FAMILY TIME: Here, There, & Everywhere Week 2

FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNING

Thinking Cap: Use your thumbs and index fingers to gently pull your ears back and slowly unroll them; begin at the top of the ear and gently massage down and around the curve, ending with the bottom of the ear lobe. The “Thinking Cap” is a Brain Gym exercise that activates the brain for focused attention on hearing. Specifically this exercise stimulates over 400 acupuncture points in the ears which relate to several brain/body functions including increasing auditory recognition, attention, discrimination, perception, memory, and reticular formation of the brain to tune out distracting, irrelevant sounds and tune in to language or other meaningful sounds.

Steady Beat: Steady beat is an organizer for the child, purposeful and calming. The research carried out by High/Scope Educational Research Foundation shows a positive correlation of steady beat with reading, vocabulary, math, music, and physical coordination. Steady beat seems to help in these areas because it contributes to a child’s ability to concentrate, understand space and distance, and have better control of physical movements.

Phonemes: Phonemes are the smallest parts of spoken language, the sounds that distinguish one word from another. All languages share certain phonemes in common, and playing with syllables like su and lu will help children perceive the distinctions between different phonemes. As children learn to distinguish the sounds of language, they become more creative and expressive in their communication, and enhance their understanding of the words they hear spoken around them.

IMAGINE THAT! Cities Week 2

FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNING

“Going up…Going down…” Have you heard your child singing these phrases this week? They are part of a song we have been learning called Elevator and Escalator. As your child sings this song, he is learning about glissando, a musical effect obtained by singing (or playing) a rapid series of pitches going up or down in a continuous sliding movement. Also, as we have pretended to ride on an elevator, your child has been using his imagination to transfer real experiences (the “concrete”) into gestures (the “abstract”). This cognitive skill is one preschool-aged children are typically ready to develop, and what better way to learn than through play!

At home this week, I hope you continue to enjoy the Game Board Set. Playing the Listen and Match game will help your child (and you!) become familiar with some of the songs we will be singing throughout the semester.

P.S. Remember to bring your Kindermusik Resonator Bars and Mallets to class next week.

OUR TIME: FIDDLE-DEE-DEE Week 2

FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNING

Make sure you take a look at page 5 of your Home Activity book for instructions for making a cardboard doghouse. Take a look at page 3 for some Fiddlestick activities to do at home.

SCAFFOLDING: Scaffolding is an interactive learning process between adult and child. The adult observes the child’s play ideas, then gently guides and supports the child’s learning by building on what the child already is able to do. Ideally, the adult will begin by meeting the child where he is – by copying his play idea, for example. Then the adult makes a slight variation on the activity, providing appropriate challenges to lead the child to new levels of learning.

STEADY BEAT: The most fundamental property of music is beat, the underlying, unchanging, repeating pulse. Feeling and moving to a steady beat develops a sense of time and the ability to organize and coordinate movements within time.

CIRCLE SONGS & COMMUNITY: Historically, community has meant the overall social context in which people live out their lives. Community remains central to children’s social and emotional development. Circle songs such as Jing Jang help to establish a secure sense of community in the Kindermusik classroom.

Village: Hickory Dickory Tickle & Bounce Week 2

FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNING

VISUAL-SPATIAL SKILLS: The more experience a child has with movement, the better her brain can interpret and integrate sensation from her eyes and body. Later on, these visual-spatial skills will manifest in your baby when she: can match shapes, letters, and numbers; can pick out objects in the fore-and background; has developed spatial awareness and an awareness of form constancy, directionality and position in space.

WHEN TO START AND WHEN TO STOP: Offer an activity when the child is alert, calm, and in a good mood. Offer something new when current interest lags. It is also important to know when to stop and activity. Watch the child closely. Young children, especially infants, have a limited tolerance for stimulation and new things. When the infant looks away, turns her head, drools, or seems less ‘together,’ it is time to stop. Let the child set the pace.

RELAXATION: Relaxation is a learned behaviour. Setting aside this time each week not to be engaged in an active, thinking activity helps your baby learn to enjoy quiet play and learn that quiet, relaxed moments can include times other than nap time and bedtime.

