Making Music in Montessori

Everything Teachers Need to Harness Their Inner Musician and Bring Music to Life in Their Classrooms

Michael Johnson

Infused with a warm, affable tone, Making Music in Montessori is the Guide’s guide to music education, providing Montessori teachers all at once a snappy, practical handbook, music theory mentor, pedagogical manual, and resource anthology.The book’s goal: To give teachers confidence in music, so that when their children walk away from a lesson all fired up to compose their own music, their teacher will know how to guide them. Before Making Music in Montessori, teachers may have only dreamed of a classroom buzzing with children working, learning, and growing with music alongside all of the other subject areas in the Montessori curriculum. Now, it’s a reality. If children’s minds are a fertile field, then Making Music in Montessori will stir Montessori teachers of all musical backgrounds to don their overalls, roll up their sleeves, sow the musical seeds, and watch them blossom under their children’s flaming imagination.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers / National Association for Music Education (NAfME)

Pages: 368 • Trim: 9 x 11½

978-1-4758-4469-6 • Hardback • December 2020 • $117.00 • (£90.00)

978-1-4758-4471-9 • Paperback • November 2020 • $59.00 • (£45.00)

978-1-4758-4470-2 • eBook • November 2020 • $56.00 • (£43.00)

Subjects: Education / Teaching Methods & Materials / General, Education / Classroom Management, Music / Instruction & Study / Appreciation, Education / Philosophy, Theory & Social Aspects, Education / Student Life & Student Affairs, Education / Arts in Education

Making Music in Montessori

Everything Teachers Need to Harness Their Inner Musician and Bring Music to Life in Their Classrooms

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Infused with a warm, affable tone, Making Music in Montessori is the Guide’s guide to music education, providing Montessori teachers all at once a snappy, practical handbook, music theory mentor, pedagogical manual, and resource anthology.The book’s goal: To give teachers confidence in music, so that when their children walk away from a lesson all fired up to compose their own music, their teacher will know how to guide them. Before Making Music in Montessori, teachers may have only dreamed of a classroom buzzing with children working, learning, and growing with music alongside all of the other subject areas in the Montessori curriculum. Now, it’s a reality. If children’s minds are a fertile field, then Making Music in Montessori will stir Montessori teachers of all musical backgrounds to don their overalls, roll up their sleeves, sow the musical seeds, and watch them blossom under their children’s flaming imagination.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers / National Association for Music Education (NAfME)

Pages: 368 • Trim: 9 x 11½

978-1-4758-4469-6 • Hardback • December 2020 • $117.00 • (£90.00)

978-1-4758-4471-9 • Paperback • November 2020 • $59.00 • (£45.00)

978-1-4758-4470-2 • eBook • November 2020 • $56.00 • (£43.00)

Subjects: Education / Teaching Methods & Materials / General, Education / Classroom Management, Music / Instruction & Study / Appreciation, Education / Philosophy, Theory & Social Aspects, Education / Student Life & Student Affairs, Education / Arts in Education

Author

Michael Johnson, originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, is a songwriter, musician, cartoonist, and a Kodàly-trained Montessori educator with ten years of international experience managing elementary classrooms. From his home base in Paris, France, buoyed by an AMI Elementary diploma, which he received from the Montessori Institute of Milwaukee, and an M.A. in Music Education from Portland State University, Michael travels and leads music-teaching workshops at Montessori schools around the world.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgements

PART 1: Your Musical Montessori Environment

Chapter 1: Yes, You Are Musical: Five Music Myths Debunked

Chapter 2: The Musician In You

Chapter 3: Preparing Your Environment

PART 2: All The Music Theory You’ll Need to Know

Chapter 4: What Is Music, Anyway?

Chapter 5: First Steps: Scales and Modes

Chapter 6: Writing and Reading Music

Chapter 7: The House That Music Built: Musical Forms

PART 3: Going Beyond the Bells to Build Music Literacy

Chapter 8: Musical Concepts and Skills

Chapter 9: The Kodály Approach

Chapter 10: Putting it all Together

PART 4: Making Music in Montessori

Chapter 11: Activities for Follow Up

Chapter 12: Activities for Growth

Chapter 13: Spontaneous Performances

Chapter 14: 55 Songs to Read, Sing, Dance, and Play

Chapter 15: Cosmic Stories

Appendix A: Listening and Singing with Children

Appendix B: How to Teach a Song, Including Part Singing

Appendix C: How to Lead a Song

Appendix D: Music Grid Paper

Appendix E: Resource List

Appendix F: Scale and Chord Matching Table

Appendix G: Index of Songs

Bibliography

Author Bio

Reviews

What a great book! I’m giving a copy to every teacher in our faculty. I’m overjoyed to say that this is finally here and it is everything I’d hoped for.
— Cynthia Dyer, Principal and Executive Director, Discovery Montessori Society, Canada

This wonderful new book from Michael Johnson is a much-needed addition to any Montessori environment! If you are a Montessori teacher eager to enhance the joy and learning of music in your classroom, this book is a must-read! A rare guidebook that presents music pedagogy in a Montessori context, Making Music in Montessori will give you the tools, resources, and just enough music theory to allow you to do just that, regardless of your background in music. Let the music begin!
— Anne Sawyer & Karin Ann, Founders, The International Montessori School, Hong Kong

At last, a useful music resource for my teachers! This book is a long time in coming.
— Cathy Newman, Head of School, Sunstone Montessori School, Portland OR, USA

An imaginative musician with the ability to open one’s spirit to the musical experience that may be conveyed to children eager to sing, compose, experiment, move, and play an instrument, Mr. Johnson has written a book full of very accessible and exciting information for teachers whose children follow up on basic Montessori music training.
— Benoit Dubuc, Director of Training, Centre Formation Montessori Francophone, France

To say it simply: Michael is and lives music! He has a spirit that knows how to express itself musically and how to inspire everyone - you as well. You have everything in you! Dare the music and share it with children!
— Marie-Laure Debacker, President, Association Montessori Suisse (AMS), Switzerland

Michael’s dedication to his craft shows in his joyful approach to sharing the pleasures of music with children of all ages. This is the Montessori music book teachers have been waiting for!
— Pete Juds, Head of School, Montessori School of Tokyo, Japan

A precious resource for bringing music to life in the classroom from the fabulous material invented by Maria Montessori.
— Association Montessori de France