Art Appreciation

Did you hear about the guy in Paris who almost got away with stealing several paintings from the Louvre? After planning the crime, getting in and out past security, he was captured only two blocks away when his SUV ran out of gas.

When asked how he could mastermind such a crime and then make such an obvious error, he replied: "Monsieur, I had no Monet to buy Degas to make the Van Gogh."

And you thought I lacked De Gaulle to send you a story like this?

VILLAGE: Zoom Buggy Week 4

FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNING

Attention Span: Your baby can have quite a long attention span when she is involved in an activity she finds stimulating and if she has someone willing to interact with her.

Play Time: Playtime and baby’s games are actually baby’s work. As your baby plays, she is exploring details of shape, texture, movement, taste, and more. The world around her begins to make sense as she explores the objects in it.

Self-Esteem: The relationship between adult and baby can be nurtured through cuddling, rocking, and soothing sounds. The nature of baby’s relationship with his caregiver is an important source of his self-esteem.

Vocal Play: Vocal play with your baby may increase her understanding of language. The adult brain processes speech with phenomenal speed but it takes your baby longer to process even the more familiar sounds. Therefore, concentrate on isolated syllables during vocal play.

OuR TIME: Milk & Cookies Week 11

FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNING:

Their Own Actions: Studies suggest that children who learn that they have the capacity and opportunity to exert control over their actions early in life may be more likely to learn to accept responsibility for their actions as they mature.

Language Skills: Language skills may be increased through exploration of familiar word patterns with a tune. During vocal play, the child experiences rhythm, accents, synchronization, and tempo, all integral parts of communication.

IMAGINE THAT! Hello Weather Week 11

FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNING

Patterned, Predictable Texts: In the preschool years sensitizing children to sound similarities does not seem to be strongly dependent on formal training but rather on listening to patterned, predictable texts while enjoying the feel of reading and language.

Preparation for Keyboard or String Lessons: Learning to control finger movements is necessary for the fine motor skills required for holding a pencil, using scissors, buttoning a shirt, or tying a shoe. Activities that focus on the ability to isolate and manipulate one finger at a time are excellent preparation for keyboard or string lessons, both of which require a special control of fingers and thumb. Furthermore, manipulating fingers helps people stay mentally alert.

Literacy: Literacy is listening, learning, and quality of life. It is reading, writing, thinking, scribbling, drawing, and being motivated to find meaning. It is interpreting, inventing, associating, communicating, responding, sharing, and being able to set visions into action. Our challenge as educators is to make it possible for all children regardless of ability, experience, or cultural heritage, to feel successful in their attempts to be literate.

Singing: Singing is a child’s most direct form of musical experience. Singing does not need any external aid or media; it lets children as well as adults be responsible for the production of the music. In a sense, when we sing, we become the music. This immediacy is becoming less and less available in other musical experiences, in which the music is performed for us by professional musicians or is mediated by electronic means.

Space Perception: Movement is the essential ingredient of space perception. By observing his own body and the relationship among objects in space to parts of his body, a child relates himself to the space outside himself. After some activities moving in his own space, a child may become aware of others moving around him.

Safety Net: Rocking quietly in the warmth of a loving adult’s arms provides a secure safety net during this time in a preschooler’s struggle between dependence and independence. For the moment she has mastered her impulses and dealt with a stimulating world outside her own four walls and is free to settle into the comfort of a loving adult’s embrace.

Abstract Thinking: The kind of pretend play found in the Skater’s Waltz allows children to practice separating objects from their real-life uses, developing abstract thinking. Abstract thinking is required in order to understand symbolic representation, the first steps of learning to read and write.

Family Time: Here, There, & Everywhere Week 6

FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNING

Hearing & Listening: Listening and hearing are very different skills. Most of the senses – sight, taste, smell – involve chemical reactions, but ears work purely mechanically. Hearing is a physical process. Sound waves create vibrations that are transmitted as nerve impulses to the brain. Listening is much more complex, as it includes the mental processes of interpreting and absorbing a message and storing and retrieving information. Hearing is a sense most people are born with, but listening is a learned, mental behaviour.

