There are two parts to self-control. The first is inhibitory control, which is the ability to stop what you are doing and wait. (The other part is impulse control, which is the ability to stop an idea or thought from becoming an action.) But as inhibitory control develops first, we’ll begin there.

In class, we’ve been playing with a chant called Giddy Up Horsey. You can do this at home, too. Put your child on your lap on the floor, and say this chant and as you bounce:

Giddy up horsey, giddy up horsey, giddy up horsey, go, go, go! Bounce your child up and down.

Giddy, up horsey, giddy up horsey, giddy up horsey WHOA!! When you get to the whoa, stop bouncing, and lean back with your child and stop. Wait quietly for a moment. Keep repeating the whole thing until the giggles subside.

Then in class, we’ve been getting up and riding stick horses around to the same chant, stopping our ponies and waiting to be told to “go” again, (the inhibitory control part) after the whoa.

Miss Allison had an interesting observation this week. She said that because the grownups were in charge of the child’s body during the bounce, they were showing the children how to control their bodies (how to stop at the appropriate time). The grownups were teaching the children the pattern and the how of the going, stopping, and waiting.

When the children got up on the stick horses, they were more ready and able to control their own bodies. They were familiar with the pattern, and could anticipate the whoa. Miss Allison said that in classes that did the bounce first, before the pony riding, the children had a much higher success rate of demonstrating inhibitory control when in charge of their bodies during the pony ride, than the ones who just did the ride.

That fits with what we always say – You are your child’s first and best teacher.

So, do a little bouncing this week. And keep your eye on the blog. I’ve got an idea about how to make a really adorable stick pony to practice the riding and stopping and waiting (cleverly disguised inhibitory control practice). I just need to get the idea out of my head and take some pictures of the process. I promise – under $5 and NO sewing!

Oh, I almost forgot. For a fun stop and go game at home or in the car, check out this cute idea.

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who will practice some pony riding every time she’s having difficulty practicing either inhibitory or impulse control around that Godiva sea salt dark chocolate.

In fact, as I write this, I am sitting here doing my best to force motivate my violin player through his practice.  It’s not always easy. He’d rather be playing Xbox, or tug-a-war with his dog, or making up stories with his Halo Megabloks – anything but practicing. (Except, well, taking a shower and washing his hair, of course.)

But I know something he doesn’t. Finnish researchers (Did you know my maiden name was Koivisto? Maybe that’s one of the reasons why I like these scientists so much) have just developed a new method that shows the wide neural networks (including motor, emotions and creativity) that become activated all over the brain as music is listened to. Now scientists have an even better way to understand how music affects us.

Just like eating your vegetables and fish and getting enough vitamin D have a profound impact on my children’s physical health and development, regular music lessons/classes from an early age increases my children’s ability to learn. That’s a scientific fact, not just my opinion.

Here are a few examples of how scientists and researches believe music helps the brain:

• Studies have shown that music lessons/classes assist the brain to process sounds more efficiently. This means that when your child is trying to stay focused on reading a history text in a noisy classroom, he or she will have an easier time concentrating than a non lesson taker.
• Fast forward to a grown up job in one of those tiny cubicles. Multi-tasking and concentrating in a busy, loud office is an essential skill, one your violin player is much more likely to have.
• One researcher has found that the silence between two musical notes triggers the brain cells and neurons, which are responsible for the development of sharp memory.
• Other studies demonstrate that children who undergo musical training have a better verbal recall than those who have none. The amount of information that can be recalled increases the longer their period of musical training.
• Learning a second language is mandatory for high school graduation. Musicians are much better than non musicians at discerning the subtleties in pitch in foreign languages. This is especially helpful for tonal languages, like Mandarin.
• Coordination and concentration are also improved when a child takes instrument lessons. Think about what a flute player does all at the same time – moves both hands, reads music, listens to the players around him, watches the conductor – that’s a lot to coordinate!
• We know that music stimulates the areas of the brain that are responsible for planning and analyzing, thereby improving your organizational skills and making you more capable of handling math, reasoning and other cognitive tasks.
• And I think most importantly, when a child masters a piece of music or a difficult technique, it provides a sense of accomplishment, and gives a boost in confidence that spills over into all areas of life and produces a desire to tackle more challenges.

