New Feature: FOL Friday

One of the core beliefs of Kindermusik's programs is that the parent is the child's first and best teacher. To that end, Kindermusik Educators all over the world use the activites in class to help educate the parents about their child's development and how the things we do in class help the children to learn and grow in so many ways. Kindermusik's term for this process is "Foundations of Learning" - also referred to as FOLs. From now on, I'm going to try to post a few FOLs from each week's classes to help share the wealth of knowledge. Here's an overview of what FOLs are...

Kindermusik Foundations of Learning® –
Understanding Your Child’s Development

Your Kindermusik educator understands your desire for education and information about your growing child. As you participate in Kindermusik class with your child each week, you may notice how your educator will pause briefly to point out how certain activities foster a particular aspect of your child’s development. These insights, based on the most recent research, are called Kindermusik Foundations of Learning.

For example, in Kindermusik Our Time, one activity calls for you and your toddler to listen to a recording of bath sounds, name the sounds and then imitate the sounds vocally. The Kindermusik Foundations of Learning (FOL) statement that correlates with this activity stresses the importance of active listening and language development.

What exactly is the purpose of these tidbits of information? Kindermusik has incorporated FOLs into every new curriculum to heighten your awareness of the value of every Kindermusik activity and the impact on your child’s development. In addition, Home Activity Books feature FOLs in connection with suggested activities to do at home, so your understanding continues even outside of the Kindermusik classroom.

Kindermusik Foundations of Learning draw from a wide diversity of research about how children learn. They follow the fundamental domains of child development: physical, cognitive, social, emotional. In addition, they give insight into musical and language development.

The insertion of direct parent education in and out of class is what separates Kindermusik from most other early childhood programs. Kindermusik works closely with consultants and experts in the fields of early childhood development, music, and movement to keep our curricula up-to-date and to bring you the latest information on fostering your child’s development.

In Class With Kindermusik Foundations of Learning

Kindermusik Village class activity
Old MacDonald: In this activity, parent and child are asked to “STOP” on the first “E” of the “E-I-E-I-O” phrase of the song each time they sing it.
FOL: Baby enjoys “stop and go” games such as this. The element of surprise delights her at first. As she becomes familiar with the activity, she will enjoy participating in the stops and starts. She is beginning to understand the structure of the music in much the same way as she understands spoken language prior to speaking it.

Kindermusik Our Time class activity
Wishy Washy Wee!: Parent and child sing this refrain and pretend to take a bath, while incorporating the use of sandblocks.
FOL: Eye-hand Coordination: Playing instruments, such as sandblocks with a back and forth alternating movement, gives the child an opportunity to develop eye-hand coordination. The eye leads the hand movements, so that the internal knowledge becomes the basis for the movement. This connection of movement with sight is essential in writing, drawing, playing an instrument, learning a sport or dancing.

Kindermusik Imagine That! class activity
Three Blue Pigeons: During Sharing Time, parents and children use finger plays to act out this song, pretending to be pigeons.
FOL: There is something magical about singing a song while playing with finger puppets, stuffed animals or hand puppets. The power and use of puppets fulfills many developmental needs of the preschooler and opens up the door to imagination and make-believe! Extending vocabulary, building self-esteem, exploring emotions, coordination of speech and movement – these are a few of the benefits associated with puppet play.

Sing and Learn

Have you ever watched a group of young children on the playground excitedly sing Ring Around the Rosey? Or observed a pre-schooler who has just mastered her ABCs, proudly singing them over and over? Maybe you’ve noticed your own child singing along with the radio. It’s evident – all children love to sing!

The voice is every child’s natural instrument and, therefore, an important part of learning and development. And many proponents of music education have long agreed that children can, and should, learn to sing.

Joyful participation in singing with family, friends and classmates, and through activities like Kindermusik, results in comprehending the beauty and expressiveness of the human voice. Children develop the ability to use their voice well in singing, chanting, reciting and reading aloud. It also encourages a lifelong love of music.

Singing is part of every Kindermusik class – whether it’s babies responding to music in Kindermusik Village® class or the pre-schooler learning simple songs in the upcoming Kindermusik Imagine That!™ Singing, integrated with movement, instrument play, literature, and pretend play, is a cornerstone of the Kindermusik experience.

The Young Singer

A newborn’s first singing experiences are really ones of rapt listening. The vocal chords are limited by lack of muscular development, but the ears already can differentiate one sound from another. At about one month, babies begin to enter the world of vocalization and take the first steps in learning to make sound (differentiated from the reflexive sounds of crying). The nurturing of a baby’s developing ability to produce sound, combined with keeping his hearing world full of a wide range of musical sounds, gives the foundation that assures the development of speaking, conversation and singing ability.

As a child approaches the toddler years, he will present many varying levels of vocal experience, development and confidence. Most children between 1 ½ to 3 years of age are in the stage of vocal development that some music specialists refer to as “approximation of singing.” First they will attempt to “imitate” a word, phrase, rhythm pattern or vocal inflection. A child may begin to make these imitative sounds out of context, singing or humming to himself while playing alone, using bits and pieces from the sounds they have heard in their environment.

Many parents worry because their child isn’t “singing in Kindermusik class,” but at home, he sings in the bathtub or playroom. Recognize the importance of this “musical play” – it is by “playing” that children master the muscular feel of producing a singing sound and come to realize that they can produce the kinds of sounds which are different from speech.

Once a child turns 3, his expressive language explodes. A 3- or 4-year-olds’s ability to be expressive in language extends to exploration of his many voices, singing songs in a limited range and emerging pitch accuracy. Singing helps with memory and recall, with physical development, creativity and socialization.

