If you’ve ever come to a Kindermusik class, you’ll notice that we will have a steady beat activity every week, in every age group. It might involve shakers, streamers, or drums. Or singing, chanting or lap bouncing. Or maybe moving our bodies or dancing. Or even stomping, gliding or tiptoeing.

A baby hears a constant steady beat (mom’s heartbeat!) by 22 weeks after conception. And every infant is born with the ability to keep a steady beat – his own internal beat.  Sometimes in a Village class, a piece of music will match a baby’s own beat, and you’ll see him or her banging away in perfect rhythm!

Steady beat for babies:
Exposure to steady beat (hearing it, feeling it, “seeing it”, being moved to it) is important for a baby’s developing sense of steady beat. An internalized awareness of beat will help him to coordinate his movements.

A baby who is beginning to internalize a steady beat will show it through rocking, nodding, patting and kicking. Later she’ll be able to demonstrate steady beat through clapping and playing a drum to a steady beat.  Steady beat will be a key factor in his learning to walk.

Steady beat for toddlers:
Children 18 months through 3 years old are learning to control and coordinate their body’s movements. The ability to keep a steady beat helps in walking with a smooth gait, leading to running and jumping with confidence.

It is at this age that feeling and moving to a steady beat develops the ability to organize and coordinate movements with proper timing – like bouncing a ball and catching it.

Steady beat for preschoolers:
Steady beat competency is central to the development of movement organization, such a marching in time, dribbling and shooting a basketball, using scissors and writing smoothly. Being able to move their entire body to a steady beat leads to the ability to speak and read with a smooth cadence, thereby enhancing communication abilities.

Interesting steady beat facts:
A sample study was done of first and second string NFL players.  100% of the first string players could maintain a steady beat without any external stimulus for 45 seconds.  Only 50% of the second string players could accomplish the same.

Tests show that children with steady beat internalization are better readers and more successful in math. Children with better abilities in steady beat are reported to be better behaved in class and have less aggressive physical contact with other students.

It is well-known that a stutter does not stutter when singing or using a steady beat while speaking. A stuttering student figured out her own solution: when she wanted to answer a question, she tapped a steady beat on her leg before speaking. This allowed her to answer without stuttering.

As the result of a study done in 2002 by University College in London, scientists believe that a poor sense of rhythm could be the cause of dyslexia. “Researchers concluded that an awareness of beats can influence the way young children assimilate speech patterns, which may in turn affect their reading and writing abilities.”

Steady beat helps children to understand and organize their world. So if you are going to run with scissors, make sure you’ve got a good sense of steady beat. You’ll run more coordinated and smoothly, and thereby be a little bit safer.

-posted by Miss Analiisa, whose mother reported that at 2 weeks old, Analiisa consistently rocked in time to a piece of classical music that had been often played while she was in utero. But sadly, she was a horrible basketball player.

In my last blog, Road Trip to the Olympics: The Dream of a Lifetime, I told the story of our ill-fated attempt to go to the Olympics, which was thwarted by a flu bug.  But after a 48 hour recovery period, we were ready to go!

At 7:30 AM on Thursday, February 25, we headed up I-5 toward the Peace Arch border crossing at Blaine, Washington.  Our Olympic mobile contained 2 moms, 4 kids and lots of happy anticipation, especially mine.

We arrived at the Bridgeport Sky Train Station where we planned to park and ride into the city.  The garage was already full, however we noticed many people parking in a mud lot underneath the train tracks.

“Can you park here?”  I asked a man and his wife who were heading into the station. “I don’t know.  We walked from our hotel.  We are from Holland,” the man replied in his Euro accent.  Wow!   We were having what I envisioned in my Olympic experience and we hadn’t even parked the car yet!

After parking, we purchased our $9 all day train tickets and boarded the Sky Train. We rode to the Waterfront stop, several blocks from the Olympic flame Cauldron and the Pacific Coliseum where the figure and speed skating events were taking place.

Along the quarter mile walk to the Cauldron past the Coliseum, we saw vendors selling Olympic pins.  Each Olympic venue and sport had a collectible pin.  Volunteers carried some in their pockets.  If you were lucky, they had one to give to you when you asked.   The kids loved this giant treasure hunt taking place all over the city.  They collected four pins each and bought two more.

We picniced fifty feet from the impressive Olympic Cauldron. After taking pictures, we headed toward Robson Square, one of several “Celebration Sites.” On the way, we stood in line to receive a free ball cap at the Omega Plaza behind the Art Gallery.  The kids got their picture taken in a real, cherry red bobsled.

