Monday, May 16, 2011

Montessori Kindermusik: May 2011

Hello, Kindermusik Families!

It has been such a fun semester.  Here are some updates to what we have been up to in Kindermusik!

Younger Group:

Instrument Variety: 
These little ones are experimenting with all the sounds that we can make when we shake, scrape, and tap our instruments.  They are also very good at taking turns with some of the favorite instruments in the mix!  We are listening for the soft parts and the loud parts of the music and making soft and loud sounds!

Abby shakes her shaker box,
Adam finds the animal clappers,
and Jersey finds a way to tap her Fiddle Sticks!

All Taking Turns!

Thomas can't decide between the castanet and the rainmaker!

The castanet wins!

Buzz Upon The Flower:
One of the poems we have been  learning this semester is called, "Buzz Upon The Flower".  It goes like this: 
Buzz Upon the Flower (We fly our pretend "bee" to the palm of our hand)
Buzz Upon My Nose!  (We fly our pretend "bee" to our nose)
Buzz Upon My Knee (We fly our pretend "bee" to our knee)
And Buzz Down To My ToES!  (We fly our pretend "bee" to our toes)

Buzz Upon The Flower

Buzz Upon My Nose!

Buzz Upon My Knee!

Buzz Down To My TOES!

Jingles!
One of the favorite little ditties these kids liked was called Two Little Blackbirds.  They liked to sing it when we got our jingles out.  It goes like this:

Two little blackbirds sitting on a hill!  (Shake both jingles)
One named Jack (Shake one jingle)
One named Jill (Shake the other jingle!)
Fly away Jack! (shake one behind your back)
Fly away Jill!  (shake the other behind your back!)
Come back Jack! (bring the first one back to the front)
Cone back Jill! (bring the other one back to the front!)






Roly Poly

Roly Poly is a little poem we often do with our sticks as a warm up.  Sometimes when I get the sticks out, they will just all start doing Roly Poly.  I think that is too cute.  You can also do it with your hands alone and "clap" instead of "tap".  It goes like this:

Roly Poly Roly Poly
UP UP UP
Roly Poly Roly Poly
OUT OUT OUT
Roly Poly Roly Poly
TAP TAP TAP
Roly Poly Roly Poly
Lay them in your Lap!


UP UP UP!

OUT OUT OUT!

UP UP UP!

OUT OUT OUT!

OUT WIDE!

Tapping on the floor!



Tapping side to side


Where's Riley!?
'

Little Bo Peep
We did a little poem called "Little Bo Peep" with our scarves which the kids LOVED....mostly because they got to HIDE the scarves---under their shirts, in their pant leg, behind their back---and then find them again on our cue.  The words go like this:

Little Bo Peep Has LOST her Sheep!  (hide the scarves)
And Doesn't Know Where to Find Them!  (show hands---where are the sheep?)
Leave them alone...
And They'll Come HOME!  (Pull scarves out from their hiding spots!)
Wagging Their Tails Behind Them!  (wave scarves in the air!)

Hiding our sheep!  Where did they go?


Where is Zara's Sheep?
All the sheep are hiding!

Abby and Jersee's sheep are hiding!

Getting ready to pull that sheep out!

 
There they are!!!

We found those lost sheep!

Wagging their tails behind them!

Lento y Rapido!
We learned about two musical tempo words, Lento and Rapido!  Lento means SLOW and Rapido means FAST!  We used our scarves to dance SLOW to Lento parts of the song and FAST to the Rapido sections of the song.  Before each section the kids could anticipate which section they would hear and say "Lento" or "Rapdio!".  Rapido was the favorite---and sometimes we would even throw our scarves up in the air during the Rapido sections to celebrate!

Dancing LENTO


Dancing Rapido!



Bubbles!
Our special treat was having bubble time at the end of class!  These were special bubbles that they could actually catch and hold--or even stack bubbles on top of each other!



Flashlight Dance
We also had fun doing a flashlight dance this semester with colorful finger lights!  We would turn the lights down low---and what a show!!  :)




Preschool Group:
The older preschool group had lots of fun in the CITY this semester!  We talked about all different parts of the city--the sights, the sounds, the people! 

City Statues!
In this activity, we looked at statues of figures from lots of different cities around the world.  While the music played, we moved around the circle.  When the music stopped, we froze in a "pose" like a statue!





