Music isn’t just learning notes and playing them. Youlearn notes to play to the music of your soul.
~ Katie Greenwood
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
Vocal Play
Playing with vocal inflection – the intonations of melody of language – is a critical part of early childhood 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.
Ideas for parents: Vocal Play can happen any time, but can be especially fun in the car or during bath time. An easy way to facilitate vocal play is to sing a snippet of a song or chant a short rhythm pattern or poem and invite your child to echo you back. Or you can sing part of a song or say part of a poem and have them respond with the next line. It’s a simple little game that’s both engaging and beneficial for your child’s vocal development.
Ideas for parents: Vocal Play can happen any time, but can be especially fun in the car or during bath time. An easy way to facilitate vocal play is to sing a snippet of a song or chant a short rhythm pattern or poem and invite your child to echo you back. Or you can sing part of a song or say part of a poem and have them respond with the next line. It’s a simple little game that’s both engaging and beneficial for your child’s vocal development.
Steady Beat
I've said this before, and I'm sure I'll say it again. Steady Beat is one of the fundamentals of music and life. As a child moves to a steady beat, he develops a sense of timing, which is fundamental to the ability to organize and coordinate movements. It’s easy to see how this might apply to a child’s walking with a steady gait, learn to pedal a bicycle, and eventually, be more coordinated at the piano and on the sports field. This type of coordination even plays into tasks such as writing with a pencil or typing on a keyboard. Music relies upon steady beat as much as or more than any other activity, making it a great way to build these skills.
Ideas for parents: What about playing parade? It’s the perfect way to be active indoors when the weather doesn’t permit you to be outdoors. Simply turn on some marching music – any music with a strong, steady beat will do – and form a parade as you march together around the house. You might pick up some other parade musicians (i.e., other family members) along the way. You could add some simple homemade instruments if you’d like, such as a wooden spoon and bowl, a shaker, or a homemade drum. You can even make a baton for the grand master of your parade.
Ideas for parents: What about playing parade? It’s the perfect way to be active indoors when the weather doesn’t permit you to be outdoors. Simply turn on some marching music – any music with a strong, steady beat will do – and form a parade as you march together around the house. You might pick up some other parade musicians (i.e., other family members) along the way. You could add some simple homemade instruments if you’d like, such as a wooden spoon and bowl, a shaker, or a homemade drum. You can even make a baton for the grand master of your parade.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Social Interaction
As children grow, they must learn to play with others, not just for sake of 'getting along' but also because being able to interact with peers is an important part of becoming a successful learner. Sharing and taking turns are difficult lessons to master, but as children spend more time playing together, they begin to recognize each other's feelings and advance from parallel play (playing along side other children) to cooperative play (playing with other children).
In our Mom and Me class this week we saw a lot of good sharing, and a lot of good parallel play. We had a sound tube that each child was able to try out with their moms. I was so impressed with how patiently the other kids waited their turn! We are talking 2 and 3 year olds here and they understood that everyone would get a turn so they patiently waited. I think in the next few weeks as the kids get more familiar with each other and the Kindermusik routine they will begin to participate in more cooperative play.
IDEA: Use your Kindermusik songs and activities from class to inspire some parent-child play at home. You can also encourage your child's play by providing simple and developmentally appropriate play materials. Organize the items into labeled bins and place in easy reach on shelves or in the closet.
In our Mom and Me class this week we saw a lot of good sharing, and a lot of good parallel play. We had a sound tube that each child was able to try out with their moms. I was so impressed with how patiently the other kids waited their turn! We are talking 2 and 3 year olds here and they understood that everyone would get a turn so they patiently waited. I think in the next few weeks as the kids get more familiar with each other and the Kindermusik routine they will begin to participate in more cooperative play.
IDEA: Use your Kindermusik songs and activities from class to inspire some parent-child play at home. You can also encourage your child's play by providing simple and developmentally appropriate play materials. Organize the items into labeled bins and place in easy reach on shelves or in the closet.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
The Glockenspiel
At about the age of five, many children are ready for first experiences with a melodic instrument. Eye-hand coordination is improving, melodic memory is stronger, and the child has a keen interest in re-creating the melodies he or she sings and hears. Because of its size and delightful sound quality, the glockenspiel is an ideal first melodic instrument for young children and will be used throughout all four semesters of the program. However, the child’s success with this instrument is very much dependent upon careful preparation, a highly sequential approach to its use, and encouraging reinforcement at home.
In Semester 1 of the Young Child curriculum, long before the glockenspiels go home with the children, there are many experiences that nurture a level of beat competency and basic melodic memory that help to ensure success for each child at the glockenspiel. Of utmost importance in this process is the notion that children play from musical memory rather than by simultaneous reading and playing. This is not to say that children do not learn to read musical notation. On the contrary, children learn to read notation vocally and to commit to memory what they have read and heard many times. From this musical memory, the child approaches the glockenspiel with patterns so familiar that full concentration can be placed on the actual manipulation of the instrument.
Of course, learning to read and play simultaneously is a skill all musicians need to develop. However, very few children at this stage of development are ready for this highly integrated skill. This skill will develop naturally in most children as the processes of sensory integration are refined, but this rarely happens before the age of seven or eight.
