Dear (Contact First Name),

Betsy Flanagan, Director 

Musical Pathways Foundation

This week we began a new musical lesson focus, "Major, Minor and More," and we're not talking about baseball leagues. Ha!  We're talking about developing your baby's Musical Culture!   

Music is simply based on SCALES as we learned in class this week, a specific arrangement of notes used to create a song.  Our purpose for exploring these patterns in music is to create a class full of tiny composers.  JUST KIDDING!  A little leprechaun made me write that.   Ha!  Actually, your baby listens, her brain take in each pattern/scale/song in a new way, helping her mind create vital neural connections, which is good for becoming a curious and logical learner as well.

Also, consistently exposing our children to a variety of tonalities will allow them to assimilate musical patterns more quickly when they are older.   We learn music and language in a similar progression:

1. First we need to be steeped in it.  (Love that you are playing your CD's in car, bedroom, playtime, etc.)
2. Gradually we detect the patterns and begin to attempt to imitate in babbling.
3. Eventually, our desire to communicate develops, and the experience of our ears, brains and muscles converge and we speak our first words - or sing our first notes!

Rest assured.   Your Kindermusik CD's are designed to have a tremendous mix of tonalities and modalities and timbres, exposing your child to music of all scales, patterns, styles and cultures.   What a great start! 

 HOME ACTIVITY SUGGESTIONS 

1)  Home Journal Week #6 -"Baby Song" 

• Have some ANIMAL singing fun, while singing our Morning Song in our happy MAJOR scale.
• Sulla Lulla with its DORIAN mode, supplies the soothing calm needed for massage time. 
• All The Pretty Little Horses is our soothing MINOR scale rocking or quiet time.  
• Have fun bouncing a scarf or a rag to our PENTATONIC Happy Dancer Taiwanese song.
• How about ending your musical play with a frolicking Irish jig to our Santy Maloney in the MAJOR scale.
• Here is a link to your  Hickory Dickory Tickle and Bounce Journal  
• Here are a couple of websites to help you in your ASL:Sign Language discovery.  Signing Savvy and ASL Pro 

Great Vestibular fun!  Most babies will enjoy hammocking:  however if your baby was uncomfortable with this activity in class this week, just try again in the comfort of your own home.   Remember - there is no ONE RIGHT WAY in class, but we want you to keep continually offer the experience without asking "if they would like it" or "if they would want to" prior to engaging them.  Begin with the ideal, and then adjust to follow your child's learning comfort.   So much early childhood development involved in OFFERING. 

4)  Click here to go to "play.kindermusik.com" and enter your CODE from your play.kindermusik.com card. 

5)  Click here for your copy of Village Helpful Guidelines    

6)  Click here for more Mother Goose:  Activities, Crafts, Mother Goose for Moms, and more . . .   

7)  Listen - listen - listen to your CD

Your child will be comforted upon entering the busy classroom if they are familiar with the "sounds of Kindermusik."

THIS WEEK'S ADDITIONAL LEARNING POINTS FOR PARENTS  

Hickory Dickory Dock.
The mouse went UP the clock.
The clock struck one, the mouse ran DOWN.
Hickory, Dickory Dock.

Up, Down, Backward, Over, Under, In and Out Through, Around .. . .all words we said or sang in class while we moved. Labeling movement, or saying the word as we do the motion, helps your child understand spatial words and begin to acquire spatial awareness and directional skills, all through your interactive relationship!   Read more below . . .      

As next weeks focus changes to DYNAMICS (Loud and Quiet), we wrapped up our 5-week focus this week on TEMPO (Fast-Slow)!   It has been fun to watch your children grow in this area. Remember when we first taught them the concept of fast and slow with simple bouncing fun with The Dog went to Dover, and then advanced them to Lento y Rapido where they now have shown they have internalized tempo concepts by moving both their bodies and objects (hoops) fast and slow and stop (freeze).   It's not every child that shows that kind of self-control or as we call it "inhibitory control."  We are laying the groundwork for your little one to enjoy cooperative instrumental ensemble play in Imagine That, and then actual ensemble written musical experiences in Young Child   Parents are consistently commenting on how shocked they are at how much and how quickly their children learn REAL MUSICAL NOTATION and MUSIC DICTATION in Young Child, and we just want you to know that it would not be possible for them to assimilate so much so quickly if the groundwork for such great musical & empathetic ensemble learning were not laid through Our Time and Imagine That!  You are setting a course for a lifetime of successful learning!

ADDITIONAL VALUE FOCUS INFORMATION 

Spatial Temporal Reasoning 

What is Spatial Temporal Reasoning?