The Joy of Listening: Children instinctively understand the language of music. Music draws children into its orbit, inviting them to match its pitches, incorporate its lyrics, move to its beat, and explore its emotional and harmonic dimensions. Music’s physical vibrations, organized patterns, engaging rhythms, and subtle variations interact with the mind and body. Children are happy when they are bouncing, dancing, clapping, and singing with someone they trust and love. Even as music delights, it helps mold children’s mental, emotional, social, and physical development – and gives them the enthusiasm and skills they need to begin to teach themselves.

Sign Language for Hearing Children: Children begin trying to decipher the mystery of language from the moment they are born. It takes children 12 to 24 months to begin speaking, yet while they are preparing for this huge leap forward, they already have some of the pieces in place. Signing with hearing children takes advantage of their motor abilities, which develop months earlier than the equivalent skills required for speech. Use signing in everyday interactions to open the door to early communication, facilitated speech, increased intimacy, and long-term learning.

Literacy: When a child points to pictures in a book, she is letting you know that she understand something about symbols – that words and pictures represent things and ideas. A child’s motivation to learn about and use symbols grows as she learns that this is how she can make her needs known and let people know what she is thinking. “Literacy” means so much more than being able to read and write. Literacy is being able to speak, and understand what you read, write, and hear. Children who are “literate” know that sounds, letters, pictures, and ideas go together and have meaning.

Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful...

making our streets not so delightful. I'm going to cancel Thursday's Village class as I don't want you driving on the ice for a Kindermusik class. Again, we'll work out a makeup or credit for the class.

So sorry!

PS: Sorry I haven't been blogging interesting stuff this week. My laptop crashed, and downstairs computer time with 2 kids is extremely limited!

Classes tomorrow

The roads seem to be clear, so unless we get a dump tonight, you can assume that classes will run Tuesday & Wednesday at the church this week. I hear we're in for more snow on Thursday, so stay tuned (pardon the pun!).

Our snowy day activities:

Making/Eating Cookies


Building Snow Castles...can be a spectator sport too!

Snowed In

Good morning!

It's 4am and there is no sign of the snow having stopped over night. I'm posting now because I think it's a strong possibility that we will lose power soon. It's already flickering...

It's WAAAY too snowy at the home studio for classes to run, and I'm afraid of what it might be like elsewhere. I would hate to be responsible for having anyone stuck in the snow with a baby or toddler - or worse, in an accident.

So please, stay home today. Build a snowman, a snow fort, or other fun stuff! I will work out a credit for the class with you.

Carolyn

Snowy Days!

I love the snow on the mountains, and we're enjoying it in the yard, but I'm not such a big fan of it in the streets! For those who have classes Monday morning, stay tuned -- I will post by 9:30am whether classes are running or not. The Cedarview Lodge Village class should probably be OK, but the road to the Studio is just nasty in the snow. That's the one that is tentative...

In the meantime, enjoy! When your mitts and boots are soaked, here's an indoor snowman to make!

Cool Canadian Gift Idea

A very good friend of mine has given both of my kids these name puzzles as a birth present. They are made by a small Canadian company based in Ontario called Zoodonyms.


You'll notice that a few pieces are missing from Jacob's name. I emailed Zoodonyms, and for a small fee, they will replace them (I have to mail them the letters with missing animals, as each one is cut individually).


They make a great gift!

Feel the Beat

This concert is going to be FUN. If you're not into
fun then this isn't for you;-) But if you want to hear
some boundary busting afro-latin music, mark your
calendars:

Saturday, November 25th
Doors open at 7:00pm, show starts at 7:30pm
Mt. Seymour United Church, North Vancouver
tickets $20 ($15 seniors & students - available at Flying Fish in Lonsdale Quay)

The upBeats, have been playing afro-latin
rhythms with master musician, Pepe Danza, for two
years. His partner, Navaro, a drummer and
ecstatic/trance dancer will perform as will Jackie
Essombe, who is a great African
dancer, drummer & storyteller.

Fun Photos for Kids

VILLAGE: Zoom Buggy Week 3

FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNING

Social Interaction: The ritual of greeting one another can foster anticipation of fun times, excitement, and happiness. Social interactions help your baby learn about his own emotions and how to interpret emotions of those around him.