The preparation for glockenspiel playing takes place over the first thirteen weeks of Semester 1. Steady beat activities, simple ensembles, and a repertoire of songs provide the foundation for successful first experiences in Lesson 13. From Lesson 13 until the end of the second semester, glockenspiels will be used in each lesson.
In Semester 1 of the Young Child curriculum, long before the glockenspiels go home with the children, there are many experiences that nurture a level of beat competency and basic melodic memory that help to ensure success for each child at the glockenspiel. Of utmost importance in this process is the notion that children play from musical memory rather than by simultaneous reading and playing. This is not to say that children do not learn to read musical notation. On the contrary, children learn to read notation vocally and to commit to memory what they have read and heard many times. From this musical memory, the child approaches the glockenspiel with patterns so familiar that full concentration can be placed on the actual manipulation of the instrument.
Of course, learning to read and play simultaneously is a skill all musicians need to develop. However, very few children at this stage of development are ready for this highly integrated skill. This skill will develop naturally in most children as the processes of sensory integration are refined, but this rarely happens before the age of seven or eight.
The preparation for glockenspiel playing takes place over the first thirteen weeks of Semester 1. Steady beat activities, simple ensembles, and a repertoire of songs provide the foundation for successful first experiences in Lesson 13. From Lesson 13 until the end of the second semester, glockenspiels will be used in each lesson.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Memorable over Measurable
The experts and specialists can all point to various research studies and case studies that support the notion that early childhood music classes can have significant impact on a child’s cognitive, physical, and musical development. There’s no disputing those cold, hard facts. But what keeps me going back to the classroom, what inspires me to continue forging ahead as a program owner through some of the worst economic times we’ve ever seen is not the research or the facts, but rather in the magic I see unfolding every week in every class – the magic that creates the memories.
For the children attending Kindermusik classes, the magic is in the gift of time, time together in class with their special adult that is focused on enjoying one another, freely and without distraction or requirements. For still others who have developmental delays or special needs, Kindermusik music classes are that final key to unlocking that final gate for communication, through learning to sign, beginning to speak, or connecting through the joy of a shared experience.
Sometimes the magic comes through the non-verbal – that first hesitant smile, those first little dance steps, or those first notes on their instrument. For others, the magic happens when they jingle along to the steady beat, find their singing voice for the first time, share their ideas with the rest of the class, or contribute their part to a musical ensemble
For the children attending Kindermusik classes, the magic is in the gift of time, time together in class with their special adult that is focused on enjoying one another, freely and without distraction or requirements. For still others who have developmental delays or special needs, Kindermusik music classes are that final key to unlocking that final gate for communication, through learning to sign, beginning to speak, or connecting through the joy of a shared experience.
Sometimes the magic comes through the non-verbal – that first hesitant smile, those first little dance steps, or those first notes on their instrument. For others, the magic happens when they jingle along to the steady beat, find their singing voice for the first time, share their ideas with the rest of the class, or contribute their part to a musical ensemble
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Getting Ready for School
Every elementary school teacher knows (and child development experts confirm) that “school-readiness” involves more than just knowing your ABCs. Just as essential to academic success is a set of skills that enables children to recognize and manage their emotions, build positive relationships, and control their impulses and behavior sufficiently to get along in a group of children and take advantage of group instruction. These skills, collectively, are called social-emotional skills.
Studies point to a specific cluster of social-emotional skills—called self-regulation skills—as particularly important for a variety of school successes. Children who display strong self-regulation are better able to control their impulses, pay attention, work flexibly toward goals, and show an ability to plan and organize their actions. A self-regulated child, for example, will be able to wait his or her turn in line without frustration, will resist blurting out answers when other children have been asked a question, and mighteven be observed suggesting fair solutions to a playground problem.
But . . . won’t children just learn these skills when they get older? Or do we actually need to devote time specifically to developing children’s social-emotional skills? Well, actually . . . no and no.
Early childhood is the time to infuse social-emotional skills into a child’s learning, instead of waiting until school begins. Children who begin school able to interact positively with others are statistically already at a great advantage.
But, social-emotional skills don’t need their own “class time”. This kind of learning can and should be woven organically into the other experiences and content-learning children are engaging in.
Studies point to a specific cluster of social-emotional skills—called self-regulation skills—as particularly important for a variety of school successes. Children who display strong self-regulation are better able to control their impulses, pay attention, work flexibly toward goals, and show an ability to plan and organize their actions. A self-regulated child, for example, will be able to wait his or her turn in line without frustration, will resist blurting out answers when other children have been asked a question, and mighteven be observed suggesting fair solutions to a playground problem.
But . . . won’t children just learn these skills when they get older? Or do we actually need to devote time specifically to developing children’s social-emotional skills? Well, actually . . . no and no.
Early childhood is the time to infuse social-emotional skills into a child’s learning, instead of waiting until school begins. Children who begin school able to interact positively with others are statistically already at a great advantage.
But, social-emotional skills don’t need their own “class time”. This kind of learning can and should be woven organically into the other experiences and content-learning children are engaging in.
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