Music for Young Children Moonbeams I Feb Start (keyboard Ages 7 - 9) Lesson 18

Postponed - Canda Day

BeeArtist Summer Week 3

If you haven't noticed, this summer we have a theme to learn about animals, alphabets and numbers. Remember to post the paws and Bingo dog house. Your child will be proud.

For those of you who attends Kindermsuik Our Time, this is a good week to sing Walk Along Rover to tie in with the theme or...review this song that we sang at class:

There was a farmer had a dog (so do do so so la la so)
and Bingo was his name o (so do do re re mi do)
BINGO (mi mi fa fa fa)
BINGO (re re mi mi mi)
BINGO (do do re re re)
and Bingo was his name o (do ti so la ti do do)

Kindermusik OurTime Feedle-dee-dee Week 4

Dear Our Time Parent:

Music concepts may be effectively introduced to the Our Time-aged child through fun and playful activities. The concept of tempo (or speed) is central to music. The 1½- to 3-year-old child is learning to control and coordinate his body’s movements and is naturally interested in the concepts of fast and slow. Mastering these concepts through activities such as bouncing, playing instruments, and dancing is fun and satisfying for the child.

In class we will continue to focus on tempo for two more weeks. At home, you can have fun reinforcing this concept through further repetition of fast and slow activities such as Roly Poly. Also, “at home” Kindermusik play will help familiarize your child with the routines of Kindermusik class, thus helping him become more and more at ease in the classroom environment.

Until next week…

_____________________________________________
Kindermusik’s Foundations of Learning - some of the benefits your child received from today’s activities are:

The Value of Repetition: Growth and development of the child from birth to seven years old take place primarily through the child’s body experiences. Repetition aids in solidifying the brain’s neural pathways which are formed through experience of activities.

Creativity: Activities that provide and opportunity for flexibility, change or rearrangement encourage creativity. The creative process enhances the child’s ability to think in different ways, extending the thought process.
-The Creative Arts by Linda Carol Edwards

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

Musical Variety: Experiencing musical variety is essential to a complete musical education. Listening to the non-Western instruments featured in the recording of Usagi, Usagi and hearing nad singing music in non-Western tonalities present the brain with new patterns and information to interpret, or new food for thought and brain development.

Kindermusik Family Time Our Kind of Day Week 5

Dear Family Time Parents,

This week’s activities have so many practical and whimsical applications to life around your house. Simple, fun songs you can sing together will make clean-up time a breeze, and make this important ritual—which is a necessary part of being in a family—a fun, musical activity.
You can reinforce learning concepts such as self-discipline when you sing “Shake, Shake the Apple Tree” at home. Pause at the end of the line, “One for you, one for me!” Then finish the song with enthusiasm as you sing the last line, “Shake, Shake, the apple tree!” By repeating this song several times, your children practice inhibitory control, a skill used in self-discipline, or when waiting in line, and taking turns.
Patiently waiting until next time,

P.S. You can make your own “Washing Machine” like with a 2-liter bottle, drops of soap, water, and a few scraps of fabric. I would love to see your “washing machine” project next week in class. Bring it along!

_____________________________________________
Kindermusik’s Foundations of Learning – some of the benefits your child received from today’s activities are:

Integrated Learning – The most powerful learning experiences are those that integrate the senses, learning domains, developmental needs, and interests of the children. Through such a variety, each child will surely be touched in at least one area. Equally important is the fact that development in one learning domain inevitably influences development in other domains.

Movement and Body Control – During movement activities, children learn to organize the available space in relation to themselves and in relationship to objects and other individuals…they are developing body control and confidence in the power and ability of their own bodies. (Linda Carol Edwards, The Creative Arts.)

Kindermusik Sign And Sing

Dear Sign & Sing Parent,

Children need routine to help them feel safe and secure. Changes in routine can cause stress and frustration. Using songs to signal that transition can ease this stress and prepare your child for upcoming changes in activity.

On page 9 in your Family Activity Guide you will find new lyrics to a familiar song Row, Row, Row Your Boat. Singing and signing this song during the bath activity will reinforce the sign for bath while adding interest to bath time for your child. When transitioning to the next activity, you can adapt the words, which will give him time to adjust to the new activity while using another sign:

BED, BED, time for BED,
Now it’s time to SLEEP.
Rocky, rocky, rocky, rocky,
Time to go to SLEEP.