At Robson Square, a zip line was strung between two towers at a breathtaking height and distance. A juggler entertained a crowd next to an ice skating rink where the public could skate for a $2 skate rental fee.  We scored two Olympic pins there and rested our feet watching Finland beat Switzerland in hockey on the live Jumbotron outdoor screen.

Next we walked to BC Place, where the women’s gold medal hockey match was soon to begin. Streams of fans in red maple leaf Canadian jerseys flowed toward the rink.  The band and cheering crowds could be heard from outside. We were looking for one of many pavilions offering free activities. The line snaking around the Ontario house indicated a two-hour wait to enter, which was typical of the indoor venues.  We contented ourselves with the outdoor ambiance and headed off to find our souvenirs at a quaint section of town called Gastown.

As afternoon edged toward evening, our Olympic adventure wound down with the waning stamina of six-year-old legs.  We meandered back to the Sky Train for the trip home.

Though we hadn’t seen a single athlete or attended an athletic event, our expectations for our road trip had been fulfilled.  We’d been to the Olympics!  We’d seen the flame.  We met people from other countries. We experienced outstanding Canadian hospitality.  We had Olympic pins and souvenirs to treasure.  Our kids had a unique experience that would enhance their Olympic enjoyment for years to come.

I’m still smiling.  We pulled off a spontaneous, nearly cancelled, very affordable, fabulous Olympic road trip. I’ve had a dream come true. And to think I almost missed it!

-posted by Donna Detweiler, who suggests you take a road trip to Vancouver for the Paralympics coming up in March.

Having grown up in the snowy Midwest on the tip of Lake Michigan, I learned to ice skate at a young age. We drove up to the Iron Mountains of Northern Michigan to ski regularly during the winter and eventually out in Colorado a few times. My parents lived near a golf course, which was perfect for cross country skiing.

So when the winter Olympics rolled around every four years, our family was as happy as a teenage boy at an all-you-can-eat buffet.  We were allowed to watch TV on school nights (a rare privilege) and during dinner (a very rare privilege.) Like many families, our talk was dominated by one subject during those two weeks.  I swear our skiing and skating improved after watching too.  My ski posters were my prize possessions along with the book, How to Ski with the Big Boys.

Decades later, married and living in Seattle, you can imagine my delight when the Winter Olympics were to be held in Vancouver, BC in 2010.  I vowed to go up, even if I could only get tickets to the curling event, which I’ve since discovered is a cool sport.  But when the time for the Olympics came around, I somehow lost perspective. To go up to Vancouver seemed too expensive for the budget and impractical with all the unknowns of traveling in an unfamiliar big city with young kids in tow.

Just in the nick of time, my innate Olympic passion shook me out of my passive sensibilities.  On Sunday night of the final week, I was having coffee with a friend. I said to her and myself:  “I’ve always said that I would go to the Olympics if I ever had a chance.  I think I’ll regret it the rest of my life if I don’t at least go up there—even if I just see the Olympic Cauldron and take in the ambiance.  I don’t care if we don’t have tickets. We’ve gotta go!”

Having chosen the right friend to go to coffee with that evening, she replied, “Of course we have to go!”  We planned our Olympic road trip for the coming Tuesday.  My desire was coming true!

The picnic was packed, maps printed off the internet, and excitement was running high.   One child was tucked into bed in preparation for our early trek to the border when the second child came to me with those ill-fated words, “Mom, I don’t feel so good.”  Eight hours later, my Olympic dream had gone down the toilet, replaced by an all night vigil in the bathroom and a trip to the store for Ginger Ale and Gator Aid. By morning, both kids had been bitten by the flu bug.  We weren’t going anywhere.

All through the sleepless night and into the next day, I had a positive attitude that surprised even me.  Was I drawing strength from all the perseverance I’d been watching nightly on the Olympic coverage?  Somehow, I held onto hope for a quick recover throughout the whole flu ordeal. And by the grace of God, our delayed, but not destroyed Olympic Road trip began 48 hours later!

Tomorrow’s post:  The Dream Comes True!

-posted by Donna Detweiler, who watched lots of Olympic coverage with her kids during those sick days.

Here’s another beautiful Studio3Music birthday boy, with professional photographer Brooke’s and mom Lisa’s comments. Doesn’t he just look so kissable?

Brooke:  So oh my goodness…if every baby made it as easy as birthday boy Liam! Just seconds from being a real “walker”, happy little Liam was all smiles and love for his Mommy Lori (cooing at him just off camera). Usually, the grown-ups have to shamelessly perform like trained circus animals to get those amazing expressions from our kids, but Liam generously shared them without the usual acrobatics! He’s the type that lures all of use into having more babies…and we all know what happens when the first baby is a dream, right?