Movement: Your baby learns best when the information presented becomes directly related to him. Movement is one way your baby can become actively involved with information, thus helping process it into knowledge.

Exploration: The many nerve endings in the mouth develop very early. Therefore, exploration of an object with the mouth provides infinite information about the shape, texture, and taste of objects.

OUR TIME: Milk & Cookies Week 10

FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNING:

The Value of Play: Play is a natural activity for children. The child at play is self-motivated and actively engaged. Whereas games are governed by rules, the value of play is that it provides freedom from evaluation and judgment. The freedom of a playful atmosphere fosters intellectual development as well as self-construction and the development of personality.

At Home: At home fun can be experienced with kitchen games. There is a pots and pans game on page 26 of the Home Activity Book. Games serve a greater purpose than just fun – they are important to the process of exploration and discovery.

IMAGINE THAT! Hello Weather Week 10

FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNING

Hearing and Listening: Hearing and Listening are quite different. Hearing is a process involving nerves and muscles that reach adult efficiency by age four to five. Listening is a learned behavior, a mental process that is concerned with hearing, attending discriminating, understanding, and remembering. It can be improved with practice. Listening affects social interactions, one’s level of functioning, and perhaps one’s overall success in life.

Self Esteem: Self esteem is enhanced through sharing movement ideas with others. “ To come to know our own special genius is a lifetime process. A significant manifestation of this specialness is… finding our own dance. Out of movement exercises, a holistic learning environment evolves, one which is supportive of the attitude that each of us is appreciated, acknowledged, and respected for who we are.”

Cross Lateral Movement: While children will readily fall into scraping and tapping sandblocks to a steady beat pattern, they will also be working on cross-lateral movement if they play their sandblocks at the midline and on either side of their bodies. Establishing cross-lateral mobility is crucial to success in reading, which requires that the eyes travel laterally across the page, past the midline of the body.

Affiliation: The capacity to join others and contribute to the group springs from one’s ability to form attachments. Affiliation is the glue for healthy human functioning. It allows people to form and maintain relationships with others – to create something stronger, more adaptive and more creative than the individual. Affiliation is one of the six core strengths which children need to develop in order to become more humane. The child without these strengths will be in greater danger of becoming violent and also less able to cope with verbal or physical abuse.

Family Time: Here, There, & Everywhere Week 5

FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNING

Vocal Harmony: Hearing and singing simple melodies and harmonies form the foundation of a child’s musical education. The child’s ear easily hears simple pentatonic melodies and tonic accompaniments, which encourages the child to sing in tune.

Inhibitory Control: Regulating one’s own motion by stopping movement or speech or waiting for a turn are vital life skills that must be learned and practiced at an early age. Confidence stems from the awareness that “My body does what I ask it to do.”

Movement with Instrument Play: The developing brain is wired to learn as the body moves. To achieve the precision of the mature brain, stimulation in the form of movement and sensory experiences during the early developing years is necessary. Providing children with the sensory-motor experiences, including activities that integrate visual information, sound, and fine-motor movements, stimulate and strengthen the brain’s wiring patterns. When children play instruments, movement and sound come together to create a multi-sensory learning experience.

Label It!

I have entered the world of "everything must be labeled". At preschool, at playschool, at cooking class, and yes, even at Kindermusik, everything I send with Jacob is supposed to be "clearly labeled". As I was racing around the house trying to find a labeled sippy cup and jacket to go to preschool, I was grateful once again for the Label It stickers I bought last year. I keep them up on a tack board in the kitchen, and when I can't find something that is clean and labeled, I just throw a sticker on another item.

I LOVE THEM!

Sarah is our local rep for this Canadian-made product. Makes a great Christmas gift for those entering the "labeled era".

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Some storm, today!

The North Shore Unitarian Church experienced a terrible flood today. Many thanks to Piglet's Place for helping Jessica sort out a place to hold classes this morning!

I will keep you posted as we may not be able to get in there by next Tuesday.

Does anyone have any terrific ideas on what to do to burn off excess toddler energy on these rainy days?

