Helping your Preschooler Overcome Fears, Kindermusik Imagine That!, Week Eight

Dear Imagine That! (ages 3 to 5) Parents,

In flashlight dancing today, your child may have faced a big fear.

Many preschoolers are afraid of the dark, and when we flipped off the lights and switched on the flashlights, we all learned to face this fear and enjoy this flash-dance.

Play time can help children overcome fears by facing them in a different place. While a dark Kindermusik room may not feel like a dark bedroom, he learned today that it’s a safe place, and it’s okay to talk about fears.

So much is changing for your preschooler. Encourage him to continue talking about these fears. He may learn some new ways to think about approaching those fears, and by enjoying this time with a trusted adult, he learns how to face fears when he is alone.

Here are a few children's books that address fears:

• Thundercake , a grandmother helps her granddaughter overcome a fear of thunder
• Life Doesn't Frighten Me , a poem by Maya Angelou about possible fears that just don't "frighten me."The artwork in this book is excellent.
• Go Away, Big Green Monster!, a classic book that deals with banishing the fear of monsters (especially big green monsters).
• Froggy Learns to Swim , for anyone thinking about swimming lessons. This is a great read-aloud book dealing with the fear of water.
• Dear Bear, is one of my new favorites. This story has great lessons about communicating fears and friendship.
• When I Feel Afraid, is a good, basic exploration of dealing with fears.
• Can't You Sleep, Little Bear? ,is another classic. This is a must-have for anyone who has a fear of the dark.

E-mail me if you have any favorite books that deal with childhood fears, or if you need book suggestions.

Pretend Play Is So Much More Than Just Play, Kindermusik Family Time, Week Eight

Dear Family Time (ages newborn to seven) Parents,

One of the key benefits of Family Time is being in a class full of children of different ages. You can see this benefit most vividly in our pretend play scenarios in class.

When two or more children are engaged in pretend play, the social interaction is usually characterized by a heightened use of action and language. This kind of play becomes more complex as children base it on their own life experiences and then add in or change the play based on new experiences. That’s why Our Kind of Day embraces the every day themes from home that your children well know—such as bath time and play time. Throughout the week watch and see if your children bring their play experiences from class into their own pretend play scenarios at home.

Pretend play helps with:

• building social and emotional skills.
• nurturing language skills.
• sharpening thinking skills.

This article from Scholastic has more information on the importance of pretend play.

Hope to see everyone next week!

Good Memories, Village classes, Week Eight

Dear Village (birth to 18 months) Parents,

As we come to the end of a delightful eight weeks of Cock-a-doodle-MOO! I’d like to remember a few of our most pleasurable moments.

• Shy smiles as babies greeted one another during the Hello song
• Hugs during You Are My Sunshine
• Babies "on the move" while taking a Hayride
• Balls, balls everywhere as we sang I Roll the Ball to You
• Adult laughter as we danced (and exercised) our way through Jolly is the Miller
• Baby giggles while flying during Hop up, My Baby
• Complete attention during bubble time
• Crumpled paper bags, scarves floating in the air, instruments playing…

And more and more…

I look forward to enjoying many more special moments together!

By the way, now is a great time to invite a friend to class. We start our new unit, Dewdrops, featuring flowers and Irish music next week, with all new At Home Kits for everyone.

Can Toddlers Learn to Share? Our Time classes, Week Eight

Dear Our Time Parents,

So many different instruments, and they’re all mine!

Sharing and taking turns doesn’t always come so easily. One of the best ways a child can learn to share is in a supportive place like our classroom. As you explore the different instruments together, your toddler sees that when he gives something up, he will get to try another.
Learning to share is difficult, especially on a day when everything is "mine!" Yet you will see improvement. And if you feel like your toddler has more trouble than anyone else, look around you…we’ve all been there, and we all understand!

For more on helping your toddler learn to share, try this article from Toddlers Today.

Looking forward to sharing more with you next week!

Congratulations to the New Faces of Kasanti!

I'm proud to announce that two of my long-time students have been selected as the new faces for Kasanti : Andres L. and Camila P.

Kasanti is a great store in the Heights that features the best in home accessories, children's clothing, and more.

Congratulations to you both!

Reminders for March 27-31

Imagine That! Classes (3-5 years old)--Don't forget to bring your FLASHLIGHT to class this week.

Saturday Classes--Remember, we will NOT meet this week since I'll be in Dallas.

APRIL 8--This is the next date for our popular Kindermusik Mini-Camp. Details on the way...

