Kindermusik Family Time Movin' and Groovin' Week 9

Our Lesson 9 & 10 will focus on energy: sudden and sustained, smooth and sharp, connected and disconnected. Understanding and controlling energy is an important skill that helps children with balance, expressive movement, and coordination. Throughout Movin’ & Groovin’, we have explored the many aspects of movement—tempo, levels, pathways, weight, and energy. I hope you have discovered that your family experiences each of these aspects in your everyday life. Movement and music can affect the way we feel: we feel different when we see or experience sharp movements instead of smooth ones. Just like in movement, music can be smooth or sharp.

While our semester of Movin’ and Groovin’ is almost over, more fun and learning awaits! Next semester, I’ll be offering a brand-new unit of Family Time, complete with new songs, materials, and benefits for you to enjoy. Alternately, you may wish to enroll your child in a different Kindermusik curriculum, such as Our Time (ages 18 months – 3.5 years), Imagine That! (ages 3.5 years – 5 years), or Music for Young Children Sunrise pre-keyboard for (ages 2.5 - 5) or BeeArtist Art and school readiness. Chat with me at your convenience to discover which program(s) is right for your family!

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

Pairing the Brain Hemispheres
“[Because] the left hemisphere of the brain controls movements on the right side of the body, and the right hemisphere of the brain controls movements on the left side of the body, a person can refine the integration between the two sides of the brain through activities involving both sides of this body. These movements bring the two systems into balance. Successful integration between the two sides of the brain is necessary for improving all brain processes, including those for reading, writing, …motor skill development, and many others” (Cernicky, Gerry. 2006).

Inhibitory Control
Inhibitory control is the ability to inhibit responses to stimuli while pursuing a cognitively represented goal, allowing one to pursue a goal even in the midst of potential distractions, such as children crying or a television playing in the background. Inhibitory control has been linked to the development of emotion regulation, conscience, and social competence (Kochanska, G. 1996).

Belly Breathing
When you take deep breaths and blow on the streamers in this activity, you have the chance to talk about the value of deep breathing. Often our breathing is shallow and oxygen supply to the brain is limited. Breathing very deeply ensures there is an abundant amount of oxygen for higher brain functions; it also relaxes the nervous system, improves inflection and expression, and brings about improved attention span (Dennison, Paul E., and Gail E. Dennison. 1989).