Movement

A young child on the move is a great thing! Movement is not just important for helping children grow physically strong and healthy, but is also a key factor in their overall development. Movement builds self-confidence. Children feel competent, physically and emotionally, when they use their bodies to communicate and solve problems. Most importantly, movement can help children develop a close bond with their caregivers. A child's desire to be close to and connect with someone is often what motivates her to move.

Our Time Toddlers!

Toddlers are insatiable movers.

Running, jumping, and other energetic locomotor movements are valuable, appropriate, and fun activities for the Our Time child. The child's innate need to move is inextricably linked to learning. It is important to provide outlets for your child's energy as well as for her skill development. Moving and controlling one's movements are learned skills.

Toddlers are just beginning to learn to regulate their movements. One aspect of self-regulation is inhibitory control or the ability to stop oneself and to wait. Inhibitory control is important in social interactions where taking turns is involved and as such is an important skill for success in school.

"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 'selfdiscipline.'"  -Dance for Young Children, by Sue Stinson, p. 5.

Kindermusik classes offer opportunities for children to discover new ways to move their bodies, explore their
capabilities, and practice their new skills.

Moving and Stopping

Your child may be an exuberant mover-running, leaping, jumping! Or your child may be more cautious about moving-making smaller, less energetic movements. Or, your child may be somewhere in between! All of these movement responses are perfectly normal for toddlers. Your child may be reluctant about joining in movement activities in class, but may energetically try them out at home. Your child is always learning-even if he does not appear to be actively engaged in a class activity.

Toddlers often find it difficult to stop moving. One way to help your child develop inhibitory control is to play "stop and go" games with him. These games allow your child to practice controlling his movements and to revel in his mastery of this control. One "stop and go" singing game played in class is "Walk and Stop." Sing this song at home repeating several times, changing the movement word on each repeat. Try spinning, twirling, or even crouching!

Toddlers also often have great difficulty taking turns and sharing.
This is completely natural since they cannot "put themselves in someone else's shoes." Attending Kindermusik Our Time class each week provides the opportunity for your child to interact with other children and to begin
practicing sharing and turn-taking. Activities that call for sustaining attention, following directions, or inhibiting movement or sound provide opportunities to help your child learn to monitor and modify her own behavior.

The Away We Go! curriculum provides opportunities for your child to listen attentively during Active Listening activities, to share and take turns playing an instrument during "There's a Little Wheel," and to practice waiting for the teacher to sing to him at the beginning of each class during "Our Time Hello."

At Home

• With your child, make up a signal for "stop."  Start using the signal while playing "stop and go" games with your child. Then, you can use the signal in other situations when you wish for your child to "stop."
• Model sharing behaviors. Make an effort to include "share" in your vocabulary when talking to your child. She needs to know what it means before she can do it.  Remember that children are very likely to imitate your actions. 
• Play a "stop and go" instrument game with your child. Let your child play his harmonica until you give him the "stop" signal. How quickly can he stop? Play your harmonica and let him give you the "stop" signal!

Notes from a Kindermusik Our Time: Away We Go! lesson.
Leave a comment or send me a tweet @Anglemusik

Princess Party!

Very fun Princess Party last weekend!

The princesses are doing a scarf dance!

New Classes Starting in April

Village class: Dew Drops starting Wednesday April 7th 9:30 am, ages: 0-18 months

Our Time Class: Away We Go! starting Friday, April 2nd, 9:30 am, ages 18 mo – 3 yrs

Sign & Sing Class: Sess A/B, starting Wednesday April 7th 10:30 am, ages 6mos – 3 yrs

Music

Music! It's the panacea for many of the challenges that wreak havoc as children grow up. It calms babies. It brings joy to toddlers. It builds confidence in preschoolers. It develops far-reaching and long-lasting skills that grow musicians, creative problem solvers, and confident lovers of learning.

My single best advice for young parents? Let music permeate your home (and car)! Music makes parenting more joyful. Music helps children unfold into wonderful, responsible, caring adults. And you don't have to be a musician to bring music in your child's life

Away We Go Classes

With its focus on transportation, Away We Go! includes many opportunities for going around and around like a wheel turning. In addition to being enjoyable, all the turning and twirlling in Away We Go! is helping children develop:
a.. Balance
b.. Coordination
c.. Directional Awareness

Sense of Balance

As you rock from center to one side then the other or forward and backward, there is an experience of alternating between being on-balance and off-balance. This gentle motion stimulates the vestibular system, helping children develop an improved sense of balance.

The Movement-Vision-Reading Connection

"Our visual sense functions...when our eyes are actively moving..., when the body and head move, the vestibular sytem is activated, and the eye muscles strenghten as they move in response. The more the eyes move, the more the muscles of both eyes work together." Later on, this "eye-teaming" will enable these now-toddlers to focus as well as to track and to conentrate as they learn to read in school. Smart Moves, by Carla Hannaford

Sound Maps

It is important to include a wide range of timbres in Baby's environment. This includes hearing the sounds of many languages. Each kind of sound maps new connections in Baby's brain. Repeated listening solidifies these connections.

Barefoot

Barefoot is best for Baby. Baby learns through his senses, especially on the bottoms of the feet.

Kindermusik Teacher
503-708-2827
web site: www.kindermusikwithangie.kindermusik.net
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The 12-Bar Blues

Early on, children detect not only the phonemes used in their native tongue but also the syntax of their language. Music also has syntax, and part of the development of musical literacy is recognition of musical syntax and form. This activity provides exposure to the American (originally African-American) form called the 12-bar blues. The most well-known blues form, the 12-bar blues is based on a set progression of chords across 12 measures of music: I-I-I-I-IV-IV-I-I-V-IV-I-I.

Angie, Kindermusik Teacher
503-708-2827
web site: www.kindermusikwithangie.kindermusik.net
blog: www.kindermusikwithangie.blogspot.com
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Movement and Learning

Children ages 1 1/2 to 3 learn primarily through movement. In order to learn they must manipulate objects and participate in body movement.
Rhythms of Learning, by Chris Brewer and Don G. Campbell


web site: www.kindermusikwithangie.kindermusik.net
blog: http://www.kindermusikwithangie.blogspot.com/
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"According to a new York Longitudinal Study, three major factors in early learning environments lead to competency in adulthood:
1. Rich sensory environments
2. Freedom to explore with few restrictions, and
3. Available parents that acted as consultants."
Smart Moves, by Carla Hannaford


Kindermusik Teacher
503-708-2827
web site: www.kindermusikwithangie.kindermusik.net
Become a fan of my Facebook page!

Pretend Play

Imitation is the first stage of pretend play. As imitation evolves it becomes more imaginative. The complexity of pretend play can be seen when the child re-examines life experiences by adding or changing the happening. Benefits of pretend play include:

• vocabulary development
• social skill development
• differentiation between reality and fantasy
• emotional support

 

Angie, Kindermusik Teacher
503-708-2827
web site: www.kindermusikwithangie.kindermusik.net
Become a fan of my Facebook page!