I want my children to grow up and have a good work ethic, an eagerness to try new things, the ability to reason and think, and the confidence that they can successfully navigate life.  The music they participate in now will help them accomplish just that.

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who is going to make salmon burgers tomorrow night for dinner. After she wrestles her violin-playing 9 year old into the shower in the morning.

In Spring and Summer, the outside world is chock full of colors, smells, tastes, sounds, and things to touch. By this time of year, socks and shoes are back on, mittens cover little fingers, and hats muffle noises.

Did you know that together, hands and feet have over 40,000 touch receptors? Pull off those socks and mittens and take advantage of those 40,000 learning possibilities! Here are some ideas:

Note: All of these work equally well for hands or feet. A tablecloth/oilcloth on the floor or bathtub work well for the feet activities, and a highchair tray or wax paper on a table is a perfect place to contain the mess made by experimenting little hands. Be sure to talk about what your little one is “feeling” (slippery, soft, rough, smooth, scratchy, bumpy).

• Squirt shaving cream or whipped cream onto feet, or in little mounds on a high chair tray for exploration.
• Put dried beans or breakfast cereal in a box or plastic tub. Place packing peanuts or crumpled paper in the other box. Let your little one stomp and jump and kick away. (With your help, a non-walker can do this, too.)
•  Make a box of ribbon and fabric scraps of various textures (satin, grosgrain, fleece, burlap, vinyl) for exploration.
• Take those ribbons and scraps of fabric, add some cotton balls, and put them on floor for your little one to crawl or walk across.
• Cook noodles, oatmeal, rice or jello. Name the different textures as you play with them.
• Mix cornstarch and water until you get a goop about the consistency of glue.  Add food coloring if you wish. This is a non-toxic mixture, so no worries if a little bit gets eaten.

This is not the time to try and contain the mess! Frequently, the messier the experience, the more is learned. Think about it – the more touch receptors (and other senses) that are involved, the stronger and more permanent the learning will be.

-posted by Miss Analiisa, whose favourite sensory activity involves sand between her toes.

Kate swinging Up, Up, Up, Up and Down, Down, Down, Down

Every parent does it. Every parent to some extent brags, compliments and shares in the excitement of his or her child. I do it. I do it ALL the time. I am so proud of my girls. I think they are genius children and that they really could do no wrong. I sing my child’s praises to friends, family and acquaintances.

In fact, I am about to do it now. My youngest daughter, Kate, has been in the Kindermusik program since two months of infancy. We started her in Family Time, then in Village and now she is a thriving Our Timer. I watched as her progression over the past two years finally came to a head just this last week. I had Kate flying through the air on my legs when I thought – I should do this to the Our Time vocal warmup – Up, Up, Up, Up, Up, Up, Up, Up like a rocket ship… and Down, Down, Down, Down, Down, Down, Down, Down like a shooting star. (I know you just sang this scale exercise as you read that).  It’s addictive and the kids LOVE it.

I introduced this concept of using our scale warmup as a gross motor activity and by the second go-round Kate was singing it by herself.  The next day she was playing play-doh when I overheard her taking the compound containers and stacking them as she sang her scales up and down. My husband whispered, ‘She really is starting to connect things’! He was right. Kate has mastered her scales and she is applying them without my guidance. How proud am I?! Extremely. I want to scream from the mountaintop that my two-year old is a Kindermusik prodigy (though I know this is still just the beginning of her Kindermusik education).