Fun Craft Idea

Here’s a fun craft that your preschooler will enjoy. If you’re feeling adventurous, you could try it with younger children as well.

I won’t post any instructions as it’s pretty self-explanatory.

Here are a few tips based on experience:
Be generous with the glue as the sponge absorbs it.
You can rip off the scrubber pad on the back and use it as hair.

Great for developing fine motor skills. Once they've dried, engage in creative imaginary play!

Have fun!

VILLAGE: Zoom Buggy Week 2

FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNING

Feelings: A lullaby can communicate feelings from adult to baby as well as calm and comfort baby. Humming the lullaby may be especially soothing.

Zoom!: Zoom! Dance and move! Your baby can learn from self-propelled movement as well as movement in adult’s arms. Rhythmic changes of position can stimulate the sense organs and the happiness felt will be communicated from adult to baby and baby to adult!

OUR TIME: Milk & Cookies Week 9

FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNING:

The Pleasure of Dance: Children find intrinsic pleasure in ‘being’ the creator of movement and dance rather than ‘imitating’ a prescribed ‘follow me and do as I do’ approach. The Creative Arts, Linda Carol Edwards

Vestibular Stimulation: It is important to stimulate the vestibular system, the part of the brain that handles balance and the sense of gravity, Stimulation can occur through a variety of movements including swinging, twisting, swaying, etc..

IMAGINE THAT! Hello Weather Week 9

FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNING

Fears: Preschool children are prone to developing both real and imaginary fears. The appearance of these imaginary fears is related to intellectual development. Children can now form images of things they have never seen; while this ability to symbolize is an important aspect of learning, it also enables them to visualize shadows on the walls as monsters or to hear the wind beating against the windowpanes as an intruder. Experiencing the imagined fear in the comfort of a loving adult helps establish coping mechanisms and separate fantasy from reality. It also allows children to learn that being fearful at times is quite normal.

Concept Learning: Concept learning is a cyclical process. The continued use of the specific idea in varied settings will help the learning to gel and contribute to a breadth and depth of understanding. Part of this cyclical process includes transference and evaluation of the concept.

Family Time: Here, There, & Everywhere Week 4

FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNING

Audiation: People can “hear” words even when they read silently inside their heads. In music this concept is called audiation, which is basically “thinking” a song inside our heads without singing. A good example of this is the song Bingo where children audiate the first few letters and just sing “N-G-O”. The development of audiation creates an understanding of music that allows a person to consciously predict patterns in unfamiliar music, and this act of predicting exercises active listening skills, creativity, and the imagination.

Singing & Speaking: Singing ability is related to the ability to control speech fluctuations, and speech activities appear to help develop tuneful singing skills. The ability to sing and the ability to converse with expressive speech are closely related. Playing with rhythmic speech (chants, poems, rhymes, etc.) as well as simple tonal melodies help the child develop both singing and speech skills.

The Joy of Music: Music is unique to humans. Music is as basic as language to human development and existence. Through music a child gains insight into herself, into others, and into life itself. Perhaps most important, she is better able to develop and sustain her imagination. Without music, life would be bleak. Because a day does not pass without a child’s hearing or participating in some music, it is to a child’s advantage to understand music as thoroughly as she can. As a result, as she becomes older she will learn to appreciate, listen to, and partake in music that she herself believes to be good. Because of such cultural awareness, her life will have more meaning for her.

Mary Had a Little Cold

Mary had a little cold
but would not stay at home.

And everywhere that Mary went,
the cold was sure to roam.

It wandered into Mary’s eyes
and filled them full of tears.

It jumped from there to Jasmine’s nose,
and then to Jimmy’s ears.

It painted Anna’s throat all red
and swelled poor Johnny’s head.

Dora had a fever
and a cough put Jack to bed.

The moral of this little tale
is very quickly said…

She could have saved a lot of pain,
with just one day in bed.

from Xander’s amazing preschool teacher Marilyn Senjack of Yorkdale Preschool in Abbotsford

A gentle reminder to stay home if you or your little one has a cold. You are always welcome to do makeup classes!

Bobs & Lolo Sea Notes

Need a new kids' music CD that won't drive you off the road?