Keep on signing. Showing an interest in your child’s signing attempts will encourage future successes.

We’ll see you next week!

Music for Young Children Moonbeams I Feb Start (keyboard Ages 7 - 9) Lesson 17

Postponed due to Long Weekend traffic.

Kindermusik Newsletter

Research Encourages Focus on Music and the Arts to Enhance Early Childhood Development

Music Research
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2002, states, "Studying music encourages self discipline and diligence traits that carry over into mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history and geography." Research supports that music helps prepare the mind for specific disciplines of learning; skills learned through music carry over into study skills, communications skills, cognitive skills and abstract reasoning skills useful to all parts of life, according to a 1997 article in Neurological Research.

Young Children
Don Campbell, author of The Mozart Effect, traced neurological development during childhood and found prior to a major spurt of neural integration in the brain during the elementary school years, learning occurs through movement and quick emotional associations. For example, by age two, the brain has begun to fuse with the body via marching, dancing, and developing a sense of physical rhythm. The more music children are exposed to before they enter school, the more deeply this stage of neural coding will assist them throughout their lives.

Parental Involvement
Findings from a study conducted by three researchers at Sam Houston State University in Texas reports that early music training can improve intelligence, and the amount of parental involvement in the music training can greatly affect the amount of improvement. Strong correlations were found between musical abilities in young children, particularly the ability to match vocal pitches and reproduce rhythmic patterns and abstract reasoning abilities.
The study also showed that parental time spent with a child is a more important factor in predicting intelligence test success than such factors as single-parent households, poverty, low parental education levels and ethnic minority status.

School-aged Children
Arts education makes a tremendous impact on the developmental growth of every child and has proven to help level the "learning field" across socio-economic boundaries, states the Involvement in the Arts and Success in Secondary School, James S. Catterall, The UCLA Imagination Project, Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, UCLA, Americans for the Arts Monograph, January 1998.

Arts education has a measurable impact on youth at risk in deterring delinquent behavior and truancy problems while also increasing overall academic performance among those youth engaged in after school and summer arts programs targeted toward delinquency prevention, according to the YouthARTS Development Project, 1996, U.S. Department of Justice, National Endowment for the Arts, and Americans for the Arts.

Community-based Arts
Findings from the Living the Arts Through Language + Learning: A Report on Community-Based Youth Organizations, Shirley Brice Heath, Stanford University and Carnegie Foundation For the Advancement of Teaching, Americans for the Arts Monograph, November 1998 reports that: Young people who participate in the arts for at least three hours a day, three days a week for at least one year are:

4 times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement.
3 times more likely to be elected to class office within their schools.
4 times more likely to participate in a math and science fair.
3 times more likely to win an award for school attendance.
4 times more likely to win an award for writing an essay or poem.

Young artists, as compared with their peers, are likely to:
Read for pleasure nearly twice as often.
Perform community service more than four times as often.
Participate in youth groups nearly four times as frequently.
Attend music, art and dance classes nearly three times as frequently.

Music for Young Children Moonbeams I Feb Start (keyboard Ages 7 - 9) Lesson 16

S-13 Minuet by Bach
E-7 MYC…Rap

Mary Had Little Lamb

H-32 mp, mf
L-17 (complete at home)


W-68 FF
W-34 Both Hands Ready G Scale & Chords

Technique
O exercise
Ball squeeze

K-38 Grey Goose Waltz
K-39 Friends

Terms: D.S.al Fine

L-17

E-12 Minuet
E-1 Bach
E-15 For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow

composition concept:
review repetition of motive

BeeArtist Summer Week 2

Hope your child enjoy the Monkey stick puppet and perhaps the following fingerplay. It sure is easier to handle a count down from 3.

Three little monkeys jumping on a tree.
Here comes the crocodile sneaky as can be.
This little monkey says, "You can't catch me"
(Snap)

Two little monkeys jumping on a tree.
Here comes the crocodile sneaky as can be.
This little monkey says
"You can't catch me"
(Snap)

One little monkey jumping on a tree.
Here comes the crocodile sneaky as can be.
This little monkey says, "You can't catch me"
(Snap)
"Missed Me"

Kindermusik OurTime Feedle-dee-dee Week 3

Dear Our Time Parent:

Your home is likely to be filled with more active dog play this week! “Roll over, Rover!” Children love to move–and there’s a reason for this. According to creative dance expert Anne Green Gilbert, “Movement is key to learning! Our brains fully develop through movement activities such as crawling, rolling, turning, walking, skipping, reaching, swinging and much more! The brain has a plan for development that involves specific and intensive motor activities to make full use of our complicated nervous system.”* And when movement is paired with rhythmic and musical concepts, the learning is even stronger.