Perpetual Student

I'll be leaving Thursday evening for a Kindermusik professional development seminar in Dallas. Some of the topics we'll cover are:

• best practices for working with newborns to 18 months (Village-age)
• classroom observation and management skills
• helping parents discover and relate to the personality of their child
• Practical tips and exciting new ideas for all ages groups-0 to age 7, Family Music Classes, and Sign and Sing
• Sneak peeks of new curricula

Chances are I'll come back with some new instruments and books, plus lots of great ideas for the summer and fall.

Sandbox Sale

Toys-R-Us (5404 San Bernardo, 791-8697) has a Little Tikes Blue Castle sandbox, normally priced $50, on sale for $5. It is marked $14.99 but rings up for the sale price. We bought one yesterday, and they still had ten or so left.

To see a picture: Epinions Review

Thanks to Teresa for letting us know!

Choices, Choices

Have you ever had one of those days when your 1 to 3 year old just isn't agreeing to anything? Deliberately defying you? Pushing your buttons? All while wearing an adorable smile and a mischievous look... Around my house, we call these "toddler days," and it comes with the territory of parenting a young child.

One of the major developmental "tasks" for a toddler is to explore the meaning of independence. Who am I? What can I do by myself? Watching Noah become increasingly able to do more things for himself has been bittersweet. Where did my little baby go? (I feel the same with my Village babies--they grow so fast!)

Along with this exploration of independence comes an exploration of the word "No." This can be frustrating, especially after hearing the word "no" for what seems like the fiftieth time that day.

One thing that has consistently helped my family make it through "toddler days" is to give choices. This allows Noah to have some control over his life. I limit choices to two options and make them both something I can live with. So far today, Noah has decided whether to wear the yellow shirt or red shirt, whether to eat a pizza sub or a PBJ sandwich, and which chair to sit in for lunch.

I found a good article about the toddler's push for independence here --short with lots of practical advice.

By the way, choices work well with big kids, too. (I'll have to try it on my husband next.)

Young Child 2 Classes, Week Seven

Dear Young Child 2 Parents,

As your child matures and grows, he is developing a stronger awareness of emotions and feelings. Typically, we hope our children develop the ability to express feelings in an appropriate manner. “Music can assist us in creating, identifying, and using emotional states to regulate our lives. Musicians use music to communicate, and a good performance or song will communicate emotions. … [Music is] a powerful language of expression, whether a student is playing or listening to it. In summary, music-making enhances the systems that allow us to perceive and respond appropriately to a world rich with emotions and complex social structures.” *

Today’s class included several activities in which the children were given the opportunity to talk about their feelings. You might try this at home by singing “If you’re happy and you know it…” and asking your child what makes him happy. Continue by singing “If you’re sad and you know it…” and talking about what might make him sad. Be sure to read Music at Home 22 for ideas of ways to create music that expresses feelings.

For more music listening, try Amazon for some FREE classical music downloads.

(*Arts with the Brain in Mind, by Eric Jensen, p.32. )

Children, Children, Build Me A Boat...

Imagine That! classes (3-5 year olds) have been having fun with our Toy Shop theme this semester. For the past several weeks, we've been "building" toy boats and sailing the ocean blue in search of pirates, sharks, dolphins, whales, and adventure. Here are two of our boats:



Nicky's Red Boat surrounded by Red Waves




Regina's Pink & Purple Boat

Imagine That! Classes, Week Seven

Dear Imagine That! Parents,

I see you went to sea to see what you could see!

As your preschooler’s language skills continue to improve, she begins to see great humor in the different ways words can be used. This is an important step in the growth of your child’s sense of humor, which is based on real life experiences and develops slowly over time.

As your child’s understanding of words evolves, she learns about using words in intelligent, creative, and funny ways.

This week think of ways you and your preschooler can play with words.

Here's a great article about a child's sense of humor at different ages.

See, or “sea,” you soon!

Family Time Classes, Week Seven

Dear Family Time Parents,

Wishy Washy, Wishy Washy, Wishy Washy, WEEEEE!

Catchy, isn’t it?

Who knew you could do so much with the tub? It’s a wonderful place to be, no matter what your age. So this week we explored bath time games that will help your children develop fun-tub and learning skills.

Whether using cups, sponges, or rubber ducks in the tub, your children can use bath time for developing reasoning skills. Splashing, making bubbles, pouring water allows your children to use various action schemes to discover what he or she needs to know about an object—and builds problem solving skills, too. In addition, use bath time to name all the body parts as you wash away the day. Use a variety of motions for washing, such as scrubbing, rubbing, tickling, bouncing, digging, etc. and you can make each bath time a new experience and a new adventure.

