Studio3Music Blog

Posts Tagged ‘preschoolers’

Sep
7

In Celebration of Messy

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Family, parenting

Messy is underrated. I recently heard of a movement of mothers who are trying to make messy the new “in.” I like that idea. It goes along better with the Law of Entropy: My house moves naturally toward messy without any help from me. When neat is the goal, I have to put some scrub to the tub, so to speak.

When I heard about this messy movement, it captured my attention. Are my standards too high I wondered? Am I bowing to the gods of neatness when my time could be better spent elsewhere? Mind you, we’re not talking about dishes left in the sink for days, or filthy bathrooms. We’re talking about how picked up and beautiful we feel our house should look all the time. You know that fleeting ideal– how the house looks when there are no people in it. When the cleaning lady (me) has finished and no one is home yet, or before the guests arrive for our child’s birthday party with its festive table setting.

When I heard of the messy movement, I immediately thought of a few friends who I’ve always admired for their toleration of mess—no kidding! There’s Caroline (name changed just in case she doesn’t yet see being messy as an admirable trait.) When you enter her house, you notice that her main living room has a large pop-up princess fort and one of those crawling tunnels. The Little Tykes kitchen is in the corner with the cookware and fake food strewn around. Living in a chilly, rainy climate, these toys provide an indoor large motor play place for her children. Because the living room has the most space, they use it for what their family needs most in this phase of life. On the occasions that grown-ups are over, the stuff gets moved, but on a daily basis, the living room is play central. That practical attitude gets a messy award!

Another friend of mine has a messy art table by their front door (which I blogged about earlier this year). No hiding away this messy space in shame. Art projects are not interrupted prematurely by a need to clean. Once in a while pens and paint jars are capped, but not before some have dried to a crust. Piles of paper grace the floor and scissors, crayons and glue cover the table top. A true messy haven for a budding artist, who paints and draws for hours each day I’m told.

The point of the messy movement, I would guess, is not mess for its own sake. It’s a reaction to a perfectionistic mentality. When we have an unhealthy ideal of what our home should look like, we can be so driven to achieve this unrealistic goal that we drive ourselves and our families crazy. We aren’t having any fun and neither is anybody else as we chase this illusion of a perfect home.

Parents, I have a proclamation for us: Family life is messy. Seems to me the messy movement is all about bringing balance to our lives. There’s a time to clean and a time to be messy. When our children are young, it is the time to be messy. Celebrating messy is part of celebrating kids. So let’s spend a bit less time restacking the Tupperware they’ve thrown into the cupboard (or whatever our neatness obsession is), and more time taking our kids out to the garden to play. Afterwards we can cut some beautiful flowers to put in a vase for the kitchen table. We can clear a space for it in the middle.

-posted by Donna Detweiler who hears there’s plenty of time to have a clean house (and be lonely and wish it were messy again) after the kids are gone.

Tags: babies, Donna Detweiler, parenting, preschoolers, toddlers

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Sep
4

More Music, Please!

Posted in Family, Things to do

At Kindermusik, we believe music is as good for kids as Gummi-Vites and as yummy as birthday cake and ice cream! Ever heard you kids complain about having to listen to music? Maybe opera isn’t their favorite, but most kids consume music like fishy crackers. More, please!

So the goal today is to get us thinking about how to up our kids’ consumption of good music on a daily basis. Note: I’m not talking about adding Musak to life but asking how can we thoughtfully include music in our children’s lives which will enrich their lives and, as research shows, their brain development.

Here are a few ideas to get us thinking about how to tune in to more music throughout a typical day.

Morning: How about teaching our kids to start their day with music? If our children don’t already have their own music machine, it’s never too early. Little hands love to make music happen all by themselves. For toddlers, a cassette player or a low end CD player is perfect. Fisher Price makes a classic cassette player that can even survive a bouncing solo trip down a flight of stairs. We know. At a favorite thrift store we can find old music machines that are perfect for children to use without parental oversight. When they break, we’re usually out less that $10!

