Living Music in the Home

    Living music in the Home is a Waldorf-inspired resource for parents and teachers who wish to share the joy of music with their children and student. We provide musical training for adults so they can make music in their homes and classrooms.

    NEW! In addition to our online offerings (see below), we are now offering in-person parent-child music classes in western Massachusetts. We invite you to come to join us for BabySong and ChildSong, offered at the Cottage Garden.

    CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

    CLICK HERE FOR REGISTER

    OUR ONLINE COURSES

    Finding Your Inner Voice

    Instructor: Michelle Prindle (about)

    Available: March 17

    This course offers instruction in vocal (唱歌的) technique that will help parents and teachers to find their inner voice. The course removes modem misunderstandings about the voice. It offers advice on overcoming psychological boundaries to joyful singing. This is done through practical, confidence-building exercise that parents and teachers can practice in their own homes along with the videos and audio files provided. The course also offers a variety of songs for singing with children.

    Mood of the Fifth

    Instructor: Dan Prindle (About)

    Available: March 17

    This course begins by giving parents and teachers a solid foundation in the basics of western music theory that are necessary for understanding music in the mood of the fifth. These include the fundamentals of music theory (basics of pitch and rhythm). The course then continues to define the mood of the fifth, describe its elements and give a variety of examples. This course provides the necessary knowledge for parents and teachers to fully understand this often unclearly defined concept.

    In the latter part of the 20th century, child labor remains a serious problem in many parts of the world. Studies carried out in 1979, the International Year of the Children, showed that more than 50 million children below the age of 15 were working in various jobs often under dangerous conditions. Many of these children live in underdeveloped countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Their living conditions are crude and their chances for education small. The poor income they bring in, however, is necessary for the survival of their families. Frequently, these families lack the basic necessities of life—adequate food, decent（得体的、合适的）clothing and shelter, and even water for bathing.

    In some countries industrialization has created working conditions for children that are comparable to the worst features of the 19th-century factories and mines. In India, for example, some 20,000 children work 16-hour days in match factories.

    Child-labor problems are not, of course, limited to developing nations. They occur wherever poverty exists in Europe and the United States. The most important efforts to eliminate（根除）child-labor abuses throughout the world come from the International Labor Organization (ILO), founded in 1919 and now a special agency of the United Nations. The organization has introduced several child-labor conventions（规定）among its members, including a minimum（最低）age of 16 years for admission to all work, a higher minimum age of specific types of employment, compulsory（强制的）medical examinations, and It depends on voluntary obedience（服从）of member nations.

    You may be surprised to learn that English gets 30 to 45 percent of its words from French. The reason goes back to the year 1066, when Norman forces invaded（入侵）what is now Britain. The Normans were from northern France and spoke French. During the Norman occupation, French became the language of England's rulers and wealthy class. This lasted for more than 300 years. Other people in England continued to speak English during this period.

    Over time, the two languages combined and shared words. Some researchers believe that about 10,000 French words eventually entered the English language. However, although English took many French words, their meanings have not always stayed the same. Sometimes the differences in meanings can be very important, and lead to funny or strange situations if the words are used in the wrong way.

    Take, for example, the French word college. In English, college can often be used in place of the word university, or sometimes as a school within a university. However, in French, college actually means “middle school”, or the level of schooling for students in grades five or six through eight.

    There are many other similar words in the two languages with completely different meanings. In English, the word chat is a verb which means “to talk casually”; but in French, the word chat is the word for an animal: a cat.

    If an English speaker says someone is jolly, that means they are cheerful or friendly. But in French, jolie means someone is good-looking or pleasant to look at. In any case, both are nice things to say to someone.

    Swiss researchers said Monday they have developed a wireless camera system to monitor vital signs in premature babies, a move that could replace uncomfortable and highly inaccurate skin sensors (传感器) which produce false alarms in up to 90 percent of cases, mainly set off by the baby's movement.

