To
understand the reasons why IEW requires such a strict rubric, it is helpful to
understand a little bit more about Andrew Pudewa, IEW’s founder. Mr. Pudewa is a violin teacher. He actually studied under Shin’ichi Suzuki. I am a cellist, and when I heard that Pudewa
studied with Suzuki, I could easily see the parallels between IEW and the
Suzuki method.
I am
not a certified Suzuki teacher and I am not a certified IEW instructor, but I
am very comfortable with both methods of teaching. I learned to play cello with
the Suzuki method. In high school, I was so inspired by Suzuki’s
methods that I wrote a report on his book, Nurtured
by Love. It is on my shelf today and
I try to read it each summer as one of my inspirations for teaching. Today I am a cello teacher for beginning
cellists and I tutor seven children with the IEW method. I also homeschool my ten year old daughter
using IEW.
 |
Here are 4 of the components of the Suzuki Method of
learning music:
1. Scales, Arpeggios, and drills. (This is not exclusive to the Suzuki method
for learning an instrument. Most musicians
spend much of their practice time playing scales, drills, and arpeggios. A soloist will not play a concert of just
scales, but music often consists of these things. A soloist who has practiced drills will be
able to play difficult passages with ease.
This is why IEW has a checklist that requires students to
practice stylistic techniques, sentence openers, dress ups, and decorations. While
it may seem like a lot of fluff, practicing these techniques will enable
students to use them when they need them in any kind of writing. I remember studying metaphors and similes in
school, but I was never asked to use it in a paper. IEW students write a metaphor or simile in
every paper. This is just good practice.
The assignments from IEW may not produce good writing, but it does help
to produce good writers.
2. Parental help. When
Suzuki took a new young student, he first taught the student’s parents. He asked the parents to hold that tiny
violin (sometimes 1/16 the size of a full violin) and learn to play Twinkle,
Twinkle, Little Star. He gave the
parents a few lessons in front of the child, but would not allow the child to
participate. The parents had to complete
assignments at home. Watching and
listening to the parent, the child wanted to mimic what they did. The result of this was two-fold. The young
child was motivated to learn to play like his parents, and his parents were
able to help him learn.
Similarly, Pudewa says that parents cannot help their child
too much. In IEW, parents are given so
many tools to help their children. From live seminars, to the Teaching With
Structure and Style dvds, to webinars, articles, books, and teachers’ manuals,
there are so many resources to equip parents.
I have taken advantage of the live webinars that Mr. Pudewa holds each
month for Essentials tutors, which walks us through a mock lesson that we will
teach later in the semester. IEW is
designed to walk students through all 9 units each year. In the first few years, the student is
somewhat like an apprentice to their parents.
My ten year old sometimes needs help selecting an appropriate –ly adverb,
or rearranging a sentence so that it starts with a prepositional phrase. IEW allows me to model and provide those
things for her. This is not cheating. This is equipping. Eventually, she will not need me to help her
find the correct word. Next year, she
will be more independent in her writing.
3. Ear Training. Suzuki students listen to recordings of master
musicians who play the pieces they are studying. These young musicians sometimes listen to the
piece hundreds of times. This trains
their ears to play in tune, follow the complicated rhythms, and play with
expression.
In IEW, Pudewa recommends daily reading great literature aloud
to children, even older children. This
trains students’ ears to hear what good writing sounds like. Reading aloud has done wonders for the
lyrical writing of my own children. They
write with expression. They know when
something doesn’t sound right.
4. Gradual increase in difficulty. Suzuki’s music books gradually get more
difficult and the student learns a little more with each piece of music. For example, a student may be asked to play
an already familiar piece in a different key, or with a different fingering and
a different position on the fingerboard.
Cellists are required to learn 3 different staves. The Bass Clef is the simplest. When a cellist has mastered the Bass Clef,
she will need to learn the Tenor Clef.
Suzuki gently introduces this by allowing the student to play familiar pieces
in a different key and notation. When
the Tenor Clef notes seem more familiar, the student will be asked to play a
new piece of music in the Tenor Clef. The
same process is repeated with the Treble Clef.
 |
| Writing five paragraphs about Amelia Earhart |
Vygotsky called this teaching technique of gradually increasing
the difficulty scaffolding. Mr. Pudewa
calls it Easy + 1. Although there are
many components to the paragraph checklist in IEW’s writing assignments, every
student starts by adding just one –ly adverb to the paragraph. When that becomes easy, the child will add an
–ly adverb and new skill, like a quality adjective. When the –ly and quality adjectives become
easy, they will have a third requirement for their paragraphs. This continues
until all the skills are mastered and practiced in each paragraph.
It is easy to see how Pudewa’s educational journey with
Suzuki has helped him to mold the IEW program into what it is today. Suzuki’s methods made me the cellist I am
today, and I know that IEW will continue to sharpen the writing skills of my
students.
No comments:
Post a Comment