Month: July 2013

Learning through Music: Steady Beat

Spotlight on Wiggle & Grow for Toddlers: Time for Lunch (August Unit)

Walking, running, riding a tricycle, dancing, kicking a ball: you name a whole body movement and your child is probably trying to master it….in the house, in the yard, at the grocery store, and sometimes while buckled in the car. (Please, stop kicking Mommy’s seat.) All this movement takes a sense of time and the ability to organize and coordinate movements within time.

In Kindermusik, we call this regularly paced repeated motion: steady beat! The most basic property of music is beat, the underlying, unchanging, repeating pulse. When playing the sandblocks while listening to “Donkeys Love Carrots” or tapping, shaking, or jingling the bells during “Sweet Potatoes,” your child is practicing steady beat. That same sense of steady beat will help your child walk, run, ride a tricycle, use scissors, and, yes, even kick the back of your seat in time to the music.

Everyday connection: Can’t catch me! Put on your favorite Kindermusik songs and pretend to be the Gingerbread Boy (or Girl!). As you take turns chasing each other, try stomping, running, marching, or jumping to the beat to get away. If the Gingerbread Boy gets caught, try tickling to a steady beat!

Learning through Music: Making Transitions

Spotlight on Wiggle & Grow for Toddlers: Beach Days (July Unit)

During childbirth, women in the last part of labor—called the Transition period—may feel exhausted, frustrated, impatient, and overwhelmed. In the movies, this is where the actress with perfectly applied makeup and red-carpet-worthy hair yells, “Get this baby out!” Thankfully, in reality, the mind tends to forget the intensity—and pain—of the transition period. However, parents of toddlers might experience similar feelings of exhaustion, frustration, and impatience during other “transition” moments with their child—like leaving the playground, putting away toys, or even starting the bedtime routine.

At Kindermusik, we know that toddlers can struggle with transitioning from one activity to another as they also experience rapid—and turbulent—emotional development. Helping your child navigate those feelings and learn how to move on to something else can ease the daily struggles between you and your little one. In class each week, we use musical cues to help children move from a big, blue boat to listening to a story to playing with sand blocks. All of these experiences give your child practice in bringing one thing to a close and beginning something new. Plus, the community of other parents and caregivers gives you the perfect place to share your own labor transition pains and successes!

Everyday Connection: Instruments Away. Sing the “Instruments Away” song from class and change the words to fit the situation. “Playground Away” can help your toddler make a smoother transition from the playground to the car seat.

Learning through Music: The Joy of Music

Spotlight on Laugh & Learn: Wild Animal Park (July Unit for Families and Preschoolers)

Parents sometimes don’t realize how “easy” a certain developmental stage is until their children move on to the next. Being pregnant seems “easy” when you are waking up every two to three hours to feed a newborn. Babies seem “easy” when your toddler won’t stay in the cart (quietly!) during your weekly grocery run. Toddlers seem “easy” when your preschooler stops taking an afternoon nap. Well, the truth is no developmental stage is actually “easy.” Each stage comes with unique challenges and delights.

At Kindermusik, we celebrate your child’s stage of development with the indelible joy of music. Woven through and around the learning in a Kindermusik class is the simple pleasure of making music together. When we play drums in class during “Ritsch Ratsch” or dance around the room to the “Yangtze Boat Song,” your child expresses thoughts and feelings naturally and easily through movement and music. Plus, when you join in the music making in class or “rumble, rumble, rumble in the jungle, jungle, jungle” at home, you create memorable moments full of joy that you and your child will carry in your hearts from one developmental stage to the next!

Everyday Connection: Singing in the Rain. You don’t need a sunny day to sing. Anytime is the right time to sing with your child. So, go ahead, sing along with the music from class or make up your own songs together. The memories you create will last a lifetime!