Fun Music Site!

Just found a wonderful internet site. This site gives pictures of all the orchestra instruments and recordings of the sound each instrument makes. It would be fun to explore with your children. http://www.musictechteacher.com/quiz_help_instrument.htm

Week 14 FOL

Vocal Expression: For some children learning to perform in front of other people and express their ideas is challenging. When children engage in creative vocal play, like making animal sounds, car sounds, or sounds of movement, they are learning to be vocally expressive. This helps them gain confidence in their own voice and in front of people. Encourage your children to make appropriate sounds in their day to day activities. When pushing them in a swing make a vocal swooping and sliding sound going from high to low. This will help infants in their language acquisition. In our older classes we play games that allow children a chance to echo a phrase of a song helping them gain confidence in their singing ability.

Week 13 FOL

Musical Cues: In many of our circle dances children have to listen to the changing musical form to know what they are supposed to do. This helps children learn to listen and follow directions and to distinguish between the different patterns in a selection of music. These skills will also help them in reading and mathematics.

Rhythmic Complexity: Week 12 FOL

A child’s first exposure to rhythm is in the womb as she feels and hears her mother’s heart beat. After birth she hears her own heart beat. African and Indian music traditions have brought syncopation and other rhythmic complexities to our ears, weaving these rhythms into current Western culture. As children are exposed to a variety of different rhythmic patterns they develop their abilities to listen and produce these rhythms more easily. This aids them in formal music study and in the development of their large and fine motor skills. Children with a good sense of beat and rhythm are more coordinated athletes and dancers.

Loud & Soft: Week 11 FOL

Self control is a learned behavior. Children need to practice making a conscious choice to be quiet. Musical play is a great way to practice self control through experiencing the concepts of loud soft sounds. These concepts are experienced through playing loudly then softly, singing loudly then softly, and then hearing the difference between the loud and soft. Children can also move in loud and quiet ways. Next time you need your child to be quiet instead of just shushing him, try giving him a tangible quiet sound to make like rubbing his hands together or walking very quietly.

Spring Break Reminder! No Kindermusik classes March 15th-March 20th!

Language Development & Syntax: Week 10 FOL

The way a word is said and the context in which it is used gives a word additional meaning. Music helps a child learn to more effectively communicate and understand the meaning of language. Through musical play children learn the difference and use of loud, soft, fast, slow, etc. These are skills that allow them to more effectively color words to communicate a specific meaning. Music also helps build vocabulary. Not only are the songs we sing exposing children to new words but the words we use to explain movement enhance their descriptive vocabulary. For example, in Kindermusik we don’t just turn, we twirl, whirl, swoop, swish, etc. Music is a fun way to help a child understand the subtle meaning of language.