Kindermusik with Tabby

Instead of sending out the weekly email, I’m going to start posting my thoughts about class each week on the blog instead. Starting with the wee little babies, here’s the low-down on the activities from Kindermusik class the last two sessions.

Village – Feathers

“Gee, but it’s great to meet a friend…!” It was my pleasure to meet all of you today in our first Kindermusik Village feathers class! Kindermusik is a socially interactive and music-filled experience in which we will all get to know each other a little better. The activities will encourage each and every one of us to sing, dance, and play—all the while enriching your baby’s life through music.

Research has shown that early exposure to music may actually aid in verbal skill development, produce the neural pathways that are essential for decoding complex ideas in language, increase multi-sensory perception, and of course, encourage bonding between you and your baby. These are, I believe, just a few of the reasons that Kindermusik is a valuable experience!

A baby’s expression as she sees herself in the mirror can be priceless! Such fun we had today as the babies watched as you talked to your babies, sang songs, and continued to make bird sounds. For even more ideas and early childhood development information, subscribe to Tune In, a monthly e-newsletter written specifically for Kindermusik families who want to know more about the Kindermusik experience. To subscribe, log on to the Kindermusik website, www.kindermusik.com, and go to the Parent Page. I know you will appreciate what the e-newsletter has to offer.

I look forward to the weekly Kindermusik classes I’ll share with all of you!

Our Time – Wiggles & Giggles

I am so glad you have chosen Kindermusik for your child. In the first class of Wiggles & Giggles, we did indeed wiggle! And we did indeed giggle—in a loving environment where activities are tailored to the 18-month- to three-year-old child.

As we consider the following quote, we can understand the importance of Kindermusik classes in which your child has the opportunity to play—in shared musical play, hands-on play, physical play, loving play—and the opportunity to be with you or another caring adult for a fun 45 minutes of time focused on your child.

“In the early formative years, play is almost synonymous with life. It is second only to being nourished, protected and loved. It is a basic ingredient of physical, intellectual, social and emotional growth.” Ashley Montague

At home, listen to your Home CDs, sing, dance, and play in a multitude of ways with your child. Repeating the activities we did in class will help your child to be more confident and comfortable each time they come to Kindermusik.

Children naturally love to explore, and exploration leads to learning. Whether your child is a hands-on explorer, a walking explorer, a listening explorer, or a watching explorer, Kindermusik will offer him many opportunities to explore!

Just as “little fish” in the Kindermusik song “Above the Sea” is curious, so is your little one. Explore at home through singing, talking about songs, exploring vocal sounds (“bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop”), or finding new ways to wiggle or play “peek-a-boo, I see you!”

By incorporating Kindermusik activities into your daily lives, you will reinforce the learning that takes place in class. Also, your child will become more and more familiar with our activities and that familiarity will help promote a new comfort level in the classroom. See you next week!

Family Time – Our Kind of Day

I am so delighted to share this time with you. Already in class this week you saw how music can help your family laugh, share, and learn together. But did you know that making and exploring your own home-made instruments provides opportunities for your children to learn and discover? Together they will make comparisons, conduct sound experiments, and talk about their findings, which in turn will strengthen their thinking skills.

Next to making music in class with your child, the most important thing you can do to accelerate and nurture your child’s development is found in your At Home Materials. The more you use the book, CD, and home activity ideas, the more you’ll discover just how much your child can do. This week, you’ll find ideas for making other shaker instruments at home using dried beans, rice, beads, popcorn, or paper clips.

How many words do you think your children learned this week? The answer varies. While babies are in a recessive language stage and take in every word and label, toddlers are in an expressive stage with a vocabulary that grows to several thousand words by the age three. Preschool-aged children are in a storytelling stage and love to learn and express new words that way.

Your picture book series, Bouncing on the Bed, promotes language growth at every learning stage. By reading together, your children will internalize basic skills and concepts important for true literacy, such as expanding vocabulary, promoting critical thinking, and providing predictability.

As you read together, ask specific questions about the characters and the action of the story and the colors and shapes of the illustrations. Then try leaving out key words or phrases, allowing toddlers and preschoolers to “help” by contributing the missing words while toddlers can assist in turning the pages. Keep your baby engaged by “bouncing” to the repeated phrases through out the book.

There is something in this book for everyone. Bring a favorite storybook to class sometime for us to share!

Kindermusik for the Young Child – Semester 1

“Hands-on parenting cannot be underestimated in its effect on young children and their brain development. As parents, we must provide numerous, ongoing, and enriching experiences that will nourish our children’s brains. Music is such an experience.”*

I am so excited that you and your child have made the choice to participate in Kindermusik for the Young Child. This four-semester curriculum is expressly designed for your child’s age group, with child-appropriate activities and learning tools. This semester, we will be approaching the study of music through numerous rhythmic activities (involving whole body movement, fine motor skills, and cognitive awareness), a wide variety of music (folk songs, classical selections, and excerpts for listening), and fun, integrated games.

As well as being a full musical learning experience, Kindermusik is also a family experience. You and your child will enjoy learning together as you, the adult, will join us for a few minutes of every class. Through this parent involvement, you will play an important role in your child’s learning.

“Music is everywhere!” We really enjoyed hearing about all the music each child heard during the week. We will continue to work on sound awareness in class through activities such as “Move and Freeze” (listening for music to stop and start), “My Voice” (hearing and experiencing the different ways to use the voice), and instrument exploration (e.g. the cymbal).

Sounds surround us in our daily lives. It is only through intentional listening—focusing on specific sounds—that we can become “tuned in” to the complexities of music. Then we are ready to begin to make music ourselves! The activities your child will experience over the next few weeks will culminate in the ability to intellectually understand and make music.

To further your child’s awareness of music in your daily life, talk with him this week about when and where you hear music. Make a list and bring it to class next week. Continue to foster your child’s awareness of sound this week. Read Music at Home 2 for ideas on how to become a sound investigator! I look forward to many weeks of joyful music-making with you all!

*Good Music Brighter Children, by Sharlene Habermeyer, p. 2

Kindermusik for the Young Child – Semester 3

Welcome to another year of Kindermusik for the Young Child. Many of your children have successfully completed Semesters 1 and 2 and are now ready for Semester 3. This semester we will be covering quite a few new topics as well as exploring a 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!

Other concepts covered 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 work with his dulcimer.

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.

See you all next time!

-Ms. Tabby