Plus, you can use a favorite song to signal to your children when it’s time to get in the tub, and when it’s time to get out of the tub, too.

Growing Tree has some fun toys for play time in the bath.

We missed the Davila family and the Salinas family this week! Hope to see you back soon.

Village, Week Seven

Dear Village Parents,

Timbre (pronounced “tam-ber”) is the distinctive quality of a sound. In the past few weeks, we have experienced many different timbres. The little ones in our class are developing their own “vocabulary” of timbres. Just as we recognize the importance of developing a large spoken vocabulary, it is important for us to recognize the importance of developing a similar vocabulary for sounds. This will help children tune in to subtle distinctions in both music and speech.

Kindermusik class is a perfect venue for offering your child the opportunity to experience a wide variety of sounds–drums, egg shakers, baby bells, woodblocks, singing, speaking, plus the host of wonderful and diverse sounds on the recordings!

Try this at home:

 Let your child listen to a variety of voices. Perhaps dad, abuela, sister, or brother could sing a bedtime lullaby tonight. In fact, a fun project (and great keepsake) would be to have loved ones tape record themselves singing, telling a story, or saying a favorite childhood poem.

See you next week!

Noah enjoying a gathering drum.

Our Time Classes, Week Seven

"The children in our room go ha, ha, ha…"all through the class.

By moving our bodies, arms, and fingers up and down, listening to music with up and down melodies, and exploring our voices as they glide up and down, we not only hear the words, we can feel what these words mean, both in music and motion.

Doing this, we’re learning in a multi-sensory way. People learn best in so many different ways. Experiencing and experimenting with our senses and how we learn best by using them means your child can discover the way she learns best.

Discover what type of learning style your child prefers:

Helping Children Succeed In School-Learning Styles

Understanding Learning Styles

Learning Styles From A Mom's Perspective

I tend to be a visual learner. What type of learner are you?

Hope to see you in class next week!

So What Sound Does A Kangaroo Make?

We had some great suggestions while singing "I Went to the Circus" (and what did I see…). Some of my favorites were...

Joe: a Dragon
Yianni: a Butterfly
Michael: a Kangaroo (Jennifer, I taped Michael doing his kangaroo sound—it’s adorable!)

My Monday class at Montessori House still has a fascination with singing "We Will Rock You"—and, no, I didn’t teach them this song. Budding Queen fans or one too many Laredo Bucks hockey games? You decide!

Let The Wild Rumpus Begin!

Last Saturday’s mini-camp featuring Where The Wild Things Are was so much fun! We hosted a large group of children, ranging in age from 20 months up to 8 years old.

Highlights included:

 Watching everyone fingerpaint. I’m not sure who enjoyed it the most but Christopher gets the award for “Most Enthusiastic Painter.”

 Being scared by Andy (Andrea’s cousin from San Antonio) as he did a “Wild Thing” impersonation.

 Peter and Mindy’s wild thing creation.

 The complete attention of everyone as we read this classic story.

 Having a chance to relax and talk with other moms and dads.

Thanks for joining us! Mark your calendars—our next event is Saturday, April 8th. Space is limited, and currently enrolled families have first dibs!

"Welcome today, friends of mine…"

Those of you who know me, even just a little bit, know that I am passionate about early childhood music education. As my ever-patient husband can attest, I am constantly reading books about music and child development, collecting new instruments, attending teaching and music workshops (next one is in Dallas at the end of the month), enrolling in continuing education classes (I’m finishing up an American Sign Language class right now), and, naturally, conducting "field research" with my favorite guinea pig, Noah.

Why? Am I just a nerd? Well, probably, but more than that, I want to be the best teacher that I’m able to be. I take very seriously the trust you have placed in me to be, in many cases, your child’s first teacher (outside of you, of course).

Noah and I began our Kindermusik journey when he was seven months old. We attended a Village class with the beloved Ms. Pat and spent a wonderful several months singing, dancing, and making good friends. When Ms. Pat moved near the end of that semester, First Baptist Church graciously allowed me to take over and continue holding classes at their property. As a lifelong musician and a new mom, Kindermusik appealed to me because of its use of music to help children, even young babies, learn and develop in a pressure-free environment.

So, here I am over a year later with a large and thriving studio, happy to be doing something I love.

Why start a blog? Simply because nearly every day, I see or hear or read something I want to share with you. Check back often for tidbits from class, ideas to try at home, news about my studio, and more. And, please, share this blog with your friends.