Foundation of Learning statements or FOL’s explain “why” we do “what we do” in the Kindermusik classroom. Each week my blog will highlight an FOL and how class activities relate to that FOL. Most activities relate to several FOLs. If you want more information on a particular FOL, please ask me for a more detailed explanation!
Kindermusik Spring Semester, Week 1
Village, Vestibular Stimulation and Touch
Infants and toddlers learn from movement and touch. It is through repeated touch sensations that young infants discover their bodies. Touch sensations, along with the vestibular system, work together to teach baby his relationship to everything around him. An understanding of the world, and a sense of balance and coordination, is enhanced through a variety of movement experience. As a child grows up, he is much more competent with his ability to move and try new physically related activities when he has experience a wide variety of movement experiences as an infant.
It is through touch and the vestibular system that a child starts to understand and categorize the many sensory experience that are part of his day. The auditory system and vestibular system work together and are both centered in the ear. The vestibular system is stimulated and learns as a child is moved in a variety of different ways. As the vestibular system develops a child is better able to differentiate between various sounds in the environment and language.
In class we touch the children in ways that might not be part of their normal routine. We also explore the many ways to hold and move with our children that aren’t usually part of ever day care. Our goal is to learn to incorporate a wide variety of touch and movement activities into our child’s everyday routine.
Our Time, Musical Improvisation and Personalization
When children use music as a means of personal expression and communication all the learning centers in brain work together. Music’s greatest powers lie in helping the child learn to use music as a means of personal expression. In class when children make their own movement choices we are helping them learn to communicate through music. For example when we sing the “Our Time Welcome Song” and we ask Izzy what movement she want us to sing for her and she bounce up and down she is communicating that she want us to sing, “It’s our time to Jump with Izzy……..” In so doing she has just had all the learning centers in her brain work together to communicate her desires to us. Through this process she is laying pathways in the brain that will help her with a wide variety of future learning. In class we are always trying to encourage children to personalize our music activities by making their own movement and word choices. At home make up words to tunes you know to communicate with your child. Encourage your child to sing and make up their own songs as they play, this type of improvisation is wonderful for your child’s developing brain.
Imagine That, Pretend Play
Our entire Image That semester is built around pretending to visit a Toy Shop that has no toys. One by one we meet the various toys that the Toy Maker builds and with these toys we travel and explore the world. While class activities do develop specific musical skill, the overall theme of the class lays a foundation for language and literary development. “Various studies have linked pretend play with language and literacy development. These studies further suggested that fantasy play incorporates aspects of adult speech as well as the opportunity for children to increase their vocabulary as they create themes and scripts and communicate these ideas to each other.” (Early Childhood Education: Blending Theory, Blending Practice, Johnson, LaMontagne, Elgas, bauer, pp.114-115.) Our whole Image That semester is designed to do exactly that. Together the children and I will create our own personalized story.
