Okay, okay. Before y’all get mad at me, let me explain. I am a teacher. I was a student. I understand the grading system. A’s are excellent, right? Anything above 90%. After all, a C is the “average”. C is pretty good. On the curve, it is better than half of your peers.
But, would you have surgery where the doctor did an “adequate” job 70% of the time? Or a roofer who put on a roof that didn’t leak 83% of the time? Or even how about flying with a pilot who didn’t crash land 96 out of every 100 flights? That’s a solid A!
So now do you see why sometimes an A is not enough?
There are indeed times when absolute precision is demanded, where perfectionism is not a characteristic that carries a bad connotation, but is preferred. So how can we give our children a chance to learn this skill?
Listen to Jack Stamp explain the answer to parents in the YouTube video below. He’s very enjoyable. It’ll open your eyes (and ears).
-posted by Miss Analiisa, who is very glad that parenting doesn’t have to be 100% perfect.
I read two very interesting articles recently. The first was an interview with Dr. Galina Mindlin, a Russian neuro-psychiatrist with Brain Music Therapy Center, and the second was a study published the by US Department of Homeland Security – Science and Technology. Now, I’m not quite sure why the Department of Homeland Security would have a S & T branch that would be doing research on “brain music”, but that’s another blog. With maybe a conspiracy theory tucked in there…
I digress. We’ve known from ancient times that music can heal. But did you know that all over the world, thousands of people listen to their own brain’s “music” to heal themselves? In brain music therapy, brain waves from an individual’s brain (captured through an EEG) can be converted into musical sounds through a complex mathematical formula and a computer, and used to treat insomnia, anxiety, migraines, and depression, even allowing patients to discontinue their medication.
In fact, studies show that brain music therapy works in 80 to 85% of patients who have tried it. (You really have to listen to your own brain’s music to be this effective – everyone’s sounds different, and your own brain produces the music best for you.) Dr. Mindlin says that your brain recognizes its own brain waves when you listen to your brain’s “music”.
But it’s not just for depression and migraines. Brain music therapy is said to heighten concentration, and elevated productivity, energy, and peak performance (especially in athletes). Musicians and artists have said that they experience increased creativity.
What does it sound like? Like classical piano, actually. Here’s an example.
The idea that your brain can make its own “music” that can either relax or stimulate its owner doesn’t surprise me in the least. In all I’ve read and experienced about sensory processing in children, our brains know exactly what we need, and children with or without sensory processing disorders crave activities that help the brain organize itself. And children find great pleasure and satisfaction in those activities.
-posted by Miss Analiisa, who should, by now, really stop being surprised and amazed by the complexity of our brains. And wonders what her own brain music would sound like…
I (Miss Anita) thought you might like to eaves drop on an email conversation I had with Miss Allison. It involves your child’s mathematical foundation!
Here’s what Miss Allison emailed me: “Chanting numbers in a sequence (like saying 1, 2, 3…) is one skill. But counting objects and understanding the concept of what that quantity means are separate and more advanced skills. True counting implies an understanding of one to one ratios. From my (Miss Allison’s) personal experience as a mom, a pre-school teacher, a day care provider, big sister, babysitter and the kid who taught all the kids in the neighborhood to read before kindergarten, the number one is typically the hardest number for children to understand.
Finger plays and other counting games that are designed to teach one to one ratios tend to start higher, with a number like five and count down. Some examples would be Five Little Ducks, the Sea Shell poem from Creatures at the Ocean and Five Little Monkeys.
These counting down rhymes are more successful, in my experience than counting games that go up. Counting songs that go up tend to be more successful in teaching rhyming words. Examples of counting up rhymes would be This Old Man, The Ants Go Marching, Hickory Dickory, and Dr. Knickerbocker.
My question to you, since you have elementary school math experience, why does counting backwards make it easier to understand one to one ratio? It is obvious to me that it does. I just know it works better based on my experiences and common sense. I know it has a light bulb effect. I’ve seen that happen in a kid’s face. You get to one and all of a sudden the light goes on and they understand the concept. Any thoughts about the counting backwards phenomenon?
And I (Miss Anita) replied: “You’re right about the counting up rhymes like This Old Man, etc. Usually when those songs are sung they reinforce the rote memory of the number sequence. The ants march 1×1 and then 2×2 and then 3×3 etc. But you aren’t seeing those ants, pointing to them and counting them. You have to add something to make them a 1-1 teaching tool. That’s why, in our Kindermusik classes, we’ve added the ant counting cards for that song. With visuals of the ants, the children can see them and count them.
