Young Child 3

Week 9: We are learning to play dulcimers this semester. The students got to decorate their own dulcimers

and had some fun with them in class:

Today, as in every lesson, the children participated in a Focused Listening activity. This week’s Focused Listening featured various folk instruments—the fiddle (or the fiddle style of playing the violin), the guitar, and the banjo. After listening, we discussed the similarities and differences among the instruments’ sounds.

Research has shown that early experiences with careful, analytical listening can dramatically improve auditory processing, listening comprehension, and in turn, reading ability. Reading is directly related to listening in that a successful reader must be able to relate the words on the page to sounds—internalizing and remembering them long enough to understand what has just been read.

Young Child 3

Week 8:

This week’s class focused upon music of the Appalachian mountains, including a familiar song from last year, “Hop, Old Squirrel.” Mixing the old with the new gives the children a feeling of competence and enjoyment. We are also focusing on learning about the dulcimer and how to apply previously learned concepts (steady beat, notation, melody) to the new instrument.

At home, be sure to read Music at Home 32 for specific instructions on how to play the dulcimer. Help your child play familiar tunes as well as to simply “play around.” Experimenting with and exploring the dulcimer will build a level of comfort with the instrument, thus enabling your child to approach it more and more confidently each time.

We'll be posting pictures of our newly decorated dulcimers next week! Keep checking back!

Young Child 1

Week 8:

“I can’t see the wind, but I know it’s there.” How does the wind move? How does it affect trees, flags, kites,

grass, and flowers? Can you feel the wind? In class we listened to “I Can’t See the Wind” and moved “like the wind.” At home, play your Home CD and move like the wind. Then try some contrasting movements with a rousing movement game to “Join the Parade.” Which types of movements do you and your child enjoy the most?

Movement activities provide many opportunities for children to express themselves. “We all need to experience the freedom and joy of our own creative movement…. We need to create, to express and be nourished as we learn from experiences which connect to our deepest selves.”*

We also began reading the divided beat (eighth notes) using the term ti-ti. Keep practicing at home keeping in mind that ta, ti-ti, and sh all get one beat.

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

Week 8:

“There was an old man named…” How many of you remember this favorite childhood song? Your children and I had lots of fun singing Michael Finnigan while reading the book. At home, read your own copy of Michael Finnigan and come up with a new wind sound for every page!

Another of our activities is On Our Way: Windy Walk. The development of body awareness in the preschool-aged child goes beyond labeling and moving specific body parts, to focusing and controlling the
movement of one’s body. This activity is structured to take body awareness a step further by including aural signals without the visual cues. When a specific signal such as walking, running or ready stop is heard on the
CD, it allow the child to focus on an aural signal, to process the meaning of the signal and then to transfer the meaning to a self-controlled action. Control of the body is the first kind of control children have over themselves and is the first step toward the development of internal control or ‘self-discipline.’

Now for some fun pictures of our Hoop Play and Color of the Rainbow classes:

And these are some fun pictures from Funky Hats and Boots:

Our Time: MILK & COOKIES

Week 8:

This week, we sang I’m a Little Teapot. Familiar songs are a great starting point for singing with your own child at home. Check out all the music scores in your Home Activity Book. You’ll find all the words there even if you don’t read music. And of course, your CDs provide you with all the songs and chants we enjoy in class.

Kindermusik CDs are created with several goals in mind: to expose your child to developmentally appropriate songs and chants; to encourage your child’s interaction with songs and chants; to provide appropriate singing models; to broaden your child’s listening opportunities with songs from several cultures; and to introduce your child to a variety of instrumental and vocal sounds.

We also recited a poem with hand motions: Cup of Tea. Fingerplays are based in pretend play. The child participating in pretend play may begin with pure imitation. This imitation may evolve into imaginative play and eventually develop into more complex play through the adaptation (adding and changing) of an activity. All levels of participation provide ample opportunities for development of language skills, expressive communication skills, recognition of reality vs fantasy, and social skills.

So until next week, enjoy listening, singing and playing together!

Here's a few fun pictures for you to enjoy of our past few weeks...

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

Young Child 3

We introduced our new instrument—a stringed instrument called the dulcimer. Kindermusik International has designed a two-stringed student dulcimer exclusively for Young Child students around the world. We are very fortunate to have this instrument in our classroom and in our homes!

Some of the other concepts we will cover this semester include: call and response, improvisation, meter, and notation. Some of the music we will study includes Appalachian music, African-American music, Native American music, and music of the famous Russian composer Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893).

Be sure to read Music at Home 31 for instructions on helping your child personalize and work with his dulcimer this week. I look forward to weeks of music-making with this very special group of children!