The Broom Man
Keeping the city clean is hard work!  Just ask the broom man!!  In this song, the kids pretended they were the broom man, sweeping up the city streets to keep them clean!  We sprinkled little puff balls over the floor and they used their brooms (feather dusters) to sweep the balls into the very center of the room.  They had to work fast to get all the balls to the center before the song ended!

The words of the song are:
Here comes the broom man, down the street!
Watch him clean the street today!
Sweep 'em clean, Sweep 'em clean!
Sweep 'em clean, Sweep 'em clean!


On your marks, get set.....

GO!

Here comes the broom man, down the street!

Watch him clean the street today!

Sweep "em clean!

Sweep 'em clean!




All Clean!

Shaking Eggs!






Catch A Bubble!
We had fun playing with special bubbles that you could catch!  Or even stack!  It was a fun way to end our time together!




Thank you for your participation in Kindermusik this semester!  Please be sure to show your kids this blog so they can sing the songs or tell you more about our activities!  If you are interested in our SUMMER Kindermusik program, we would sure like to have you!  Our classes are available mornings and evenings --and it would be great to have you see for yourself all the fun and learning we do in Kindermusik!  The link to our summer schedule is:


Hope to see you this summer....or back at Montessori this FALL! 

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Kindermusik "Hickory Dickory Tickle and Bounce": Village Spring 2011!


Hello, Village Families!

It has been a great semester!  We have enjoyed getting to know you and your little ones!  We have had lots of fun and learning this semester.  Here are a few things we would like you to know about the activities we have been doing over the last 14 weeks!:

1.  Baby Yoga:  It is not uncommon for those little movers and shakers to not want to be confined to the yoga exercises we do at the beginning of class.  No worries.  See if there is a time---like right away in the morning, or during a diaper change, or right before bed---that is a better time to fit these poses in.  The compression and expansion exercises are EXCELLENT for opening up the chest cavity and helping to clear out the lungs which will ward off those upper respiratory infections!





2.  Circle Dances:  We have been doing circle dances with various movements during class.  These are excellent for developing the VESTIBULAR SYSTEM, the inner sense of balance.  When we move, sway, scoop, and twist with our babies, they are constantly adjusting their inner sense of balance, making for more coordinated and balanced toddlers!  (Our work on the sleds during class is also really good for the vestibular system---it's not JUST for fun!  It is also good for them!)








3.  Object Permanence:  We have also been working on playing an instrument or shining a flashlight and then HIDING that object.  We are working on Piaget's concept of OBJECT PERMANENCE.  This is the developing concept of when something is hidden from view, it still exists!!  Your baby is starting to develop this---you will be able to see that transition from doing visual tracking with the eyes, to searching with the hands, to FINDING the hidden object.  Use your baby's current level of development to work on this at home.  Use car keys, a favorite toy, a favorite finger food, a flashlight----the sky's the limit!  Start by hiding it in partial view and then make it trickier as they start to catch on!




4.  Steady beat!  We have been using eggs, jingles, and drums to pat out the beat during our songs.  The babies love to hear and FEEL that rhythmic, repetitive beat!  We help them to really feel that steady beat by doing such activities as bouncing on our big bouncy balls.  Feeling the beat is the base of all musical activities, but did you know that having experiences with hearing and feeling a steady beat will help with walking, dribbling a ball, and even cutting with scissors?




5.  Going UP!  Coming DOWN!  We did lots of work on highs and lows this semester!  Just like the mouse in the book "Hickory Dickory Dock!", we were going up and down in our poems ("The Grand Old Duke of York" and "Giddy Up Horsey!"), our songs ("Sonata for Flute" and "Sing Sing Together!") and also working on watching scarves, bubbles, and balls travel up and down!  Here we used the sleds as a ramp to slide the balls down to the babies.  Some of them even started to roll it down the ramp or pitch it in (like baby "ski-ball"!)




What else comes down?  Those floating bubbles!  We hope your little ones got a chance to "catch a bubble" with our slow float bubbles!  This gives them a little extra time to experience the bubble before it pops!  How fun!

Covered in Bubbles!


Thank you for a wonderful semester!  We have enjoyed your little ones so very much!  Please join us again this summer (starting June 20) or fall (starting August 6)  for more fun and learning with music!  If you haven't reserved your spot in class, I encourage you to do so.  It is a small deposit, and will ensure you get the spot you want in class.  Don't miss out! 

Click here for Summer registration: Summer Registration Link
Click here for Fall registration:  Fall Registration Link

 Have a great break!