Counting Made Fun: Pre-Reading Piano Book

Energetic and playful. The combination of large, colorful notation, clever word-rhythm associations, and physical activity creates an environment where counting feels like a game rather than a chore. Students see themselves as rhythm-solvers, not passive recipients of rules.

Young piano students in their first year of lessons who benefit from kinesthetic and visual learning alongside notation study. This book works especially well for group classes or studios where you have time for movement-based instruction before transitioning to the keyboard.

• Start Rug Time before opening the book. Let students move to the rhythm concepts through their bodies first, then connect those movements to the notation they see on the page.
• Play the recordings during home practice sessions so parents hear exactly how the rhythms should sound and can match their children's counting.
• Return to the word combinations throughout the week. Repetition of clever mnemonics (like associating note values with specific syllables) embeds the counting patterns in long-term memory.
• Use the practice pages as formative checks, not tests. Watch which rhythm patterns trip up your students and spend extra Rug Time on those specific concepts before moving forward.

Pair this with Note Reading Made FUN, Book 1 to build a comprehensive pre-reading and early-reading curriculum that keeps engagement high. Use it as your rhythm foundation text in the first semester, knowing that the multi-sensory approach will give struggling students multiple entry points to understand beat and note values.

• Identifying quarter notes, half notes, dotted half notes, and whole notes by sight
• Distinguishing corresponding rest values
• Clapping and performing rhythms with accurate beat subdivision
• Counting aloud while tracking notation
• Connecting word syllables to rhythmic duration