As we continue to develop the animal theme of Fiddle-dee-dee, you will find that the Kindermusik experience offers infinite opportunities for your child to “play” through the combination of music and movement. Extend this play by engaging your child in some of the play ideas suggested in your Home Activity Book, for example, Who Is In the Doghouse? found on page 5. Enjoy!


*“Movement and Music: The Keys to Learning,” by Anne Green Gilbert


INVITE A FRIEND! Parents, invite a friend and child to join us in class next week. Should they choose to enroll in our class, I will extend a “thank you” to you through a $10 reduction in your next payment installment. [or next semester’s tuition.]

_____________________________________________

Kindermusik’s Foundations of Learning - some of the benefits your child received from today’s activities are:

Scaffolding: Scaffolding is an interactive learning process between adult and child. The adult observes the child’s play ideas, then gently guides and supports the child’s learning by building on what the child already is able to do. Ideally, the adult with begin by meeting the child where he is – by copying his play idea, for example. Then the adult makes a slight variation on the activity, providing appropriate challenges to lead the child to new levels of learning.

Steady Beat: The most fundamental property of music is beat, the underlying, unchanging, repeating pulse. Feeling and moving to a steady beat develops a sense of time and the ability to organize and organize and coordinate movements within time.

Circle Songs and Community:
“Historically, community has meant the overall social context in which people live out their lives…Community remains central to children’s social and emotional development.” Circles songs such as this help to establish a secure sense of community in the Kindermusik Classroom.
-Fostering Children’s Social Competence: The Teacher’s Role, by Lilian G. Katz and Diane E. McClellan

Music for Young Children Moonbeams I Feb Start (keyboard Ages 7 - 9) Lesson 15

S-14 Firetower Fred
S-16 Gee I’m Low

Mary Had A Little Lamb or Fountain


H-31 Finish That Tune

W-28 Changing Chords #1
W-29 Let’s Warm Up In G #1
W-32 Friendly Fingers(not all)
W-33 Look Carefully(not all)

O exercise
Clothespin squeeze
K-36 You’re Beautiful
K-37 What Game Is This

PT-34 My Dog
PT-5 Look Carefully
PT-34 My Dog

E-22 Reverie
E-15 For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow

Why you should trim your nails

Here is a tip from Natural Solutions magazine April, 2008, p. 42. “Anyone who has to use a fine touch in their profession should keep his or her nails trimmed to avoid injury….This includes….those who do a lot of typing or piano playing. The constant banging of the nails against the keys can cause small hemorrhages, which appear as purplish splinter-like streaks….Over time, it can even lift the nail from the nail bed.”

BeeArtist Summer Week 1

Perhaps your child will enjoy shaking the floral homemade shaker along this rythme. Perhaps your child will enjoy fingerplay while counting down from five. What you shouldn`t forget though, is have your child present the floral Father`s Day card to Daddy or Grandpa!

Five little monkeys jumping on a bed,
One fell off and bumped his head,
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,
"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

Four little monkeys jumping on a bed,
One fell off and bumped his head,
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,
"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

Three little monkeys jumping on a bed,
One fell off and bumped his head,
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,
"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

Two little monkeys jumping on a bed,
One fell off and bumped his head,
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,
"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

One little monkey jumping on a bed,
One fell off and bumped his head,
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,
"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

Kindermusik OurTime Feedle-dee-dee Week 2

Dear Our Time Parent:

“Happiness is a warm puppy.” -Charles Schulz

As we begin Kindermusik’s Fiddle-dee-dee, we begin our exploration of the world of animals! The Our Time-aged child typically loves singing about and pretending to be animals. Today we enjoyed playful puppy activities including a lively bounce to The Dog Went to Dover and romping and rolling to Walk Along, Rover. We focused on our listening skills as we listened to dogs barking. And of course, we enjoyed making our own dog sounds as well. Other animal activities introduced today included a rabbit fingerplay and the delightful Animal Serenade book. As you and your child enjoy Animal Serenade at home, be sure to listen to the corresponding track 8 on your Home CD 1 and sing along with the songs.

