Week 13

This week I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! I hope you can find some time over our Christmas break to continue the fun we've been having in class! Use your At-Home materials and enjoy being together!

Young Child

Week 13:

This week, we talked about the Nutcracker Ballet. We all had a chance to see it performed a few days before class! We tried dancing like the Russian dancers!

We moved to different "transportation" sounds! In the background, you can see our glockenspiels that we took home this week. We get to play on them during our Christmas break.

We learned more about the staff! We jumped to different lines and spaces on our big moveable staff.

Our Time: MILK & COOKIES

Week 12

For the next few weeks, many of our classroom activities will offer the opportunity for your child to hear, create and experience loud sounds and quiet sounds. Games such as these help develop listening skills as well as allow the opportunity for your child to use his/her cognitive skills to explore and discover.

Activities which encourage the child to move or stop moving in response to a cue help the child develop inhibitory (internal) control. The ability to control body movement is an important step toward developing self-discipline.

Fine Motor Skills may be developed through games requiring focus on finger movements. These skills are essential in increasing the child’s ability to turn pages of a book, use a crayon, hold a toothbrush or use a spoon. Last 3 pics w/bells

Imagine That!: HELLO WEATHER, LET’S PLAY TOGETHER!

Week 12

This week, we played a silly game reciting , such as “la,” “ba,” “boo,” and “ho,” while watching our mouths in the mirror. A phoneme is the smallest segment of speech. Developing phonemic awareness is critical in laying the groundwork for learning to read and write.

We also worked on our fine motor skills while singing Lirum, Larum and wiggling our fingers individually.

And of course, we had more fun with our “snowball” fights and “ice skating.”

Young Child 1

Week 12

This is one of my favorite weeks in Young Child! We started learning about the staff!

Reading and writing in music is called music notation. This week the children learned about the note c on the music staff. Note c on space 3!

We also talked a little bit about our glockenspiels and played a few songs on them. They will go home next week!

Young Child 3

Week 12

Because the brain’s memory system is connected to the emotional system, things that are learned in a joyful environment are more likely to be remembered than those that are experienced in a less stimulating one. I hope your child finds joy in participating in playing their own compositions,


“paddling” through the “water” with our whole notes as we sing “Canoe Song,”


and practicing our Native American hand movements with “Land of the Silver Birch.”

Our Time: MILK & COOKIES

Week 11

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.” – Fostering Children’s Social Competence: The Teacher’s Role by Lilian G. Katz and Diane E. McClellan

Imagine That!: HELLO WEATHER, LET’S PLAY TOGETHER!

Week 11

This week in class, we went “ice-skating.” This kind of pretend play 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.

We also heard three versions of the familiar song Jingle Bells. First, we sang along to a traditional arrangement; then we danced to a “jazzy” version; and last, we rocked to a soothing piano rendition. Take a few moments to listen to these again at home and talk with your child about the differences. Guiding your child to listen intentionally will help his/her aural skills as well as develop his/her use of vocabulary.

Also, your child brought home today a brand new book, Hurry Home, Little Kittens. Enjoy reading this together, singing the refrain and making lots of wind, rain and storm sounds!

Young Child 1

Week 11

The study of music is unique and fulfilling. Music uses a complex and theoretical system for notation and the “reading” of music scores while the appreciation of music requires an individual and inner understanding of the aesthetic qualities of sound. The human brain is, amazingly, able to process all of this at one time given early exposure to quality music experiences.

The study of music calls on the use of both hemispheres of the brain simultaneously. The right hemisphere generally tunes into the melody, tonality, and overall appearance of the sound while the left hemisphere attends to the notation, rhythm, and lyrics. Thus, the study of music is ideal in building communication lines in the human brain.

Young Child 3

Week 11

As we continue the study of Native American music, we are integrating the rhythmic concept of beat patterns. Drums and shakers, integral to Native American music, are ideal instruments for working with four-beat patterns. The children have now learned that four quarter notes equal four beats; two half notes equal four beats; one whole note equals four beats;
and that there are many other note combinations that equal four beats.

Young Child 3

Week 10:

This week’s class was a good mix of concept review (Note Name Review, rhythm review) and concept introduction.

Also, we performed a “Hop, Old Squirrel” 3-part ensemble today. What an accomplishment! Good ensemble playing requires a great deal of focus and concentration. This group of children has certainly matured in their ability to work together. It is a pleasure for me to see (and hear) what they are able to achieve!

Young Child 1

Week 10:

As we focus in class on melodic direction, listening for high sounds and low sounds, we are using the familiar “Star Light, Star Bright” song. The children are “tuning” in to sounds and pitches, learning to differentiate and identify. We played a game to practice listening for high or low sounds.

Imagine That!: HELLO WEATHER, LET’S PLAY TOGETHER!

Week 10:

We continue with a lot of Active Listening (differentiating between hearing and listening) in our Imagine That! classes. “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.

The At-Home Kindermusik CDs are created with several goals in mind. One of these goals is to introduce your child to a variety of musical styles. This week, while we all listened to “storm music” (an excerpt from the Allegro “Storm” movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, Op. 68 in F Major, the Pastoral Symphony), the children made “storm drawings.”

We were transferring our whole body movements of dancing to and creating wind and storm music to controlled hand and finger movements.

Our Time: MILK & COOKIES

Week 10:

We had so much fun this week in Our Time! The kids are getting much more comfortable in class and this week I saw a lot more participation and sociability.

“Ding dong! Knock, knock!” “Listening” in Kindermusik class comes in many forms. We listen to each other, we listen to music as we rock and dance, and we listen and talk about specific identified sounds.

“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 not to listen and process the sounds we hear. “Active Listening” is an important part of the Kindermusik curricula because it offers children the opportunity to learn to listen with intention.

We had a lot of fun playing. Play is a natural self-motivated activity for children. The value of lay is that it provides freedom from evaluation and judgement. The freedom of a playful atmosphere fosters intellectual development as well as self-construction and the development of personality.