Make music – every day!

Unlike most other music programs for young children, Kindermusik is designed as an everyday musical experience. That’s why Kindermusik puts so much energy into creating high quality At Home materials that are second to none. Thoughtfully crafted sets of materials are purposefully incorporated to provide the most complete and the best possible musical learning experience available for the entire family.

Naturally, the centerpiece of each set of At Home materials is the music. Each home CD includes a powerful collection of music and activities. From longtime children’s favorites to multicultural songs, you and your child are continually introduced to a myriad of sounds, instruments, tones, lyrics, rhythms and more.

Each age-appropriate track on your Kindermusik Home CD is carefully selected in relationship to the overall theme of the various curricula. You’ll find songs for singing and songs for dancing. You’ll hear jazz music, classical recordings and just plain fun songs. From interactive tracks and foot-stomping rhythms to silly lyrics and quiet time lullabies, Kindermusik CDs offer something for everyone. And by utilizing world class, award-winning musicians, the Kindermusik stamp of quality remains unmistakable.

Ideas and music for Kindermusik CDs come from around the globe. Tracks include native folk songs from various countries, as well as many forms of traditional cultural music. Kindermusik recently recorded music from an eastern Indian group that utilizes a variety of delightful instruments that are rarely heard in any children’s recordings.

From Grammy winners to top-flight children’s choirs, Kindermusik leaves no stone unturned in its search for the right mix of music performed by the best vocalists and musicians available. Yet the real benefit comes in creating music that Kindermusik families around the world enjoy and want to play again and again – at home, in the car or wherever they go.

Following are some helpful and practical ideas for helping to make your child’s life even more musical:
• Play your At Home CD – Children love repetition and the more you play the CD together, the more your child will be comfortable with the songs and activities.
• Use your At Home CD and literature book to add music to your nightly bedtime story ritual.
• Sing to or sing along with your child. Sing to a pet or even a stuffed animal.
• Swing and sway to music, or dance through the water droplets of a sprinkler.
• Record your own songs and listen to your own voices and music.
• Vary your movements and instrument playing. Maintain a steady beat, move to a faster beat, then a slower beat.
• Discuss the music you hear. What does it sound like? What types of instruments do you hear?
• Sing or chant favorite tunes to help pass the time while waiting in line or while sitting in the pediatrician’s office.
• Explore musical sounds with home-made instruments, using boxes and other assorted containers, scrapers, shakers and jingles.
• Attend community concerts and other local musical events to give your child a taste of many types of music.
• Add music or songs to events and activities throughout your day – whether it’s wake-up time, play time, pick-up-the-toys time or bath time.

Most importantly, open up your Kindermusik Family Activity books and journals and expand the music and fun of Kindermusik throughout your week at home.

Music and Movement: The Keys to Learning

Music and movement are magical ingredients to learning for both parent and child. A baby’s first communication is through movement. A toddler will respond immediately to lively music with what seems to be humorous gyrations but to him are quite serious attempts to coordinate movement with rhythmic patterns. The young child seems to be moving constantly – leaping off couches, rolling down hills, and spinning around and around until she falls down in a giggling flop on the floor.

Our brains fully develop through movement activities such as crawling, rolling, turning, walking, skipping, reaching, swinging and much more. The brain has a plan for development that involves specific and intensive motor activities to make full use of our complicated nervous system. The nervous system of each human being must go through a series of developmental stages before the brain can operate at its full potential. All children “program” their motor and perceptual equipment, nerves and brain cells by using their whole body and all their senses.

Movement is fundamental for the development of the central nervous system but movement and rhythm are also essential for the development of the soul. When a parent moves with her infant, a special bonding takes place that is extremely important for social and emotional growth. When a parent sings to her child, not only are language skills being developed, but also a sense of love, comfort and harmony. The special touching, laughing and rhythmic moving that takes place in a music and movement class lays a very strong and much needed foundation for a happy, healthy and joyful life!

The Kindermusik curricula are especially designed to provide opportunities for infants, toddlers, pre-schoolers and young children to learn through interactive music and movement activities. Kindermusik class provides parents and children a variety of stimulating experiences that will be beneficial for everyone.

Movement activities are key components to all Kindermusik curricula:
• Intentional touch is designed to provide stimulation of the nervous system, relaxation and bonding.
• Activities involve unilateral, bi-lateral and cross-lateral movements that help develop the brain and muscles.
• Movement and dance steps allow the caregiver and child to experience different rhythms and locomotor movements.
• Synchronized dances develop sequencing, provide reassuring repetition and social interaction.
• Expressive movement provides variety, creativity and opposing feelings such as fast and slow, high and low.
• Rocking and swinging stimulate the vestibular system, which is so important to balance and even eye movement.
• Props, such as the “humongous” scarves, provide tactile and visual stimulation.

Kindermusik At Home materials extend these music and movement activities so you can explore, dance and sing at home. Only on Kindermusik CDs will you find such a wide diversity of musical styles from different cultures that evoke different types of movement.

Put on your Kindermusik CD at home and don’t worry about performing the dances the “right” way. Don’t even worry about right and left! Just move to the music and adapt and vary the steps if necessary so that you feel comfortable and have fun!

This article is adapted from the Nov/Dec 1999 issue of Kindermusik Notes and was originally written by Anne Green Gilbert, Director of the Creative Dance Center and Kaleidoscope Dance Company in Seattle, Washington, and a consultant for Kindermusik International