To prepare your child for more Kindermusik fun next week, listen to your Home CDs and talk with your child about favorite animals. I look forward to seeing you next week!

_____________________________________________

Kindermusik’s Foundations of Learning - some of the benefits your child received from today’s activities are:

Active Listening: 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 activities allow children the opportunity to learn to listen intentionally.

Benefits of Rolling: Most everyday locomotor movements of children, such as walking, running and crawling, involve the use of the arms and/or legs. Rolling, however, is initiated from the center of the body, with the body eing propelled in a prone state by he hips and torso. Rolling is also unique in that it allows the child (or adult!) to experience the sensation of seeing the world from his stomach and back all in one continuous movement. This provides good stimulation for the vestibular system, which is important in many ways to a child’s development, especially for his sense of balance and orientation in space.
- Dance and Grow: Developmental Dance Activities for Three-Through Eight-Year-Olds, by Betty Rowen

Movement and Learning: “ Movement is key to learning! Our brains fully develop through movement activities such as crawling, rolling, turning, walking, skipping, reaching, swinging and much more! The brain has aplan for development that involves specific an dintensive motor activities to make full use of our complicated nervous system.”
-“Movement and Music: The Keys to Learning,” by Anne Green Gilbert, Kindermusik Notes Nov./Dec. 1998

Literacy: Reading picture books together with adults helps children internalize some skills that are crucial in the development of true literacy.

Reading together:
Fosters reading enjoyment
Provides predictability through repetition
Introduces new vocabulary
Expands understanding of story structures
Promotes critical thinking
Encourages language play and creative expression

Music & Movement Story Time also encourages musical development through tonal rhythm and movement play.

Kindermusik Family Time Our Kind of Day Week 3

Dear Family Time Parents,
Have you played the Picture Domino Game in your At Home Materials? Playing games within a family allows children to develop social skills in an emotionally secure environment. Games develop good school skills as well. In one study, preschool children taught with games and songs tested 10 to 20 points higher on IQ tests; by age 15 those same children had higher math and reading scores.

Through games your children learn the importance of taking turns, sharing, and playing just for fun. For a new twist, divide your family into two groups and play the game as teams—be sure to include the Kangaroo puppets, too (only one to a team!) .
Game on!

_________________________________________
Kindermusik’s Foundations of Learning – some of the benefits your child received from today’s activities are:

Vestibular Stimulation – The vestibular system, which controls balance and coordination, is stimulated during movement. Once stimulated, the vestibular system wakes up the brain and helps it take in new information. By moving to music, a child`s brain is made alert and open to learning.

Steady Beat – One of the first musical skills to develop is the ability to keep a steady beat. This skill is extremely important, of course, for future musical experiences, but it is also important in everyday life. Think of all we do that requires refularly paced repeated motion (a sense of steady beat!): walking, running, riding, a bicycle, cutting with scissors, bouncing a ball, and more.

Music for Young Children Moonbeams I Feb Start (keyboard Ages 7 - 9) Lesson 14

S-15 A Friendly Sharp
S-16 Gee I’m Low

H-29 Copy The Music
H-23 Tchaikovsky

W-24 F Sharp In The Key Signature
W-25 North South Poles
W-26/ 27 G Scale & Chords
W-67 Finger Fitness

Clothespin squeeze

K-34 Number 4
K-35 Number 5

Composing:
Repetition S-19 Brahms K-31

See full weekly map

E-22 Reverie

Kindermusik Sign And Sing

Dear Sign & Sing Parent,

We’ve learned how to create Signing Smart Opportunities, bring signs into your child’s world, and to recognize and respond to your child’s versions of signs. In the next classes we’ll focus more on using those signs to truly communicate, as well as develop strategies that facilitate long-term learning. We’ll do that by learning new signs that are more relevant to your daily routines, such as “HELP,” “STOP,” “IN,” “OUT,” “MORE.” We’ll also focus on opposites, and animals.

With these strategies in mind, your child will also learn these abstract concepts easier and sign back many different kinds of words sooner!

