Spatial Awareness

The four parts of spatial awareness are: 

• Distance
• Form (shape)
• Direction
• Position (in relationship to others)

How many of you absolutely LOVE GEOMETRY?  If you want your child to love it and be good at it, then you will love learning how for the first seven years of your child’s life, Kindermusik and you will be teaching spatial orientation skills through play.  Among other benefits, spatial awareness is the basis for success in Geometry and Higher Math.

Spatial awareness is the knowledge of where you are in relationship to other people and objects in your environment.  To develop spatial awareness, children learn concepts such as direction, distance and location.

In the Kindermusik classroom, a child with spatial awareness will understand that as she walks, hops, skips or jumps toward another person in the classroom, she is coming closer to that person.  She will be able to judge how much space she and her hoop require to navigate around the room without bumping into others.  Or she will be able to tap a woodblock or drum with a mallet.

Studies have suggested a link between a well-developed sense of spatial awareness and artistic creativity, success in math, and the development of abstract thought.  The ability to organize and classify abstract mental concepts is related to the ability to organize and classify objects in space.

The key to promoting spatial awareness in your child is to encourage and allow them to explore their surroundings.  And there’s no better way to inspire that spirit of exploration and learning than in the Kindermusik classroom!

Timbre and Phonemes

In response to a popular holiday song, “Do you hear what I hear?” the answer just might be: maybe. Hearing distinct differences in sounds takes practice. For example, back in August and September, early childhood teachers welcomed new students into the classroom. On that first day of school, the classroom full of children sounded like, well, a classroom full of children. By November, however, teachers learned to identify the distinct voices of each student. In music, we call distinct sounds timbre and it helps us distinguish the sound of a violin from a guitar; Jack’s voice from Aidan’s voice; and even aids in phonemic awareness by helping us hear the difference between the sound of a letter “v” and the sound of the letter “b.”

How people perceive timbre

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University recently created a computer model that mirrored how people make judgment calls regarding timbre. In the study, participants listened to two sounds played by different musical instruments and rated how similar the sounds appeared. The computer model recognized similar subtle differences in sounds that human participants did. For example, both acknowledged that the violin and cello appeared to be closer in sound to each other than a violin and flute and wind and percussive instruments were the most different.

“There is much to be learned from how the human brain processes complex information such as musical timbre and translating this knowledge into improved computer systems and hearing technologies,” researcher Moanya Elhilali said in the article, “Music in our ears: The Science of Timbre.”

Connection between timbre, phonemes, and early literacy

In ABC Music & Me, our early literacy and language curriculum, children explore the concepts of timbre whenever they compare the differences between and among sounds. Each week in class, children may participate in active listening, singing, vocal play, and instrument exploration activities to teach them auditory discrimination. That same sound discrimination helps children hear the minute differences between letter sounds or phonemes, which supports early literacy and language development. Plus, researchers agree that music improves phonemic awareness in young children.

E-books

Thirty years ago an early literacy revolution began, but it didn’t start how you might think. It began with a single computer, well, millions of them to be exact. In 1982, the Commodore 64 personal computer became available to the general public making it affordable for parents, teachers, and schools to integrate technology into learning, including early language and literacy development. Now, preschool and elementary classrooms often include multiple computer workstations logged into early literacy websites, such as StarFall, that teach phonemic awareness, and iPads or Kindles loaded with favorite e-books.

Best practices for using e-books to boost early literacy and language development

Source: Akron Beacon Journal Online

Early childhood researchers continue to learn how to best use the latest technology to impact the early literacy and language abilities of children. A recent study from the University of Akron wanted to see how e-books affected the early literacy skills of at-risk students. For three years, the researchers followed 16 Head Start classrooms in Ohio. Half of the classrooms used traditional books and methods for learning early literacy and language, whereas the other half used e-books. The researchers found that e-books can indeed increase a child’s early literacy and language abilities.

Go Ahead and Laugh!

Laugh… for your health!  Laughter helps strengthen the immune system, lower blood pressure, and reduce stress levels.  In addition, humor helps young children handle problems or crisis situations, enhances social skills, and helps them create social bonds and healthy emotional attachments – so laugh away!

Tips for parents:  Take a few minutes for some funny faces, silly songs, knock-knock jokes, or just acting silly.  Laughing together not only has significant health benefits, it can also diffuse a tense situation and create some special bonds.  Who knew a little giggle could go such a long way?!

Bedtime Rituals

“Bedtime is a monumental moment to a baby or toddler, a time of transition in which parents hold nearly shamanistic power to tame the forces of darkness.“– Meg Cox, The Heart of A Family, p. 213.

In a Kindermusik class, we have some very special rituals we include in every class.  That’s because young children thrive on the love and comfort of favorite rituals.  At home, bedtime provides a special time of connection for parent and child. As children grow, it can also become a very special time for parents to stay connected and in touch with what is really going on in their children’s lives.

Bedtime Ritual Ideas You Can Share with Your Children

• Reading
• Listening to crickets
• Inventing stories
• Singing
• Going through a specific bedtime routine (get a drink, change diapers/get a drink, kiss & hug, turn out the light)
• Infant massage, back scratches, and foot rubs