AUDITORY & VESTIBULAR SYSTEMS: The auditory system and vestibular system work together and are both processed in the ear. The more opportunities a child has to process vestibular information (e.g. by being moved in a variety of ways in this activity), the better he is able to differentiate sounds and discriminate sound and language.

OBJECT EXPLORATION: This fun activity allows your baby to use his sense of touch to explore a new object. Through exploration, your baby learns to use whole arm and simple wrist movements and learns to adjust the amount of pressure he applies to the drum to play it loudly or quietly. He also enjoys the cause and effect – the way his actions produce a sound on the drum!

IMAGINE THAT! Cities Week 1

I hope you and your child left the first class of Cities! Busy Places ~ Friendly Faces as energized as I! The combination of singing, movement, instrument play, and pretend play is certainly a hit. The classroom was a busy place as they visited the pretend city—full of sights, sounds, and fun experiences.

You have taken home with you this week an array of interesting materials. I know your child will be eager to play with the new Game Board Set. For information on the Game Board, first read Family Activity #1 on page 4 of the Family Activity Book. Feel free to play any or all of the games listed. However, you might find that Picture, Picture! will help familiarize your child with the theme of this semester’s unit; it also offers the opportunity to play your new instruments, a pair of Kindermusik Resonator Bars.

Enjoy listening to your Home CDs and Sarah will see you in class next week!

P.S. Be sure to have your child bring their Kindermusik Resonator Bars and Mallets to class next time. Please label both the bars and mallets for easy identification in the classroom.

ABC Canada Family Literacy Day

TODAY! Grab your favourite family book and sit down for a read. Our favourite family book is the first Kindermusik book we ever got from the Village class, Do-Si-Do. It's a great little book in which bears explore movement. There is a new bear of a different colour on every page, so it's great for colour recognition and counting as the little ones grow.

Boom pa pa, boom pa pa, tango, cha cha! One Two Three, Waltz with me, Boom pa pa pa!

Another favourite is Robert Munsch, as well as anything by Sandra Boynton!

How well do you wash?

A soap that actually teaches children to wash their hands properly? Crazy! But check it out. We need a retailer here to pick it up. The top of the pump has an ink pad on it. The ink is designed to take 15-20 seconds to come off under running water (which is the recommended time for washing).

What will they think of next?

FAMILY TIME: Here, There, & Everywhere Week 1

FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNING

Vocal Play: Playing with vocal inflection – the intonations and melody of language – is a critical part of vocal development, which may begin as early as 5-7 months of age, and provides older children the opportunity to explore the complexity of communication. Vocal play allows children to practice the precise coordination of lips, tongue, and breathing necessary to speak words.

Tonal Development: most young children can easily sing minor thirds, major seconds, and perfect fourths. These intervals create a universal foundation for tonal development in children. Descending tones and smaller intervals are easier for a child to reproduce. Imitation and vocal play help children develop audiation, musical thinking, and sophisticated listening skills – fun, interactive ways to recognize pattern and meaning in sounds.

Vestibular System: The vestibular system tells our bodies and heads where we are in relation to the surface of the earth. Are we upside down, sideways, on a roller coaster, hanging from the side of a cliff? The vestibular system helps us feel gravity so we can plan movements to control balance and bilateral coordination. It also plays a role in processing auditory language, visual-spatial relationships, and even emotional security.

Pretend Play: Pretend play is the ability to transform objects and actions symbolically. If you closely watch a young child’s pretend play, you will see that he is learning about the real world around him by exploring imaginary situations. Children use pretend play to “practice and explore what is and isn’t possible. Pretend play gives children the opportunity to try out their ideas and solve problems as they create the characters and “rules” of their world.

Entraining Beat: Our bodies transmit sound vibration and are profoundly and subtly affected by the music we hear. “Entraining” our bodies to music simply means that our bodies are vibrationally in sync with the sound. Because music is “structured sound”, when we are fully entrained with music, it can have the effect of helping us focus our energy to the tasks at hand. An easy way for you to help your family become comfortable with this process is to have them simply rock or move to the beat! Moving some part of your body, if only tapping a finger, is enough to entrain you to the music. In addition to enhancing your physical energy level, music entrainment can be used to change your state of mind, enhancing creativity as well as general performance.

