Jennifer Pedersen
In her Shougakusei No Nihongo, Japanese for Elementary School Students CD/book program Roberta Young presents an extremely useful and effective group of songs and support information. The music in particular greatly appeals to my students. In fact, AIUEO Song, and Ichi, Ni, San, Kazoemashou have been great favorites. Students are consistently requesting the songs. One class in particular asked to be video taped while singing AIUEO.
Ms. Young's voice, lyrics and musical accompaniment have proved to be very class, student and teacher friendly. Students are comfortable with the pace and vocabulary of the songs. The themes addressed by Young Sensei in this compilation include weather, food, holidays, animals, colors, numbers, hiragana, and greetings as well as traditional Japanese children's songs.
I am certain that my colleagues will find Shougakusei No Nihongo to be extremely helpful in their classrooms. If you are interested in these materials, I found them at the Kinokuniya Bookstore in New York. Happy singing.