Lori:  Brooke is quite professional, does great work and has superb artistic skill. She has a great way with kids, and was very efficient with our quick little man’s attention span ; )

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who encourages you to visit Brooke’s website, and then use your Studio3Music birthday free session gift!

I don’t know why kids love to go fast.  I just know they do.  To get there, they have to crawl, pull up and then cruise. Then they toddle and waddle and walk, but I am convinced that walking is not the final goal. The end product is running. 

By the time they are 2 or 3 all they do is run.  And they are fast.  I watched the sidewalk begin to melt under the sneakers of a little guy who was running away from his mom today.  Let’s face it – they are quicker than we are, and the very act of running brings them joy.

However, running leads to accidents – heads bonked on counters and corners and knees crashed into furniture and the occasional head over heels tumble.  And let’s not underestimate the emergency room potential of two children crashing into each other while on a hypersonic mission to wear holes in the carpet. 

They have to run to be happy, but running is not safe. How do we adults (who keep these precious little people safe and happy) reconcile this dichotomy?

I gave up preventing running a long time ago in the Imagine That classroom.  Running (and going fast in general) is just too important to the children. And from a musical perspective, fast is just as valid a tempo setting as slow.  But I do have to have a way to make the running activities in class safe and integrated into the curriculum.

So yes, we run – quite a bit.  But we ALL run together and we have to ALL go the same direction around the circle.  If you are a watcher during running time you have to sit out of the running circle, so that you don’t get mowed down.  I work running into the plot by using it as a means of transportation. 

We are always going somewhere in Imagine That, and if we are going to walk, we may as well run.  And sometimes there are scary or yucky things to run away from (A dinosaur store sent us scurrying today, and an underwear store sent everyone dashing across the room last week.) 

There are other ways to go fast.  We go fast with Hot Wheel cars,  and play fast with our instruments, and we do finger plays at the speed of light. We can row a boat so fast you can barely see the oars (Well, it’s hard to see an invisible, imaginary oar anyway- but our arms are going so fast you can barely see them!)  

When we play a steady beat I make a point to emphasize both the regular beat and the double beat, so that we can go fast.  Sometimes a song allows us to even access the triple beat, and that is really, really fast. It is such joy to shake a tambourine at a breakneck pace. 

The only thing better than going fast is the ability to control that speed - to stop your flying feet on a dime and to freeze your tambourine like solid ice in an arctic blizzard.  To stop as fast and as hard as the running that necessitated the stop in the first place.  So we work on running and stopping, on driving our cars presto down the Imagine That highway and stopping them cold when the light turns red. 

Early Childhood Experts call this inhibitory control.  I call it pre-school personal power.  When the child can stop an action once it has begun (in other words, come to a squealing halt before they set the floor on fire with their speedy feet), they are showing that they have learned inhibitory control.  Next comes impulse control, which is the ability to prevent a thought form becoming an action.  Oh, yes, it’s years and years away, but it is coming…..

-posted by Miss Allison, who has worn out a large number of shoes running with her preschoolers over the years…

Kyler, the innocent-looking perpetrator!

Kyler is synonomous with mischief.  But honestly, I thought we were past the worst of it, I think we probably are.  However, today I learned these things:

1.  When a mama smells something burning but isn’t cooking, the kitchen is the last place to look.  When she is tempted to give up looking and is sure it’s just the neighbors burning some wood, she should not give up.

2.   Examining all the wall heaters in each room making sure nothing has been stuffed into them and caught on fire, is reasonable but possibly not helpful.

3.  Looking in the oven, three times, is not helpful either.  If it wasn’t on fire the first time, it likely won’t be in 2 minutes.

4.  Enlisting children to help determine where the smoke is coming from is a good idea-maybe.

5.  Trex decking material, though very stain-resistant (per our friend Justin who built our little deck), is apparently not fire proof.

6.  Heat lamps for chickens provide a lot of heat.  Especially when aimed (or directly face down) on the deck.  In fact I’m now sure they would catch a chicken on fire were it to touch the light.

7.  Lining up all the children and asking who turned on the heat lamp and laid in on the deck with a scary/scared mama face is a quick way to get the truth.

8.  Kyler is apparently not quite done with mischief.

9.  Pretty surely, the dad is not going to be a happy one when he sees the damage.

10.  The house is still standing.  Thank goodness for that.

-posted by Karissa Strovas, Kindermusik mama  and family blogger, who assures us that no chickens were harmed in the burning of the Trex.