V-Tech and Fisher Price make varieties of button pushing, music making balls, caterpillars, keyboards etc. It’s wise to look for musical toys that have tunes that we like too: Some have classical fare. Others a variety of classic folk tunes. Most of us avoid the toys with repetitive ditties that stick annoyingly in our heads for days to come.

For morning listening, an accessible basket or book shelf can contain a selection of music they can pop in first thing. We have picked these out together at the library, music store or from the family collection. Depending on our families’ taste and tolerance for morning noise, we can choose Kindermusik CDs, wake up music like John Phillips Souza marches, mellow or peppy praise songs, or story songs. The choices are endless. The point is to make the choices versus letting the radio DJ’s choose; though that’s not bad if we have a station that chooses the songs we love.

Older kids may have an IPod which can be loaded with selections, however because listening with ear buds cuts our child off from the family community, I wouldn’t encourage the habit of using them unless travelling or in a situation where individualized entertainment is happening. An IPod docking station with good speakers works great for sharing music as a family.

Mid-morning Snack/Music breaks: Consider adding a music selection to snack time as a part of the routine for preschoolers. They love to listen together or with a parent, and will likely clap or sing along. Having musical instruments of their own available increases the fun.

Lunch time: We are more likely to sit with our preschoolers at lunch time, so it can be an opportunity to share music that we love. We can chat about the kind of songs, the instruments, musical patterns, or simply tell the story of why we love them. Choosing new music from the library can make a fun, listening memory with our kids. Do we like the new CD or not? Why? Can we hear the tuba, or the piccolo? Can we hear a repeated line of music? Does it make us want to march, dance, cry or take a rest?

Afternoon rest time: Surprisingly, I vividly recall my own preschool nap time with affection. My teacher would play Disney recordings as we lay quietly on our mats. Cinderella was my favorite. Today there are so many delightful story/song recordings available. Now that I have school age children, listening to radio drama has often been a highlight of our homeschool day.

Dinner time: When my son was newborn, my husband would come home from work, put on a CD and recline in the chair with our son on his chest. They enjoyed hours of music together in this manner. By the time our boy was a toddler, he would flap and wave his arms gleefully when one of their favorite CDs was played. Those two share a close relationship. I suspect the shared music helped create their bond. Listening to music as a family at dinner time can create lifelong memories for kids. The winding down time right before or after dinner is also a good time listening to story or music recordings.

Bedtime: Bedtime routine lends itself naturally to music. Many kids like to fall asleep to a beloved lullaby CD. The calming effect of music is legendary. From Brahms lullabies to Jim Brickman piano solos, the options are endless. The challenge is to try some new ones now and then. Kids can fall in love with more than one bedtime CD.

Kids can never get enough of the sweet stuff of life, which includes music. So, how about giving them some more…please.

-posted by Donna Detweiler, whose musical taste is quite varied, but she has a sweet spot of bluegrass.

Tags: babies, brain, Donna Detweiler, music, parenting, preschoolers, Things to do, toddlers

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Sep
2

A New Season of Shows

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Family, Symphony Concerts, Things We Love

At some point this summer, while the rest of you were thinking of suntans and beaches and nothing to do with school, Miss Allison, Miss Stacey, Michael, Chadd and I were knee deep in snow, sheep and the sea!

We’re totally tickled to be bringing you 4 concerts this year, including an all new holiday show.

All concerts sold out weeks in advance last season, so purchase your tickets early by clicking on the concert titles below. Season tickets (does not include the Holiday Show) for the 9:30 performances are here, and the 10:30 here.

Holiday Symphony Serenade

Saturday December 10, 2011 – 9:30 and 10:30

An ALL NEW show! It’s a delightful collection of your favorite holiday things all on one stage, including the 8 days of Hanukkah and a jazz trio! Come hear holiday music from all over the world, bounce, sing, play and move.