Watch this fun and educational short YouTube video!  Basically it is the ability to visualize spatial patterns and shapes and mentally manipulate them in your mind -- locating patterns, similarities, differences, design, etc., a fabulous Math & Science ability.  Click to read a study done by Sam Houston University about how incredible an effect Kindermusik has on your child's IQ, especially regarding Spatial Temporal Reasoning. Sam Houston University, about 7 years ago, wanted to do a study on the impact of music & movement on children's IQ's.  They chose Kindermusik because it was a total brain development program.  The study showed that children in the study who took Kindermusik Young child 1 for one year jumped 37 percentile points higher than the pre-study average vs. the control group, 

Young children learn by doing. Fun activities that link developmentally appropriate movement experiences with language are most effective for teaching concepts and vocabulary to these experiential learners.  When your child reaches Young Child, we still teach through experiential learning before putting notes to glockenspiel or dulcimer or recorder. This is great preparation for a lifetime of learning. We see a remarkable difference in spatial skills in children in Young Child who have come up through the Kindermusik curricula.

 Critical thinking is the  

"ability to break apart an idea and analyze its many parts."*

*"Think! How Your Child Learns to Problem Solve"  

by Ellen Booth Church. Scholastic  Parent & Child. [February/March, 1999], pp. 33-37.

  This week's lesson offered an opportunity for children to practice their critical thinking skills in many ways.  In the Pretzels for Sale Singing Game, students needed to remember the rules of the game while inserting different words into the song.  We switched back and forth between the game and the song.  This game includes critical thinking skills such as identifying, matching, and comparing similarities and differences.  In our fun "One-to-One Correspondence" song, Apples & Bananas, the children explored counting fingers while singing the song.  "One-to-One Correspondence" is the ability to assign and understand that each number counted corresponds with an object.  The development of this critical thinking skill is the basis for understanding mathematics.  Finger counting helps children reinforce one-to-one correspondence skills because it is a concrete experience that is both physical and visual, so it easily demonstrates the relationship of numbers from 1 to 10 to objects (or sounds) being counted.

The exciting thing about Kindermusik is that your child just knows he/she is having FUN, and Critical Thinking skills are gained through our environment of play.   Playful environments beg for repetition, and repetition creates retained learning.  So ENJOY yourself at home this week as you make and play with your very own homemade game board with your child!

DEVELOPMENTAL FOCUS 

DEVELOPING CRITICAL THINKING 

"Singing Games" proven to foster Critical Thinking/Cognitive Development  

Last week we spoke about all of the opportunities available in our Cities! curriculum for social development. This week we highlight how our social environment also fosters Critical Thinking skills. It is interesting to note below in the "Cognitive Profile" the skills that Kindermusik will help foster over the 2 years your child will be in the Imagine That classroom. Below that you will read how your Child's Singing Development, a primary tool used for critical thinking play, is fostered over the 7 years of Kindermusik

"The foundation for children's mathematical development is established in the earliest years.... Appropriate mathematical experiences challenge young children to explore ideas related to patterns, shapes, numbers, and space.... Teachers[Parents] can foster mathematical development by providing environments rich in language, where thinking is encouraged, ... and exploration is supported....[Children] learn mathematical concepts through everyday activities: sorting, . . .reasoning,.... recognizing patterns, .... singing motion songs, .... and using spatial visualization."*

*"Mathematics for the Youngest Learners" from Principles and Standards for School Mathematics, by National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, this excerpt found on p. 8 of Early Childhood Today, Vol.46 No.7, (May 2002), Scholastic Inc.

The Cognitive Profile of the 3-5 Year-Old Child

• Explores and investigates materials
• Has a vivid imagination and uses it frequently
• Listens attentively to age-appropriate stories
• Models real situations in play
• Frequently has imaginary playmates
• Is interested in superheroes (sometimes violent)  
• Grasps concepts such as high/low, letters, and numbers
• Recognizes basic shapes, knows primary colors, counts out loud and sorts logically (by color, shape and design).
• Understands sequences and recognizes patterns
• Has expanding logical thinking skills
• Has increased verbal and nonverbal communication skills.

7-Year Continuum

How Kindermusik fosters the development of your child's social skills over 7 years.

VILLAGE:

From the time your baby reached @6 ½ months in utero, he/she recognized your voice, and before that, as early as 4 ½ months in utero, hearing sounds served as your baby's main information channel (Discovery Health).  In Village we recognized that you are your child's best teacher, and utilized the familiarity your child has with your voice to begin critical thinking and patterning development as we sang to songs and counted our way through the patterned dances.   

OUR TIME:   

In Our Time classes, we invite children to begin to count along with us during story times, songs, dances, and even at greeting time with our blanket ritual "1-2-3." We continue to introduce PATTERN and FORM identification into their play through dance, reading, song, and movement activities. 

