Routines & Rituals

While routines provide continuity, comfort and security for children, rituals provide children with the opportunity to build connections with others. In a sense, rituals are routines with 'extra sparkle.' Families often have rituals associated with holidays and birthdays. For example, in our family we always start a birthday off with the child's favorite breakfast and put candles in it! This year I didn't have a 7 candle for my son and he was not about to let me off the hook. He put a 6 and 1 in his pancake and we sang to him that way. He knew that that is what we did for birthdays and he was planning on it.

Routines comfort children an serve as cues for what is expected of them, giving children a sense of control over their environment. When a child know what will happen next and what is expected of him, he will be better able to participate and to act independently, which is an important developmental step.

IDEA: Plan for simple, fun ways to add the sparkle to your everyday routines that will turn them into special rituals. A 'wake up' poem in the morning, a posted schedule for the day, a special place mat at lunch, letting everyone tell about one favorite part of their day around the dinner table, a family dance, and a lullaby sung before bedtime at night-any of these are the kinds of little things that can add joy and predictability to your child's day.

Sign Language

I've been doing some reading and research about baby sign language because I'll be offering this class this fall. I ran across an interesting article. Even though sign language is a great way to encourage early communication in young children, some parents, like the one in the article, are concerned that this form of early communication might delay their child's verbal development. I MAY have been one of these parents years ago. I thought maybe it would make my child 'lazy' and they wouldn't feel like they needed to speak. But I tried it and it was great!

The opposite is typically true. The combined experience of movement and spoken language encourages your baby's understanding of the word, as well as increases retention of the new word. This is because he is engaged actively in the learning experience and movement has stimulated the brain to receive the incoming information . It becomes a multi-sensory experience and activates more of the brain.

Parents can begin to work on baby sign language as early as 3-6 months, and children will typically begin to sign back around 6-12 months old. However, it's not too late if your child is past that age. Sign language can be a fun way to communicate for children of all ages. I recommend taking a sign language class with your child to learn how to present the signs in an interactive, age appropriate and fun way. A sign language class will also help you to understand your child's hand development. If a sign is too difficult for them to form, your child will likely make adjustments to the sign. Once you learn what to look for you may be surprised to find your child has several signs they are ready to use.

I remember the first time my now 2 year old put 2 signs together by himself. He signed 'more milk' and I wanted to do a back flip! I was so excited because he was able to tell me what he wanted without any frustration or concern and I was able to meet his need! Classes start in September!!

Echo Listening

Listening activities help children move beyond simple hearing to purposeful, active listening. Children not only learn to become active listeners, but exercise their attention and auditory discrimination skills. Imitation and echoing are fun ways to develop singing, musical thinking, listening, and attention skills.

Engage your little Sinatra in a singing conversation! Practice echoing pitch and melody in response to a questions' pitch and melody. Then take turns-one person singing short questions and the other answering using the same pitch and melody. For example: sing 'What would you like for dinner?" and encourage your child to sing their answer int eh same way, as in "I would like some noodles." Spice things up by using a different voice to echo-small and squeaky, rich and booming, and more.

Enjoy a fun new way to communicate!

Legato & Stacatto

Zoo Train was all about smooth and connected (Legato) and short and disconnected (Staccato). Understanding and controlling movement is an important skill that helps children with balance, expressive movement, and coordination. I hope you have discovered that your family experiences each of these aspects in your everyday life. Movement and music can affect the way we feel: we feel different when we see or experience bumpy movements instead of smooth ones. Just like in movement, music can be smooth or bumpy. Our world is most commonly organized in straight lines, emphasizing efficiency and directness. When children have the opportunity to explore lots of different ways to get from one place to another, they enhance their awareness of the world around them, and develop increased agility. When a child creates curves and zigzags with their arms and upper body, they frequently crosses the mid line, helping to strengthen their corpus callosum and the ability of the brains' two hemispheres to communicate with each other.

We also got out little beach balls and enjoyed being seals in the sea, rolling and bouncing them all around. Playing with a ball not only provides your children with a means for social interactions with peers and adults, but also enhances the development of arm and hand muscles, eye-hand coordination, and cause and effect relationships. Ball play also strengthens future recreational development including blowing, baseball, basketball, football and soccer.