A Birthday Party For Mozart

Saturday January 21, 2012 – 9:30 and 10:30

Mozart is turning 4 years old, and you’re invited to his party! Come explore the delightful world of Mozart’s music, from his point of view. Watch what happens when he doesn’t get the musical present he really wanted. As always, we’ll have a singalong musical story and invite you to snuggle up to a lullaby.

A Little Barn Moo-sic

Saturday March 17, 2012, 9:30 and 10:30

Miss Allison, her musical friends, and the Story Fairy welcome you to the cacophony of the barnyard! It’s time to for some classical pastoral moosic. Sing a funny sheepish story, and meet a wise old owl. You’ll even hear instruments that sound like animals.

Swing Me Up and Swing Me Down

Saturday May 12, 2011 – 9:30 and 10:30

In this action-packed concert, we will be using music to teach the concepts of high and low. We’ll meet the members of the brass family, play high and low games, sing a terrific story about some ocean friends. With Mother’s Day just around the corner, we recommend bringing your favorite Mommy to the show!

-posted by the Story Fairy, who is wondering how she can turn a barnyard full of animals into a headpiece.

Tags: kindermusik, Miss Analiisa, music, preschoolers, Things to do, toddlers

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Aug
29

Encouraging Your Beginning Reader

Posted in Child Development, Education

Do you have a budding read at your house? Would you like to have one? I recently wrote about how to recognize signs of reading readiness in your young child. I’d like to expand on it with super practical suggestions for doing reading at their level. Here are some simple, fun, hand-on activities you can do to encourage and build their reading skills.

1) “Trix is for Kids”—Do you remember the magnetic power of a cereal box? Sure it was the sugary content that hooked us in, but who didn’t sit and slurp cereal out of a bowl while pouring over the attractive words and cartoons on the box? Cereal marketers are masters at attracting kids. What slogans are stuck in your mind? “Coo coo for Cocoa Puffs” or “The Breakfast of Champions”? So, why not take advantage of their expertise and use the boxes to your advantage. Keep the boxes out on the table and let them do their magic.

2) Magnetic, Colorful Letters—This retro set has really never gone out of style. That’s why it’s called a classic. The 26 letters of the alphabet are perfect manipulatives for little hands. Just don’t make the mistake of buying a set that is too small! Letters should be at least 1 ½ to 2 inches tall. As growing brains are beginning to recognize patterns and sounds that letters make, playing with magnetic letters creates lots of opportunity for “Ah Ha” moments such as when they realize C-A-T suddenly means that black furry pet that purrs! A large metal cookie tray can sub for a fridge if yours happens to be the trendy non-metallic brushed stainless steel kind.

3) Word Match—Writer Amanda Morin suggest that you play a matching game to encourage pre-reading. Write common words such as chair, lamp, wall or toy box and each of 2 index cards. Tape one of the set on the item, and then let your reader make the match with her deck of words.

4) Sequencing Cards—Here’s another suggestion from Amanda Morin: Make a set of cards that tell a familiar story. You can copy pictures from a favorite story book and cover up the words, or draw your own, like a comic strip. Have your child put the story cards in the right order and then tell you the story using the sequencing cards.

5) Homemade books—Many fun ABC books are available at your library. I mentioned a few favorites in my last blog. But why not make your own? Cutting out pictures from magazines, or drawing your own pictures to illustrate the ABC’s can be fun for parent and child. Your imagination is the only limit on this project. Computers, crayons, pens, glue, copy machines, macaroni noodles, pipe cleaners. You take it from here. About.com special education section also suggests making books that emphasize patterns such as: “Blue is for the sky”and “Blue is for Bluejays,” or “Ants are little,” and “The box is little,” and so on.

It bears repeating that the goal of early reading instruction is not achievement but pleasure. Reading should be fun and exciting, not scary and difficult. So don’t worry about how your child is doing in comparison to others. Just be intentional about exposing him or her to lots of written language in a playful and carefree manner. I hope these activities help get you going.

-posted by Donna Detweiler who wants to remind you that each child learns to read in his or her unique timing.

Tags: Donna Detweiler, learning, parenting, preschoolers, reading, Things to do

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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!