Our first semester we learn: "when the balloon goes up, our voices go up."
"When the balloon or note goes down, our voices go down."
What happens when the balloons move around?
We are learning how to play the notes on our bells! We have learned "baby steps" and "skips." Since you don't have a Bell Ladder at home, here are some ideas for you to try as your students is learning how to read the notes off of the staff.
Use the staff in your book (in the back) with pennies or dimes starting on DO and using baby steps. Put the book & bells like above...where the high notes are literally higher and lower notes are beneath the others. Then have your child play what the notes say.
If you have stairs in your home...put your bells on them and play a short melody off of the staff.
Once your child is comfortable with reading music, then the book can be placed in the lid of the bell case. Use Cheerios or raisins to practice reading notes from the staff. (Then your child may eat the notes after he plays.) Parents will often need to point to each note so your child doesn't lose their spot during this musical reading time together.
