Connecting Babies, Music, Learning, & Fun: Village Home Materials – the CDs

Wow, the weeks have flown by and we’re now in the second half of the curriculum and you have a whole new set of home materials!   So I thought it was finally time for me to give you some written information on what to do with your materials.  Let’s begin with the CD.

I’ve heard from parents that their child is completely engaged in the Feathers CD.  It is an instant source of comfort when their baby is fussy or has been stuck in the car seat for too long. I’ve heard that the child actually listens to the current class CD in a different way than they do when they hear other music, even other Kindermusik CDs (such as an older sibling’s CD.) 

Babies don’t just listen when they hear the CD from their own class.  I think they are actually “doing” the activities inside their head while they hear the music.  They remember how wonderful it feels to be massaged when they hear “Wild Geese Are Flying.”  They recall fun of dancing down the line with their partners when they hear “Sing A Song Of Sixpence.”  I think their little mathematical heads are tracking the steady beat as the “Maple Leaf Rag” comes on, and waiting for the animal sounds as “Little Feather” tiptoes through the forest.  

A CD with associated activities is very different from a CD of background music.  No matter how lovely it is, it will never be as interesting as the CD that engages the mind with the memory of activities. 

For this reason, your baby will probably prefer the Feathers CD for a few more weeks.  I know you might be tired of it and would really like to move on to Do Si Do.  But it will take us a couple of weeks to build up a large enough repertoire of activities to compete with the 8 weeks of memories your baby has of Feathers.  So be patient, it will happen!

So, that’s one thing you can do with your CDs, play them often.  Another thing to do with it is to DO it often.  You can use the music at home the same way we do in class:  get out some baby bells, or your new egg shaker and play along with the music we use for steady beat in class. 

Then, coerce Daddy into dancing with you.  (He’ll love it once he gets used to the idea.) Older siblings will also love dancing with you and Daddy and their new sibling.  You and Daddy can trade children halfway through the dance, that makes it even more fun!

You can play hide and seek with your new scarf, bounce, play ball games with your chime ball, do intentional touch and infant exercise with the songs that are your CD as well.  The more you play with the music, the more your child will connect with it.

-posted by Miss Allison, who would like you to go get that baby and do some activities with your Feathers & Do-Si-Do CDs.  Then, come back tomorrow to find out about the rest of the items in your home materials!