Bobs & Lolo offer up a great, educational cd with an easy listening sound. Mostly a sort of Indigo Girls sound, but lots of different genres mixed in too. There's a blues song, a jazz song, and a few other ones thrown for good measure.

Their songs teach about ocean life (one was a marine biologist in a former life, I think), and they're really catchy.

CD's are available online and at Kidsbooks in Edgemont Village.

Very fun website with audio, colouring pages, pictures, and more!

Figure It Out!

Figure It Out PACE Fitness for Women is a low-pressure circuit gym. They're friendly & non-judgemental (a very important element when you haven't shown up for 3 or 4 weeks!).

Best of all, pre-mobile babies are welcome to come & watch you work out from 1-3 every day. So, if your Kindermusik class wasn't quite enough of a workout for you, head over to Figure It Out for a little sweat.



#120 - 889 Harbourside Drive
North Vancouver, BC Canada
Tel:604-980-2710
Email: jennifer@figureitout.ca

Village: Zoom Buggy Week 1

FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNING

Intentional Touch: Intentional touch can nurture the bond between adult and baby. Intentional touch relaxes both adult and baby with eye contact, skin contact, adult’s voice, and baby’s response.

Repetition: The child from birth to seven years learns primarily through her body experiences. Growth and development are shaped by the impressions of the world around her. Repetition of experience aids in solidifying what she has learned.

Music Development & More: Learning to listen and enjoy music helps develop an appreciation for music and also leads to a number of other developmental avenues: cognitive (spatial awareness, engages the imagination), and social and emotional (connection between adult and child, awareness of moods).

Bonding and Interaction: Your baby is ready from the beginning to interact with others. Interaction is dependent upon the adult’s learning to read her baby’s cues and matching her behaviours to her baby’s needs.

Eye Contact: One of the primary factors in developing your baby’s strong emotional foundation is the connection between you and he. Making eye contact with your baby is an important facet of this connection.

Love of Reading: Reading to your baby from his very first days may instill in him a love of reading which can last a lifetime. The benefits are numerous. Reading can open up new worlds and expand the mind. It can extend vocabulary and the understanding of things beyond our everyday experience. Allowing your baby to become familiar with books, in his own way and time, are important in fostering this love of reading.

Our Time Milk & Cookies Week 8

FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNING:

Pretend Play: The child participating in pretend play may begin with pure imitation. This imitation may evolve into imaginative play and eventually develop into more complex play through the adaptation (adding and changing) of an activity. All levels of participation provide ample opportunities for development of language skills, expressive communication skills, recognition of reality vs. fantasy, and social skills.

The Connection of Emotion and Learning: Labeling actions (such as stirring, around we go, etc.) and performing them simultaneously is central to the child’s discovery of meaning and context. Engaging in the actions in a happy environment and with caring people heightens the learning possibilities. “Emotion and learning are so connected in these early years that children are most delighted when they learn with a person to whom they are emotionally related.” (Me, Myself, & I, Kyle D. Pruett, M.D.)

Imagine That! Hello Weather Week 8

FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNING

Meaningful Listening: To make listening meaningful, we must listen with expectation and purpose. Making listening meaningful could be organized into three phases: 1. Engage: focus students’ listening by presenting a puzzle or challenge. 2. Describe: encourage students to say and discuss what they hear, see, think, and know. 3. Demonstrate: provide opportunities for students to demonstrate what they hear.

Children’s Humor: Humor is limited by their experience and by their cognitive development. It is dependent on the ability of the child to pretend and to have a playful orientation toward the situation in which humor occurs. Humor also is social. Children laugh longer in a group than when alone. Between the ages of three and four, children delight in conceptual incongruity, the invention of words and the production of nonsense sounds.

Self Controlled Action: The development of body awareness in the preschool aged children goes beyond labeling and moving specific body parts, to focusing and controlling movement of one’s body. This activity is structured to take body awareness a step further by including aural signals without visual cues. When a specific signal such as walking, running or ready stop is heard on the CD, it allows the child to focus on an aural signal, to process the meaning of the signal and then to transfer the meaning to a self controlled action.