OUR TIME: FIDDLE-DEE-DEE Week 1

FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNING

ACTIVE LISTENING: Active listening differs from hearing in that it is an intentional act. While we are surrounded by sounds in our everyday life, we choose whether or no to listen and process the sounds we hear. Active Listening activities allow children the opportunity to learn to listen intentionally.

BENEFITS OF ROLLING: Most everyday locomotor movements of children, such as walking, running and crawling, involve the use of the arms and/or legs. Rolling, however, is initiated from the center of the body, with the body being propelled in a prone state by the hips and torso. Rolling is also unique in that it allows the child (or adult!) to experience the sensation of seeing the world from his stomach and back all in one continuous movement. This provides good stimulation for the vestibular system, which is important in many ways to a child’s development, especially for his sense of balance and orientation in space.

MOVEMENT & LEARNING: Movement is key to learning! Our brains fully develop through movement activities such as crawling, rolling, turning, walking, skipping, reaching, swinging, and much more. The brain has a plan for development that involves specific and intensive motor activities to make full use of our complicated nervous system.

LITERACY: Reading picture books together with adults helps children internalize some skills that are crucial in the development of true literacy. Reading together fosters reading enjoyment, provides predictability through repetition, introduces new vocabulary, expands understanding of story structures, promotes critical thinking, and encourages language play and creative expression. Music and movement story time also encourages musical development through tonal, rhythm, and movement play.

FIDDLE-DEE-DEE AT HOME: Circle songs are a great way to share Kindermusik with the rest of the family. Check your home activity book for lyrics and musical scores.

Village: Hickory Dickory Tickle & Bounce Week 1

FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNING

BAREFOOT IS BEST: Your baby learns much about the world through touch. The skin on the bottoms of the feet is especially sensitive, allowing lots of sensory input for baby.

DID YOU KNOW? The tune for Baa Baa Black Sheep is also the tune for the Alphabet Song and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote a set of piano variations on the same melody, which comes from a traditional French song entitled Ah! Vous dirai-je, Maman.

STEADY BEAT: Internalizing a steady beat is important to your baby’s developing physical coordination. Later on this internalized steady beat will help her learn to use scissors, bounce a ball, and walk with self-confidence.

SIGN LANGUAGE: Introducing signing to hearing babies has be benefit of allowing adult and baby to communicate before baby’s vocal chords are developed enough to speak. This silent communication raises self-esteem, eliminates the frustration of not being able to communicate and engages baby as an active participant in the learning environment.

MOTOR SKILL DEVELOPMENT: The more opportunities your baby has to learn to move his body in different ways, the easier it will be for him to learn new motor movements. Motor skill development may be increased through building on previous motor experiences.

BOARD BOOK PEEK-A-BOO: Young toddlers enjoy the hinge action of sturdy board books. You might see a toddler turning a page back and forth over and over again. She is creating her own “peek-a-boo” experience, watching a picture appear and disappear over and over again. Sturdy cardboard pages also help the child learn to use the thumb and forefinger to turn the pages, the skill for mastering paper pages later.

Monday Village With Seniors Postponed

Cedarview Lodge is requesting that we delay our start date by a week. They have a virus going around, and we thought it best not to expose the babies to it.

The Monday Village with Seniors is the only class that will start a week late. All other classes will go ahead next week as planned.

Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. I know you were all looking forward to starting classes again!

Who IS Mother Goose?

The first collection of "Mother Goose" stories was produced in 1697 by Frenchman Charles Perrault and included ten fairy tales. His book was translated into English in 1729 as Mother Goose's Fairy Tales. Then, in 1787, Isaiah Thomas published the first American edition. Mother Goose's Melody, or Sonnets for the Cradle, which consisted of about 50 rhymes including favourites Little Tommy Tucker and Jack & Jill.