Another way to turn a song like This Old Man into a 1-1 ratio learning experience is to sing it with rhythm sticks. Every time you get to a number, stop and tap and count each tap. “This Old Man, he played one…stop…ONE TAP & SAY ONE…he played two… TWO TAPS and count out loud on each tap ONE, TWO…”
When it comes to counting backwards songs, I think the answer to the success is the emotional payoff of either excitement or satisfaction. Think about when a rocket launch counts down: 3 -2-1 BLASTOFF! So very exciting!
My boys learned to count backwards by watching the numbers on the microwave count down and chanting those numbers along with me. There was a huge payoff there, because our food was ready! When you count down, there is an END – either zero or one. (It’s really not the end since there are the negative numbers but we don’t go there with the little ones because their concrete minds aren’t ready for that yet.) So they get to one or zero and that’s the end… a very satisfying place to be.”
-posted by Miss Anita and Miss Allison, who hope that when you sing “Hickory Dickory Dock” with your child, you will add one-to-one ratio and do it like this:
‐ Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck one (STOP and clap one time and say “one” while you clap it. Then say, “Let’s clap and count to one again. ONE.) and down he did run. Hickory Dickory Dock.
‐ Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck two (STOP and clap two times and count the two claps ONE, TWO. Then say, “Let’s count again. ONE. TWO) the mouse said, “Peek-a-boo.” Hickory Dickory Dock.
‐ Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock.The clock struck three (STOP and clap three times and count the three claps ONE, TWO, THREE. Then say, “Let’s count again. ONE. TWO, THREE) the mouse said, “ WHEE!” Hickory Dickory Dock.
‐ Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck four (STOP and clap four times and count the four claps ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR. Then say, “Let’s count again. ONE. TWO, THREE, FOUR) the mouse said, “ NO MORE!” Hickory Dickory Dock.
An interesting (to say the least) recent study reports that when the subjects of the study listened to music, dopamine was released in their brains, just like when we experience pleasure from eating or having sex. Dopamine (a neurotransmitter) is the chemical that allows brain cells to communicate with each other.
Dopamine is associated with the motivation/reward system in the brain. When dopamine is released, feelings of enjoyment motivate us to do certain activities. This built-in system ensures that we eat, desire to procreate, and do those things that ensure our survival. When dopamine is lacking, the opposite happens. Motivation and desire shrink, and tiredness and depression creep in.
The researchers found that dopamine released in greater amounts when the subject’s favorite music was played (versus any other music), and increased in one area of the brain (the part that is linked to anticipation) about 15 seconds before a particularly thrilling moment arrived, and in another (the area involved in emotion), when the peak of the music finally arrived.
This may well help explain why music (and sex, and drugs, and food) are so universally loved among cultures.
Conclusions? That music is as enjoyable as sex. To your brain, that is.
-posted by Miss Analiisa, who advises you not to use this research study to back up the excuse, “Not tonight, dear, I’m listening to music.”
While your child is developing an understanding of language, it is important that he be given many opportunities and experiences to hear and feel a wide range of speeds; from slow to moderately steady, to quick.
The best way to do this, of course, is through music. And it’s a lot of fun, too.
Do you know the song Skip to My Lou? If you don’t, it’s easy to learn. Just look it up online to learn the melody, and then try this game.
The words go: Skip, skip, skip to my Lou.
Skip, skip, skip to my Lou.
Skip, skip, skip to my Lou.
Skip to my Lou, my darlin’.
Skipping usually comes naturally by about Kindergarten. If you don’t yet have a skipper, that’s okay. You skip while you sing, either with your baby in your arms or on the floor. Your toddler may just watch you at first, while your preschooler may give it a try.
Now, substitute movement words, and vary the tempo.
For example: really slowly… Creep, creep, creep to my Lou.
Creep, creep, creep to my Lou.
Creep, creep, creep to my Lou.
Creep to my Lou, my darlin’.
Here’s a whole host of movement words to get you started: march, twirl, sway, rock, run, walk, gallop, lunge, wiggle, prance, spin, waddle, slither, swoop, slide, hop, jump, leap, nod, crawl, kick, wave, shake, flop, stretch, swim and bounce
Alternate between the two extremes of fast and slow, and notice the joyful realization on your child’s face (even your baby!) when she anticipates what is next.
-posted by Miss Analiisa, whose favorite moving word is undulate.
Okay, okay. Before y’all get mad at me, let me explain. I am a teacher. I was a student. I understand the grading system. A’s are excellent, right? Anything above 90%. After all, a C is the “average”. C is pretty good. On the curve, it is better than half of your peers.
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