Knowing that parents bask in the little glories of their children, we, as your Studio3Music teachers, want to hear about these milestones whether big or little, whether you deem them inconsequential or bigger than the 2012 Presidential election – tell us! We encourage our Studio3Music community of families to share these tidbits with us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/studio3music.

All geniuses dress this way...

We love our kids, your kids and our community of loving parents. Each child is so different and special in his and her own way, and finding the joy in one another’s growth is only part of the full Kindermusik experience.

My personal next step: getting Kate on video singing her scales. This precious little toddler voice will be gone before I know it. Plus, when she’s 18 and on her first date (yes, she’s not dating ‘til 18) we will remind her that she is every bit as precious to us now as she was when she was two singing her scales wearing only her diaper.

-posted by Miss Kim, who is proud of her children and her Studio3Music Kindermusik community.

But Luke’s story is just a little different.  He is a special needs child, but I have to tell you that when you spend time with Luke, you are the one who feels special.  Luke has been in class with his mommy for two years and this fall, I suggested to Melissa that we move him up to the next level.  This is now a class that he stays by himself with me and his classmates for about 40 minutes and then Mom comes back and does a sharing time.

The first day he started his new class, he ran in and was so excited to see me and his classmates after our summer break.  Most of the children in this class have been with Luke on his 2 year Kindermusik journey.  The parents of all the children have built a community and treasure the relationship that Luke has formed with their children as much I do!

Luke is not able to communicate verbally, but he understands everything!  Being in an Imagine That class now gives him the opportunity to express himself in different ways.  Imagine That is a child directed class, meaning that I have songs and a lesson plan, but we arrive at those musical destinations by getting the children to interact with the “story”.

Last week, we were pretending to go the park, and I asked the children how they would like to get there.  We had some great ideas about running, jumping, flying like dragons….then I asked Luke how he would like to move.  He started spinning, and so we all spun our way to the park!

If I asked a question about what color the “tree house” should be, Luke is able to answer me by pointing to the green color on the wall.  By the time we called parents back in to join us, Luke was sitting patiently on his ball (which of course is very hard to do, because it is so fun to bounce on the ball) just like the other children were doing.

We did some cooperative ball play with the parents and by the time it was we ready to sing goodbye, Luke had his hand on top of his head waiting for a stamp!  As Melissa and Luke were leaving, I said to Melissa how fantastic Luke did in class.  This time, I was the one with tears in my eyes as I had just seen how much Luke had grown in the past 2 years.  Please take time to read Luke’s story. You will truly be glad you did!

-posted by Miss Beth, who is inspired by all the remarkable children she knows!

The things your preschooler naturally wants to do will boost their cognitive development – the growing of thinking skills, including problem solving and decision making. Cognitive development is not about the acquisition of information, though that might occur in the process.

What’s important about helping your child acquire cognitive skills now in the preschool years is that this aptitude can then be transferred to any other learning experiences in their life.  For instance, take puzzles. There is a lot of thinking involved in completing a jigsaw puzzle. Sorting, organizing, categorizing, visual discrimination, remembering (Where did I see that piece I now need?), a plan of action (Do I do the outside or the inside first?)

Now fast forward 30 years. Your preschooler has become a successful research scientist. And puzzles have helped her become so. She learned the scientific method as a child. She observed the puzzle, she hypothesized how to solve the puzzle, she tested her solution and concluded if her solution worked!

All mistakes or problems are really opportunities for cognitive development. Here’s why: Children thrive on routine and familiarity. When something happens that thwarts their “normal”, they are required to come up with a solution that is outside of their box, and in doing so, cognitive development occurs.

Take the proverbial spilled milk. Your child dropped his cup of milk. You could get mad (especially if you just cleaned your kitchen floor), but don’t. Remember – all mistakes or problems are really opportunities for cognitive development.