Meanwhile, the origin of the figure Mother Goose is not completely clear - perhaps she was Bertrada, mother of Charlemagne who, for her large feet, was also know as "Queen Goosefoot" and was a patroness of children. Whether or not there was a "real" Mother Goose, the mythical figure mere l'oye (which translates as mother goose) was familiar in France by the mid-17th century as a "fairy birdmother who told charming tales to children." Of the body of tales and rhymes attributed to her, some were in print in Italy as early as 1637.

For some contemporary Mother Goose fun, join our Village class for Hickory Dickory Tickle & Bounce. For fun at home, go to http://www.mothergoose.com for stories, art pages, video clips, and more!

New Classes Start Next Week!

All new curricula = All new fun!

For those who may not know, Kindermusik classes run on a two year cycle. So if you've taken Village, Our Time, or Imagine That before, it's all new this time (unless you did it 2 years ago with another child!).

The Eagles Have Landed!

We took a drive up to Brackendale on Sunday to look at the eagles. There were plently to see, and the volunteers were very nice to provide binoculars, but 3 year olds just aren't into it. At least mine wasn't. The eagles were too far away for him to really see, and Daddy was a little anxious to get back into the car before he froze solid. A more nervous person might be overwhelmed by the lack of fencing between the trail and the cliff down to the river.

I thoroughly enjoyed the brisk walk and the eagle viewing! Jacob was a little more taken by the "mighty machines" on the road up and back. Having just discovered Bob the Builder, he was most impressed by the vast numbers that we passed. I was happy to have my husband there to properly label the giant yellow things. Apparently bulldozers are a thing of the past (although we did see one, so they can't be completely obsolete).

Love Those Muppets!

All of the elements of vocal play and turn taking. Sit your little one on your lap and enjoy!

Watch the clip!

Easy, but Spectacular!

Jacob did great painting at a swimming camp over the holidays. They splattered primary coloured paint on a piece of black construction paper. While the paint was wet, they sprinkled (liberally) silver sparkles over the page.

The result was a very effective rendition of a fireworks display.

Try it! (Keep the dustbuster handy...)

Don't forget about Sign & Sing!

Don't forget that we have Sign & Sing classes too!

Mondays at 1:15 & Tuesdays at 11:15
Signing for babies 6 months - 2 years

A five week introductory class to teach you how to sign most effectively with your child.

Hearing children who know signs, learn language almost twice as fast. As early as 11-14 months old, hearing children exposed to sign language put little sentences together faster than non-signing children, who do not begin to combine words into short sentences, such as "Da-da car" until the average age of 20 months.
Study conducted by Dr. Michelle Anthony and Dr. Reyna Lindert, Signing Smart program founders.

As with other Kindermusik classes, you can enjoy the experience all week long. Your home kit includes a DVD, flash cards, and an activity book.

Sign Up Today!
(Pardon the terrible pun!)

How do you feel today?

Is it a Kindermusik Day? My son has been asking to go sing with Jessica every morning. He is in serious withdrawl!

Don't forget to register soon - classes start up in two weeks!

In the meantime, here is a fun way to cess out your musical mood:

Musicovery

Live Music

Burstin' With Broadway is performing on Saturday, January 20th.

There are performances at 2:30 and 7pm. The concert is about an hour, with selections from Mamma Mia, The Lion King, and Les Miserables, among others. This is a great opportunity to have your little one hear live vocals!

Mount Seymour United Church
1200 Parkgate Avenue,
North Vancouver

Admission by donation

Need a Passport? Get in line!

I knew it would be crazy - it always is this time of year - but the passport office was insane!

My parents have decided that they can't go 6 weeks without seeing their grandchildren, so they are generously flying us all to Maui for a two week visit during their vacation. However, as of January 23rd, ALL Canadians require a passport to fly into the US. As we're leaving on the 29th, it doesn't give me the luxury of mailing in Piper's application.

