When this card came up in my pack of Paul Harris Practice Card, I though “What a Great Idea”

So much so, I copied it out and put it where I can see it on my piano. Later, a quick google of

paul harris simultaneous learning map

brought up this link:

http://works-files.s3.amazonaws.com/3f0a7971-098d-49a6-96b5-3e692f99b08b

which took me to these two pages:

The page of text is an explanation of the “map”, and an encouragement to use it. The the second paragraph   states that “you may copy this map or make up your own…” which presumably means that he is happy for me to share it.

I have come across this before, several times. To begin with I thought “here comes yet another New Thing”. Like Brain Gym, Thinking Hats, VAK learners, Growth Mindset, blah, blah, blah… yet another “magic method”. But the more I’ve used the starter cards in my lessons, the more useful they are turning out to be. And also a lot of fun.

Take today; I’ve had interesting explorations of rhythm, dynamics, and improvising in my piano lessons with my young beginners, They all look forward to the ritual of “pick a card” at the beginning of their lessons. I should say that I’m not receiving Anything from Anyone for expressing my enthusiasm for these cards!

Next term, I plan to explore the idea of practice maps and incorporate them into my lesson planning.