Integration: This activity involves the integration of several learned skills such as:
- Sense of timing, sequencing and anticipation
- Interactions structured within a social setting
- Actions and motions that are described through language

Ensemble: This activity provides opportunity for pre-ensemble skill development. Listening for the appropriate entrance, timing the participation, accomplishing the rhythmic playing or saying of the words with other performers and controlling the ending of playing are all skills required to perform in an ensemble.

Music as a social activity: … “ Music is an intensely social activity. There is an increasing amount of literature that highlights the key impact which peer groups, the family, the relationships between teacher and pupil and between pupils themselves have upon a child’s interest in and knowledge about music and indeed on their developing personal identity as ‘musical’ ( O’Neil, 1997 ; Taebel, 1994 ). “

Aesthetic Awareness: Sometimes the most unusual sounds can strike a chord at the center of the soul. Learning to search for that which is beautiful, listening to that which is beautiful to the hearer and discussing beautiful sounds are the beginnings of an aesthetic awareness that lasts a lifetime.

Family Time: Here, There, Everywhere! Week 3

FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNING

Conversation: A dialogue between two partners is a conversation when it consists of multiple, balanced turns around a shared topic. Unlike other types of communication, which involve communicating concrete needs, wants, or delivering instructions, conversation focuses on interaction. Conversational interactions with young children, like the one about frogs in Frog Kiss, should involve:
- short turn taking, in which the adult and child engage in actions with or without objects
- following the child’s lead in terms of interest
- a playful atmosphere – enjoy the time spent together
- modeling communication techniques, including “commenting”, “describing”, and “requesting information”

The Value of Play: Play is a natural activity for children. The child at play is self-motivated and actively engaged. Whereas games are governed by rules, the value of play is that it provides freedom from evaluation and judgment. The freedom of a playful atmosphere fosters intellectual development as well as self-construction and the development of personality.

Awareness of Meter and Steady Beat: When attention is focused on the first beat or syllable of each measure, children are encouraged to become aware of larger groupings or the meter in music. Focusing attention on the smaller rhythmic subdivisions within each measure encourages children to become aware of steady beat. The awareness of meter and steady beat develops an aural listening capacity in the child that will help her better perceive nuances and meaning in spoken language.

Picky Eaters Be Warned! This Food is FUN!

Battles at the dinner table are one of the more dubious pleasures of parenthood. Truly blessed are the parents who have not encountered the tenacious iron will of a child who will not eat. Give playing with your food new meaning with these delicious and child appealing meals. Shhhhh! Don’t tell them it’s good for them.

Sometimes the sheer volume of a portion can scare children into not eating. All meals come in child sized portions so your kids will know this meal is special and made just for them.

There is also an extensive baby food menu designed just for babies 4-10 months of age. Who wouldn't want a 3 Bears Breakfast, organic apple & fig, or a little risotto now & then?

Click on the logo to go to their site!

Happy Halloween!

I trust everyone had a great Halloween. Thank goodness there was no rain this year!

Jacob went trick or treating with "Poppa" this year, but was too tired to go out again when Daddy came home.



Jacob was Nemo again this year. Couldn't quite get it together to make another costume! I don't think I'll be able to fool him into it again next year, though.

Piper had a cute little halloween outfit thanks to Grandma & Poppa. She got to stay home and hand out candies with Great Grandma.

Drip-Dry Drums

The babies in Village classes have been drumming up a storm. (And Jessica has been dragging a giant drum around town for the last 7 weeks!)

Kids of all ages will love this drumming idea -

Turn your bathtub into a “giant resonator” with this version of an African water drum. Visit your local dollar store and buy several small wooden salad bowls. Float the bowls upside down in a filled bathtub, so that an air pocket is formed. Use wooden or metal mixing spoons as mallets.

You might want to keep a few extra towels nearby!



Assakhalebo Tembo (water-drum)
The water-drum is made with large gourds, sometimes even buckets or any type of container. The largest part sits on the ground and is filled with water, a smaller up-turned gourd floats upside down and is beaten by finger-rings, sticks, a spoon or even sandals (flip flops). Largely used by women, these drums are played in a rhythmic ensemble with other percussion instruments.