Ask your child to look at the spill – Wow! That little mug of milk sure spread out all over the floor. Is the puddle going to keep growing, or stop? Is it a deep puddle? How can you tell? What should we do about all this milk on the floor? Oh, clean it up? How? What should we use to do that? Milk gets sticky when it’s dried, because it has a kind of sugar in it. What do you think could put on our washcloth to get the sticky off the floor? Why do you think you dropped the cup? How can you hold the cup differently next time so it doesn’t spill? Observing, hypothesizing, testing and concluding!

Here is a list of 10 cognitive skill-building activities to do with your child.

1. Play Hot and Cold. Hide an object and give your child clues as to where it is by saying hotter, colder, or warmer.
2. Games like Dominoes, Uno, Skip Bo or Battleship
3. Cooking. Let your child mix, pour, etc. Lots of mistakes or problems can occur to solve in this activity. (Just ask professional chefs.)
4. Play I Spy with shapes, colors, textures, etc.
5. Household chores like sorting laundry or putting away silverware.
6. Ask (sometimes very silly) thinking questions. Is an elephant purple?  Which is bigger – our cat or our dog? What did you eat for dinner last night?
7. With your finger, draw a simple shape or picture on your child’s back. See if they can guess what it is. Give clues if necessary. (It’s something you find outside. It is very tall.)
8. Category games. What doesn’t belong – cat, mouse, frog, tree? Find me 3 things that are yellow.
9. Create an obstacle course.
10. Let them make mistakes and then allow them to figure out how to solve them.

 -posted by Miss Analiisa, who thinks she’s pretty cognitively savvy, until she plays the game Gobblet Gobblers with her children and loses!

Are we talking about the minute machinations we all do with our lips, teeth, tongue, and our hard and soft palettes to form phonemes?

Or do we mean the inflections in spoken language that tell a listener we are asking a question or telling a joke?

YES! Vocal development is all of these things.

I have dozens of activities I love to do in class to nurture vocal development, but I’m going to limit myself to just one today.

It’s the little ditty Above the Sea, aka “the song with the bathtub fish”. I love those fish because they open the door to world of vocal development for your child in a tangible and engaging way?

What makes this song and fish so special?

It’s a story song.  Songs that tell stories engage children in a deeper way by growing and developing and changing. They have characters to connect with, so the child’s emotions are brought into play.  This gives us a song the child is more interested in participating with.

Above the Sea has a conversation, and the song’s melodic pattern also mimics that conversation.  When we ask a question, our pitch will naturally slide up at the end of the sentence. When Little Fish asks “What’s above the sea?”, the pitch moves up as well.  So, when we sing this story we are helping our child to understand how people use language to communicate with each other.

Above the Sea also develops your child’s ability to produce spoken words.  Singing is often easier for a child than speaking, because singing is slower and more deliberate.  Syllables are broken down and clearly pronounced when you sing; consonants are enunciated and vowels are drawn out.

What will often times pass by in a blur in spoken word will be clearly heard and understood when sung.   Now they can use those words in other parts of their life, and they can sing along with the song, too.

Each of the sung patterns has visual components to accompany them. The fish face each other when they talk, and I always wiggle the fish who is talking at that moment. When they go up to the top of the sea, we all swim our fish up and sing up a scale at the same time -nice little auditory/visual connection there!

When the fish come back down, our voices descend the scale, too.  The kids can clearly see/hear/feel the patterns in the song.  The more senses we include in the learning process the deeper the learning is!

My favorite part is the verse in the middle whose words we can change.  Does your child love sharks? See the shark- hear him bark, his teeth are so scary!

Dinosaurs? See the dinosaur – and hear her roar, I think her name’s Marie!

What about Lightening McQueen? See Lightening McQueen – hear his engine scream, He’ll win the Grand Prix!

Come to class and sing me your verses. I’d love to hear them!

So go ahead – sing a fishy song with your child today to encourage their vocal development. By all means, play with your words! They are the best and cheapest toys our children will ever have. And, unlike plastic sharks and dinosaurs and Lightening McQueen cars, they will last the longest.

-posted by Miss Allison, who adores words, spoken, sung and written.

