Studio3Music Blog

Posts Tagged ‘language development’

Sep
25

Big Fish, Little Fish

Posted in Child Development, Music and the brain, Our Time

You’ll very often hear your teacher talk about vocal development in class, and you might wonder what exactly we are referring to…. Are we talking about your child’s ability to sing or speak, or to acquire language?

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.

Tags: brain, kindermusik, language development, listening, Miss Allison, music, preschoolers, singing

Join the conversation

Sep
17

Hickory, Dickory, Dock. How fast is your internal clock?

Posted in Child Development, Imagine That, Music and the brain, Our Time, Things to do, Village, Young Child

What is steady beat? Though we associate it most closely with music, steady beat is really just an action repeated at about the same pace each time. Steady beat is required in everything from clapping along to a piece of music, talking smoothly, walking steadily, kicking, reading, cutting with scissors or even typing.

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.

Tags: kindermusik, language development, learning, Miss Analiisa, music, physical development, reading, Things to do

Join the conversation

Aug
22

Inside, Outside, Upside Down

Posted in Child Development, Education

Prepositions. Can you name one? Before I started homeschooling my children (6 years of Shurley English later), all I could remember about them was that a preposition wasn’t something I was supposed to end a sentence with. And something about not dangling them… no, that is participles.

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.

over under in out on inside outside up down behind in front beside above below through between around across with against following before to from

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.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

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!

Tags: brain, games, language development, learning, Miss Analiisa, music, preschoolers, sensory child, Things to do, toddlers

Join the conversation

Jun
18

Do you like when things have patterns? You might have math or music “intelligence”.

Posted in Child Development, Education, Music and the brain, Things to do

Math and music. They go together more than you might think. When I was at university, the double majors in the music department were, almost without exception, also majoring in the maths or sciences.

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.

Tags: brain, kindermusik, language development, Miss Analiisa, music, parenting, Things to do

Join the conversation

Jun
13

Making “Multiple Intelligences Theory” Practical

Posted in Child Development, Education, parenting, Things We Love

One of the things that is hardest for me as a mom is to parent my children who are different from me. After all, as I told you a couple of days ago, I’m mostly a visual, abstract-sequential learner. And internally-motivated. I get me really well.

I used to get frustrated with my oldest son, who is mostly the opposite of me, until I understood how he learned and processed information. Okay, I’ll confess. He’s 12 ½ now, and still frustrates me at times, but for different reasons!

Most traditional schools emphasize reading and writing (what psychologist Howard Gardner calls the Linguistic and Logical-Mathematical Intelligences), but not all children learn best that way.

Howard Gardner came up with 8 “Multiple Intelligences”. (A theory, according to the scientific community.) I’m going to tell you a little bit about each intelligence during the blog posts this week, with the hope that you’ll recognize your child in one of more of them, and then learn how you can help develop that intelligence – the practical reality.

Spatial Intelligence (Picture Smart)

These children will tend to see pictures in their heads. They have excellent spatial awareness and judgment. They can draw what they see both easily and well. They don’t tend to get lost. They can manipulate objects in their mind. They are good at catching a ball as they can anticipate movement in space.

These children are keen observers of the world, and notice details that many others miss. They are highly visual and right-brained. They are good at puzzles, mazes, and building things. Fine motor skills are often well-developed. They are the daydreamers (with very active imaginations), artists, architects, and creators.

How to Encourage Your Picture Smart Child:

provide things that can be taken apart and put back together
arts and crafts kits, clay
drawing paper, pens, pencils, paints, chalk, crayons
map making
microscopes, telescopes
legos, playmobil, blocks and other manipulatives to “design” play areas, buildings or other things
puzzles
anything that allows them to create
display their artwork

Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart)

These children love words – spoken or written! They can have an aptitude for expressing themselves with words. They are good at reading, writing, memorizing and telling stories. They can learn foreign languages easily. These children even invent their own languages. They are great debaters and good public speakers – they love to talk!

Frequently, these children read at an early age. They can be what we call intuitive (almost self-taught) readers, meaning they might not rely on phonics as much for learning to read, but figuring out words based on context. As they grow up, they tend to love crossword puzzles. They are the poets, writers, journalists and public speakers.

How to Encourage Your Word Smart Child:

provide book-making supplies
write down a pre-writer’s stories
read, read, read to your child
let them have their own library card and take frequent trips there
alphabet games, magnetic letters
word games, puns, silly rhymes
encourage storytelling – let them talk
picture dictionary, atlas, globe
be the audience for their plays and skits

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who loves what Howard Gardner said when asked for advice on how parents could rear successful children, Gardner replied that we should not try to make our children good at what we ourselves were good at, or what we ourselves were not good at. Our job is to help our children become who they are supposed to be, not what we think they should be.