IMAGINE THAT:   

You can read above this week about the Cognitive processes supported in Imagine That, and again we utilize movement and encourage your child's singing voice as a tool for learning.    

YOUNG CHILD:   

It is exciting to see the graduates from Young Child.   Spatial Recognition, Pattern Recognition, Abstract perceptions are honed through musical play on instruments, with their bodies and of course their singing voices are used every step of the way. Priceless!     

 HOME ACTIVITY SUGGESTIONS

1)  Week #5 Family Activity: "I am a Vendor.  Pretzels for sale!  Flowers for sale!  Come and buy . . ."   p.8   

Create a "Happy ending" lost-dog story:

• This week you get to make your very own Vendor Board Game. 
• Lots of places to find food pictures to cut out:  Magazines, Google Images, etc.
• Use paper, poster board or cardboard   FUN!

3) Continue to listen to your new CD's

4) Practice your I LOVE YOU REJOINING RITUAL together at home.

5) P.A.C.E. (Positive, Active, Clear, Energetic)

Positive  = Hook-ups/Stationary cross-lateral

Active = Cross Crawl/Moving cross-lateral/cross midlines

Clarity = Brain Buttons/Tarzan

Energetic = Hydrate!  

6) If new,  Click here for your copy of Imagine That Helpful Guidelines  for our newcomers this week. 

7) If new,  Click Here for a copy of the Parent Class Handout for our newcomers this week. 

ANIMALS IN MUSIC - Week #2 

   

As the children participate in various activities focused on the song Bell Horses, they are developing their musical memory. They soon will be extremely familiar with this song's melodic content, rhythmic content, lyrics, and visual content as applied to the glockenspiel.  As you sing one of your four Bell Horses

"Music and learning are powerful allies,"*  and your child's participation in Kindermusik each week allows him to reap the benefits of this alliance!

 *Arts with the Brain in Mind, by Eric Jensen, p.43.   

Music of Europe - Week #2   

We had such fun with nursery rhyme rhythms today!  I encourage you to continue this kind of musical play at home this week. We also had a good time (and enjoyed lots of laughs!) while doing our "dog dance." This dancing game involved partner movements while singing the song Bow Wow Wow.  It is interesting to note that the children have advanced considerably in the last two years in their ability to follow step by step dance instructions.   A few of the benefits of dancing games as done in Kindermusik are promotion of self-esteem, teamwork, sequencing of movements, understanding directions, memory, and integrating singing with movement. Ask your child about the "dog dance" this week!   Perhaps the whole family can join in the fun!! 

 HOME ACTIVITY SUGGESTIONS

1) MAH Card #51    

• See the Rabbit Running on Glockenspiel (NOTE: Use Rt Hand "f" and higher)
• Play Lucy Locket and Bell Horses on Recorder

• Watch this video - Watch and Listen to this 12-yr-old girl yodeling her little heart out on America's Got Talent 

• How about a duet?  Parent on Glockenspiel and child on the Recorder.  This play may seem like simple fun, but it creates retained learning because it extends the playtime (brain growth)!
• NOTE:  At graduation, families will all participate in our entertainment.  This is great FIESTA fun and really works your child's arranging and group leadership skills, so why not begin now?

4) Continue to enjoy Kapulupulu Kane stick "partner" game together. Fun!

5) Write 2-Measure Melody (4 beats per measure)  Bring it to class to Hang on the Wall 

• Draw a Staff with 2 measures
• Create a melody on the glockenspiel.  
• Transfer to the Staff and how about to the Piano/Keyboard as well.   

6) Continue to listen to your  CD!!   Burn copies for bedrooms, cars, etc.

7) Color in your Song Book

Elite Artistry  

Premier Music Instruction  

Piano, Voice, Violin, Guitar 

      2012 - 2013 CALENDAR

Sept: 10, 17, 24

October: 1, 8,15, Master Class, 29

November: 5, 12, 26

December: Master Class, 10, 17, Recital 9th

January: 7, Master Class, 21, 28

February: 4, 11, 18, Master Class

March: 4, 11, 18

April: 1, 8, Master Class, 22, 29

May: 6, 13, 20, Master Class      

June: Recital & Awards Banquet - 2nd

HOW WILL YOU KNOW WHEN CLASS IS CANCELED DUE TO WEATHER?

TEXT: LOVEKIDS

TO: 36000

• If the Waunakee Schools are CLOSED, then Musical Pathways classes will be canceled as well.
• If the Waunakee School district is having LATE START there will be no change to our class schedule.
• If the Waunakee School district calls EARLY RELEASE, then the EVENING classes will be canceled.
• If the Waunakee School District cancels their evening sports activities, then the EVENING classes will be canceled.

          Musical Pathways Foundation

DIRECTORY