We arrived at the passport office at 9:45. We left at 2:15. Yes, folks. It took 4 and a half HOURS to complete the application process. It was 2 hours standing in line just to get a number! Thank goodness Jacob (3) was at a day camp and I had arranged to have his grandma pick him up. I can't begin to imagine the nightmare had I had them both there. I am quite certain we would have all been kicked out of the office. As it was, I nearly got us kicked out when I sat on the floor in the middle of the lobby where we were queued waiting for our numbers. (There is a large sign stating that there is no sitting or standing in that particular area. When the security guard suggested to me that I wasn't allowed to sit, I referred him to the sign that indicated that we shouldn't be standing there either. I think it was the exposed breast that weakened the strength of his position...)

Piper, who never poops in the morning, had several explosive ones (and I, of course, had brought a minimal number of diapers and even fewer changes of clothes with me). Fortunately, I have a fabulous stroller with a bassinet. Several mothers used it to change diapers as we huddled like cattle, afraid to leave for fear of losing our golden opportunity to speak to a surley government worker.

Suggestions should you have to get a passport before March:

1. Apply online. You still have to wait to get your number, but once you've done the prescreening, you get bumped WAAAY up the list. People who had done that only waited about 20 minutes to see someone. This only applies to adult passports, however, as you cannot make an online application for children under 16.

2. Take water. But not too much. It's hot, but there is no bathroom on that floor.

3. Be nice to security people. They have the right to actually kick you out of the office if you're rude or disrespectful.

4. Take the Seabus across. It cost me $20 to park for the day!

5. If at all possible, mail your application in and avoid the office altogether. It's crazy!

Jacob & his Poppa 2 years ago in Maui.

Your Child's Musical Development

(Information from BBC Parents' Music Room)

Birth to 18 months (Kindermusik Village Classes)

From conception to eighteen months, your baby is developing rapidly and his response to musical activity will not only be rewarding but highly beneficial to his general development.

At birth, babies can hear high-pitched noises, may be calmed by lower sounds, and can locate sound in front of them. They will be startled by a loud or sudden sound.

By four weeks, they prefer high-pitched sounds and start to respond to the sound of your voice. They will recognize whether sound is coming from behind or in front.

From three months, they may respond actively to music by, for example, swaying and turning towards the sound, and vocalizing vowel sounds like "Aaah", "Eee" and "Ooo."

At 20 weeks, they begin to recognize familiar voices and respond differently to the sound of strange voices.

By six months, they start imitating sounds (e.g. Boo! La!).

At 28 weeks, they will look towards sounds from above and below and tell tunes apart.

By nine months, they respond to familiar songs. Their singing may follow a familiar melodic pattern.

From one year, they will begin to lose the capacity to hear high-pitched sounds but start to discover musical pulse and create sounds by banging everyday objects.

Some babies say their first words as early as eight months. Many begin to talk around eighteen months, and some take a little longer. Singing with your baby could speed up this process.

18 months to 3 years (Kindermusik Our Time Classes)
By eighteen months, your child may start to respond to music in a coordinated way.

Language skills can develop further through singing and imitation.

Moving and responding to music can help develop memory and hand/eye coordination.

Children learn to distinguish between loud and quiet and fast and slow.

Children begin to be aware of a beat in the music and recognize different rhythms.

They will learn the words to simple songs and develop the coordination needed to play simple instruments, such as drums and bells.

This is when they begin to find out how to cooperate with other children, an essential skill for playing in ensembles.

3 years to 5 years (Kindermusik Imagine That! Classes)
Your child may begin to become more aware of pitch and rhythm.

They will learn to sing more complex songs as language skills grow and their vocal chords develop.

They can cope with more sophisticated movement to music.

They will take pleasure in playing and exploring new sounds and instruments.


Our Kindermusik classes are designed to encourage and support each stage of a child's musical development, starting with our infants and babies in Village classes to our big kids in Imagine That classes.

Register Today!

Only 3 Weeks Left to Register!

It's a new year, with a whole new semester of Kindermusik! Classes start January 22nd.

Village: Rhythm of My Day & Hickory Dickory Tickle & Bounce
Our Time: Fiddle-Dee-Dee
Imagine That: Cities
Family Time: Here, There, & Everywhere
Sign & Sing: Session A

Check the schedule and register now!

Feel free to email me with any questions you might have.