So head on outside and bounce, roll, throw a ball curvy, zigzag and straight. Have a 'ball' and feel good knowing your growing child is learning and the same time!

Tempo

The lesson focus in Zoo Train today was Tempo. We talked about animals that move fast (allegro) and slow (andante). We rode the train fast and slow, and we visited slow gliding giraffes to move around slowly and reach for the sky, and then we visited zebras to gallop fast and race around.

As children develop, they learn all of the ways that their bodies can move, and one important aspect of this movement is speed. As babies learn to crawl, we often find them cruising around the room quickly. When toddlers learn to run, and later as preschoolers reach new levels of physical ability, we find them stretching their limits to go, go, go. In our fast-paced world, children don't often have opportunities to explore slow movement. We will make a point to experience both fast and slow through fine-motor movements, instrument exploration, moving and listening.

Another highlight was looking into little family mirrors to see what the monkeys see when they look at us. There were so many wonderful grins and giggles as kids and mommies made silly faces, sad faces, copy cat faces and enjoyed this great activity.

Move & Groove

We started our summer camp for 4-6 year olds this week. The curriculum is called Dance with Me and we learn about Treble Clef (high sounds), Bass Clef (low sounds), and different styles of dancing-ballet, tap, and jazz. We also get to feel, listen, and move to a triple meter rhythm, similar to a waltz. The kids LOVED playing the glockenspiel to a 3 beat rhythm and it was a lot of fun to kick off our summer together. It's never too late to sign up!

Zoo Train

Family Time Zoo Train starts tomorrow afternoon and I am so excited! I've been busy putting the studio together, getting the craft kits ready, singing the songs and brushing up on my ASL. I know these families will love this class! Here is a little sneak peak of some of the activities for our first day:

We will visit the monkeys! A silly thing that monkey's will do is copy you! Turn to your grown up or a friend and tap your nose-see if they will tap their nose back! Now blink your eyes and watch them blink their eyes. Now jump up and down and they will copy you!
Sing together- The monkey taps taps taps his nose. The monkey taps taps taps his nose. Monkey see. Monkey do. The monkey does the same as you! This
Instrument Play-We will pass out rhythm sticks and practice our steady beat and monkey copy cat. Play your sticks on the floor, tap them together, now tap them to your partners sticks too! Steady beat is an organizer for a child, purposeful and calming. Studies show a positive correlation of steady beat with reading, vocabulary, math, music, and physical coordination. It 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.

Now it's time for a visit to the Lions! This is a fun little finger play for a lion.
I'm a great big cat with whiskers (draw whiskers from your nose out with your fingers.)
I have big feet and claws (make big claws with your hands.)
I have a long and furry tail (shake your tail.)
I make a lion's roar! (pretend to roar like a 'nice' lion.)

I like to crawl and prowl around (crawl around on all fours)
and then when I am done
I stretch myself out oh so long (lay down and rest )
and lie down in the sun.

Thyme and Vocal Play helps your little one solidify the meanings of new words. Kindermusik carefully selects songs, poems, and rhymes with accompanying movements to emphasize the word meanings knowing that this is particularly effective in helping little ones gather and retain new words in their vocabularies. Include some finger plays with your favorite nursery rhymes. We LOVE to do this in the car, sometimes and church, and Always at the check out line at Wal-mart :) My kids love them!

And time permitting we will then take a ride on a carousel! Every kid loves the carousel and we have hoops, a large parachute, blankets, animals, so many ways to enjoy this up and down and round and round activity!

Relaxation

Children learn many skills from adults, such as tying their shoes or reading a book. They must also learn how to relax, self-calm, channel feelings, and focus. With continued practice, persistence, and a little creativity, children learn not only how to relax, but also how to use this skill effectively every day, even in chaotic environments. Relaxing together with a little soothing, gentle music in the background will go a long way towards helping your child find his own calm amid the busy chaos that can be our lives.

TIP: Establish a Relaxation Ritual in your home, perhaps first-thing in the morning or just before bedtime. Turn on some quiet music and just relax with your child – holding them if they’re small enough or just cuddling up beside each other if they’re too big for your lap. Model being still and not talking, just breathing deeply and quietly enjoying one another’s company. You might also want to sing a simple lullaby to your child at the end. This will likely become a very treasured and much-anticipated time for you and your child(ren)