Month: December 2012

Learning Through Music: Musical Notation

Pop stars may sing about the power of love, but in Kindermusik circles we sing about the power of music. Humming a favorite tune can lull a little one to sleep or make a sick child feel better. Listening to songs from our own childhood exercises our memories by reviving sights and sounds long since forgotten. And how many of us learned the alphabet through song or about the rhythm of language through nursery rhymes?

Each week in class we tap into the power of music to enhance your child’s creativity, social-emotional skills, and even boost your child’s reading and math abilities. For example, learning to read musical notation uses a similar set of cognitive skills and pattern recognition also found in reading. So, when your child sings high or low on “Star Light, Star Bright” based on whether a star is above or below the line or when your child imitates a door bell ringing by playing a C-A pattern on an instrument, your child is learning the symbolic representation for sounds already familiar to your child from previous listening and singing activities. Learning musical notation in this way mirrors how listening to and imitating spoken language evolves into reading. Now, that is powerful stuff!

Everyday Connection: A line in the sand (or floor!). Using a piece of string or yarn, make a line on the floor. Place objects above and below the line and practice singing high or low depending on whether the object is above or below the line.

Learning through Music: Sorting & Categorizing Sound

Parents provide children not-so-subtle verbal clues when they are in BIG trouble. The use of a child’s full name is a pretty basic one. (John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt!) The dreaded “Mommy or Daddy voice” gives a child another indication of a possible timeout in the immediate future. Hearing a parent speak in a staccato style supplies a child still another hint. (Do. Not. Do. That. A.Gain.) At three or four years old, your child can probably quickly sort through your sound clues and put them in the “I’m in big trouble” category.

That’s actually a good thing. Sorting and categorizing sounds strengthens your child’s listening acuity or your child’s ability to hear and understand clearly. In Kindermusik, we use music and movement to give your child many opportunities to practice sorting and categorizing sounds. So, when we explore the different sounds of drums and label them loud or soft or use them to imitate weather sounds in “Jingle Bell Symphony,” or even when we move fast or slow with the scarves on “Leaves in the Wind,” your child is practicing sorting and categorizing sounds. All this practice ultimately leads to better phonemic awareness, communication skills, and even boosts reading abilities.

Everyday Connection: Is that a bird or a plane? Take turns listening to the sounds outside your own windows. Then determine if the sound is loud or soft or an animal…or not. You can practice sorting and categorizing sounds almost anywhere!