I look forward to hearing about how you’ve integrated signs into your daily routine at home during the week.

See you next week!

Music for Young Children Sunshine 1 (keyboard Ages 3-4) Extra for the Summer

There will be no classes on July 1st, Aug 5, Aug 19th for our summer Sunshine I bootcamp tentatively. Please let Teacher Cecilia know if you have other conflicts of schedule, practice concerns or great ideas of how we use our Summer.

Remember the last K page (or others selected by mom) is optional work- to be mastered during those off weeks! No panic!

Music for Young Children Moonbeams I (keyboard Ages 7-9) Lesson 34

H-59

W-68 Finger Fitness
W-69 Finger Fitness

Use all technique toolbox activities- as often and as much as possible

K-61-62

(SR-5)
(KS-99)
assign according to class needs
review
L-31

Happy Father's Day

June 15th Sunday is Father's Day. Have a wonderful time celebrating!

Recital this weekend!

Location: Broadmoor Baptist Church
8140 Saunders Road, Richmond
Date: Saturday, June 14th, 2008
Time: 2:30 - 4:30pm

Need help for your kid recognizing music notes?

Try www.musictheory.net


Click "trainers" and choose "Note Trainer"

You can even set the range of notes you want to practice, so you can concentrate on the ones you never get, or just 5 at a time for example.

Kindermusik OurTime Feedle-dee-dee Week 1 Beach Party!

Welcome Our Time Parents and Students. What a great way to begin our Summer Semester with a beach party. This week is one of our bonus weeks. We have introduced bonus material drawn from Kindermusik Our Time Summer Camp Creatures at the Ocean Curriculum. Thank you for your enthusiasm in parpicipating. Teacher CC is delighted that one of you even brought sea shell collection to match the theme. Have a super duper summer!

Kindermusik Family Time Our Kind of Day Week 2

Dear Family Time Parents,

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 actiontivities 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.

_________________________________________
Kindermusik’s Foundations of Learning – some of the benefits your child received from today’s activities are:

Repetition – Children learn through repetition. Each time a child is exposed to a new object or experience, new neural connections are made in his brain. Through repetition, these connections are strengthened and learning occurs. Each Kindermusik curriculum, including Kindermusik Family Time, is designed to repeat certain activities – such as the Hello song – in part because of this important connection between repetition and learning, and also because repetition of activities helps to create the Kindermusik class community. Ritual and repetition at home are important components of a predictable and nuturing home and family life as well.

Ball Play – To a child`s imagination, every object has unlimited possibilities. Ball play enables children to investigate rolling, bouncing, passing, and tossing, exercising their imaginations as well as their grossmotor skills.

Imagination – Imaginative play in childhood prepares the child to think creatively in later adult settings. Using the imagination helps children develop the ability to think abstractly, to use language to describe things others cannot see, and to empathize with other people.

Music for Young Children Moonbeams I Feb Start (keyboard Ages 7 - 9) Lesson 13

S-12Clap,Clap,Clap
S-15 A Friendly Sharp

H-25 Match Tree to Star
H-19 Draw Notes, Chords
W-28 Changing Chords
W-29 Let’s Warm Up in G

G Scale & Chords
Clothespin squeeze

K-32 Kind of Neat

K-33 Number One
(KS-67 Signs)
(SS-32 Love Is A Candle)

L-13 Rhythms
E-22 Reverie

Composing:
Mirror Image W-23 Big Roller Coaster Ride

Music for Young Children Sunbeams I (keyboard Ages 5 - 6) Lesson 34

S-58 Cuckoo (3)
S-59 My Tummy Aches (2)
S-60 Tricks (2)
S-55 Special Sunbeams (2)

H-105 Major, minor faces
H-104 Octopus, a minor bridges (according to class)

a harmonic minor

K-117 French Drum
K-118 Hayd’n Seek

L-43 Keys & keys

E-35 Prelude in A (4)
E-37 Playing Tricks (2)

G major triad

Music for Young Children Moonbeams I (keyboard Ages 7-9) Lesson 33

H-57
H-58

W-67Finger Fitness
W-72 Finger Fitness
W-59 #3, 4 Changing Chords

I can do a beautiful 3 note slur.
5 finger exercise- legato/ staccato

K-59
K-60

(SR-4)
(KS-97)
(KS-98)

L-30