    “This is a cause of discomfort for the babies, because we have to check on them every time,” said Jean-Claude Fauchere, a doctor at University Hospital Zurich's newborn clinic.

    His hospital is preparing to begin tests of a new, contactless system created by researchers at the EPFL polytechnical university in Lausanne and at the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology.

    The system designed in Switzerland should allow premature babies kept warm in incubators (恒温箱) to be medically monitored using highly sensitive cameras that detect the newborn's pulse by analyzing its skin color, which changes so slightly every time its heart beats.

    “Breathing is monitored by measuring movements of its chest and shoulders. At night, infrared (红外线的) cameras take over, and monitoring can be carried out non-stop,” the statement said.

    The visual system was designed by CSEM researchers, who chose cameras sensitive enough to detect minute changes in skin color, while the EPFL researchers designed algorithms (运算程序) to process the data in real time.

    “We ran an early study on adults, where we looked at a specific part of skin on their foreheads,” EPFL doctoral student Sibylle Fallet said. “With our algorithms we can track this area when the person moves, and use tiny changes in their color to determine the pulse,” she said. “The tests showed that the cameras produced practically the same results as conventional sensors.”

    Once the system has been widely tested on premature babies, it could one day replace skin sensors altogether, the schools said.

    In China we can see more African students in universities, which is a signal of a deeper China-Africa relationship, and the same trend is happening in Africa as well. Most Chinese students choose to study in universities in South Sudan, Egypt, Kenya, Ghana, Ethiopia and South Africa.

    There are three types of Chinese students in Africa. One type is language students who major in local African languages such as Swahili in China and go to African countries to study the language. Another type is non-language students who major in law, economy, culture, education or agriculture and go to African universities for six months to a year to learn more about the culture or for research. The above two types of students are all funded by Chinese government.

    A third type has been growing in recent years. More Chinese choose to develop their career and build a life in African countries, and some of their children tend to receive higher education in African countries. Some Chinese who work in Africa also further their study in their free time. Many Chinese choose to join the MBA program, since they work in a Chinese state-owned enterprise, and an MBA degree could help advance their career.

    In addition, as China and Africa's relations and cooperation are heating up and more Chinese companies and investors come to Africa under The Belt and Road Initiative(一带一路), more talents that understand Africa are needed. Besides, the new generations have more internationalized, curious attitudes, and are more willing to see and experience Africa themselves without any stereotypes(刻板印象), rather than just reading about it in a textbook.

    "What kind of rubbish are you?" This question might normally cause anger, but in Shanghai it has brought about complaints over the past week. On July 1st, the city introduced strict trash-sorting regulations that are expected to be used as a model for our country. Residents must divide their waste into four separate kinds and put it into specific public bins. They must do so at scheduled times, when monitors are present to ensure compliance（服从）and to inquire into the nature of one's rubbish.

    Violators face the possibility of fines and worse. They could be hit with fines of up to 200 yuan ($29). For repeat violators, the city can add black marks to their credit records, making it harder for them to obtain bank loans or even buy train tickets.

    Shanghai authorities are responding to an obvious environmental problem. It generates 9 million tonnes of garbage a year, more than London's annual output and rising quickly. But like other cities in China, it lacks a recycling system. Instead, it has relied on trash pickers to sort out the waste, picking out whatever can be reused. This has limits. As people get wealthier, fewer of them want to do such dirty work. The waste, meanwhile, just keeps piling up. China produces 80 billion pairs of disposable(一次性的)chopsticks a year.

    Many residents appear to support the idea of recycling in general but are frustrated by the details. Rubbish must be divided according to whether it is food, recyclable, dry or hazardous(有害的), the differences among which can be confusing, though there are apps to help work it out. Some have complained about the rules surrounding food waste. They must put it straight in the required public bin, forcing them to tear open plastic bags and toss it by hand. Most upset are the short windows for throwing trash, typically a couple of hours, morning and evening. Along with the monitors at the bins, this means that people go at around the same time and can keep an eye on what is being thrown out; no one wants to look bad.