As we were listening to music musing about education, all of the sudden a beautiful piano piece magnificently emanated from my new speakers. And the conversation turned to how kids learn music, talked about patterns, learning to recognize them in daily life. The tempo, the timing of different notes at different times, two cerebral hemispheres, two channels all working in unison. Creating this amazing thing called music. Different sound waves, the bass with its slow vibrations, hitting your brain at a slower tempo, at the same time you hear the mid range, bit more brisk, then the high notes. Do you hear the different frequencies at the same time? Don’t think so. The high frequencies get to your brain quicker and the low ones later. Everything together, in harmony makes for a beautiful thing.. It is kind of massaging your brain. What do you thing happens in your brain if it is not an amazing transmission of them same waves through your neurons?





Back to learning patterns……… Why make it so difficult ? It is at the same time complex and simple. When taught creatively it leads itself to more creativity coming from students themselves. They then feel comfortable, and enjoy the learning in a constructive context and way. They will take it to another level. This makes them ready to tackle further complexities.

My youngest son Gabe once told me about being fond of mathematics. This may not be exactly the quote but what I got and to this day remember of it. When asked why did he do so well in math, I recall his response: Dad, math is like building a structure, you start at the base and keep building on it one piece at the time. Then I said to myself, gee, I didn’t realized that it was that easy! You keep building in a pattern and this pattern leads to a new one and so on. That way you add to the structure. When you look back at what you built, you don’t look at the pieces but at the whole. Then…. Keep building. If you like this “pattern” you will be good at math. This same concept could be applied to the visual arts. Those kids who learn visually you would expect to do well in plastic arts if taught creatively. And the same thing could be said about any learning subject. Kids will get there at their own pace. It is about teaching them to learn on their own.

JayEll