There are two kinds of steady beat. The first is internal, which is unique to every person. You are born with your own inner tempo. Think about yourself – how fast does your “clock” tick? Do you walk fast, talk fast, expect quick results? Get frustrated when everything or everyone else can’t keep up? Your internal tempo is probably allegro!

My 9 year old son’s internal beat is much slower than mine. He needs to process and “cook” information. As a Suzuki violin momma, I have to participate in his practice. After 2 years, he finally said, “You’re going too fast. You’re confusing me. It’s too much information at once.” If only I had recognized that before. If I continue to coach him at my pace, I’m going to frustrate him, and he’ll probably end up hating violin. Practice is now relatively easy on both of us.

Faster internal steady beats don’t equal brighter children; my easy-going middle child is just as smart as my speedy 12 year old.  They just both like the information presented to them at a tempo that matches what is going on inside. If I keep that in mind, I’ll be a better parent.

We cannot change an internal working tempo. It’s yours for life. We can, however, teach children to be flexible to match an external steady beat with the activity they are doing. Why do we do this? You don’t want to cut out a delicate paper snowflake at 90 miles an hour! Nor do you want a slow tempo child to read at a snail’s pace.

Babies come ready made with their own internal steady beat. Sometimes in class, a song will play that is pretty close to their own tempo. Then that baby will tap his drum right in time to the music, and all the grownups in class will ooohh and aaahh at this little musical genius!

It isn’t usually until they reach age 3 or so that they begin to be able to match an external source of steady beat, such as playing instruments to a song, or marching. And we don’t really expect consistent beat matching to occur until between Kindergarten and 2^nd grade.

But because the ability to match a steady beat is so vital to success in many other skills, we do start steady beat practice from the very earliest Kindermusik class – Village. You can practice at home, too. Here are some fun ideas to try:

For babies and toddlers: To help these little ones to feel an external steady beat, use their bodies. Put your child on your lap and steadily chant a nursery rhyme, or sing a simple song. Bounce your child up and down, keeping the tempo consistent.

For preschoolers: Hold hands, a rope, a stretchy band or a large scarf between you. Sing a song your child knows (so she doesn’t have to think about the words) and sway or rock back and forth together. You can change the tempo every couple of repeats.

For young schoolchildren: Put on one of your Kindermusik Young Child CD’s or their current musical favorite. Music that changes tempo is especially good, so try some classical music. Give your child a big sheet of paper and some markers or crayons. Have your child draw (lines, dots, circles, squiggles, etc.) to the tempo of the music. Ask questions like: “What does this slow music look like?”

There are lots of fun ways to practice matching an external steady beat. I’m sure you’ll get creative!

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who is determined to workout her internal speedy steady beat muscles by learning to slow down and rest. Actually rest. Stop doing things. Stop thinking. Breathe deep.

Anyhow, prepositions are all about spatial relationships – meaning, where you are in relation to an object. How important are they? Just try giving your child a direction without prepositions.

You: “Go get the ball.”
Child: “Where?”
You: “The backyard.”
Child: “Where in the yard?”
You: “Tree.”
Child: “Which tree?”

See, you can’t give the clear, accurate directions, “Go get the ball in the backyard. It’s under the tree opposite the shed”, without using prepositions.

Beside, between, and next to are all prepositions that must be understood before children can make and understand patterns (pre-math stuff). Prepositions are a really important part of language development, too. Children with sensory issues often have trouble learning prepositions as they don’t often have good body awareness.

So, how can you teach prepositions? There are many (because you say them so frequently) they will probably learn on their own. But games (musical ones, of course!) are a great way to teach new ones.

I’m using the song “Go ‘round the Mountain” in my Kindermusik camp this August. I’ve put it below for you to listen to. You can also download it at www.play.kindermusik.com.

