very young children, those with short attention spans and have been known to get adults started with it too!
   
   I would highly recommend this method to anyone looking for an alternative to the inappropriate old school methods (think John Thompson etc, or the American style Piano Adventures etc which again, really don't work for very young children. Catherine Jones MA (Cantab) PGCE EYPS MISM on 5th Jan 2015

3. recommended by piano teacher

   This is a great book for beginners. It is very colourful and friendly rather than lots of black notes on lines that can look quite daunting. On the back is a very useful picture showing how the notes are represented e.g. C - picture of a cat, D - picture of a dog etc, and you can photocopy it and stick them on the keyboard to help. Great too, that the pieces are only a couple of lines long so they don't lose interest. Unknown on 24th Dec 2014

4. younger learners

   It took me awhile to get it to work for me. The students were 3 and 3 1/2 yrs. old. I am a grandparent, knowing the theory and some piano, having never formally taught, so the instructions were quite helpful, adapting it to a lower level of course. In a class setting, it would be great, as the slower ones see how the others are doing. It really depends on the students and whether they have an ear for music or are immature, not having heard much music by their parents. Always, it is fun to see the lights go on and confidence built. Gloria on 27th Nov 2014