10_Go_Round_The_Mountain__

In class, we use hoops on the floor to be our “mountains”, but you can use a chair, an exercise ball, a taped-off square, a box, or other objects. Once you’ve learned the song, turn the music off. You sing, and change the words. Here’s a slew of ideas:

Jump in the box…
Crawl under the chair…
Tiptoe around the ball…
Fly above the mat…

See? Pretty easy. Be sure to play with prepositions two ways. Have your child do the preposition, like in the examples above. Then, sing again, and this time, direct your child to place an object (like a toy turtle) in relation to the chair, or box, or hoop.

Turtle on the box…
Horse behind the chair…
Shark under the carpet…

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who is sitting on the couch with her laptop despite how tired she is, but who shall soon get up and go towards the bathroom to brush her teeth and crawl under the covers and into bed, after she picks up the remote from beside her and puts it on top of the shelf!

I was always good at math (I did have to work at understanding), but I did not like it. I had to take one math class in order to graduate with my degree. I enrolled in an Algebra class my very last semester. I hadn’t taken a math class in 6 years. But suddenly, math made sense! I realized that everything was in patterns. I understood patterns, because I had spent the last 5 years in music theory classes. Music  is all about patterns, too.

I chose to pair Logical-Mathematical Intelligence and Musical-Rhythmic Intelligence because people who have either (or both) of those intelligences share an aptitude for patterns.

Mathematical-Logical Intelligence (Number/Reasoning Smart)

While you might assume that a person who is number/reasoning smart naturally excels in math, computer science or at chess, a better description of this intelligence has to do with being able to recognize patterns (especially abstract ones), numbers and their relationships, logic, and scientific thinking and investigation.

So how does this show up in a child, who doesn’t really begin to think abstractly until late elementary/middle school? (Which is why 6^th graders generally don’t do well in Algebra.) A number/reasoning smart child will tend to ask a lot of questions about how things work, and enjoys experimenting. These children will also have a more advanced sense of cause and effect than their peers.

These children also like categorizing and organizing things. They notice patterns and contrasts. Strategy games (like chess) are especially fun, and they have good critical thinking skills.  And yes, these children do well in math – especially computing arithmetic problems in their heads. Number/reasoning smart children often grow up to be scientists, mathematicians, detectives, accountants or engineers.

How to Encourage Your Number/Reasoning Smart Child:

• strategy games (chess, checkers, cards,)
• board games
• math games (love this local store – http://mathnificent.com/store/) Blink and Set are both great pre-math games.
• science experiment kits (check out http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/)
• logic puzzles or brain teasers (check out http://www.criticalthinking.com)
• collecting – rocks, bugs, etc. Anything that will allow observation and categorization.
• read mystery books
• water play (it’s all about cause and effect)
• sorting and stacking play

Musical Intelligence (Music Smart)

Who doesn’t love music? I think every child should grow up with music in their lives, but children with musical intelligence are especially sensitive to pitch, rhythm, timbre and tone, and to music’s emotional power. They can tell you when something is “off” in a performance, and may have perfect pitch. They often have well-developed language skills, and are often aware of sounds others miss.

Music smart children can easily remember melodies, and have a good singing voice. You might find them singing to themselves, or speaking and moving in a rhythmical way, and they might use songs or rhythms to learn. These children easily recognize rhythms and patterns around them.

Interestingly enough, movie producers are usually musically intelligent. Music smart children grow up to be composers, conductors, music teachers, disc-jockeys, and instrumentalists and singers, of course!

How to Encourage Your Music Smart Child:

• music classes (like Kindermusik!) and music lessons around the age of 6 or 7
• instrument box with a wide variety of instruments
• listen to lots of different kinds of music and talk together about what you hear
• encourage them to make up songs and music, and record them
• sing to and with your child
• make instruments
• play musical and rhythmic games
• join a band, choir or orchestra
• attend age-appropriate concerts

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who shudders at the thought of advanced mathematics, but realizes that being music smart helped her get good math grades and love logic.