Week of March 30th, 2015

Clara Schumann

This week in music class we enjoyed learning about the German female composer, Clara Schumann! The children discovered that this talented musician was born almost 200 years ago in Germany, and that her father was a piano teacher. We discussed her talents (which included composing music on piano, writing music arrangements for orchestras, and even playing violin!). The children even learned that she wrote 29 pieces of music--and they were complete complex arrangements. We especially enjoyed listening to Nocturne in F major (Op.6). As you may know, female composers are quite rare from that era!

While we listened to her music, we passed around photos of Clara. The kids even practiced her "thinking pose" (shown above) with their own bodies (see their thinking pose below!).

Twos and up also had a blast playing the "Doggy Doggy Where's Your Bone" game. I have included photos as well as an audio clip of the song we sang to accompany this fun game, which gives kids an opportunity to pretend to be a doggy who has mysteriously lost its bone. Another student (or two, in some classes) are hiding the bone, and the doggy has to try and find out which classmate it is! The kids loved this and asked to play again and again.

For toddlers, I passed the bone around and sang the song but worked on name recognition instead. "Who is holding the bone right now?" We practicedon saying each friend's name. They also loved the "Little Fred" fingerplay. I've included a video below in case you'd like to try it at home yourself! =)

Thanks for reading the blog this week and don't forget to give the extender questions a try. It cements your child's knowledge of music class this week and is a great conversation starter! 

"Little Fred"




Audio Clip of "Doggy Doggy Where's Your Bone?" 
(Click here for mp3 stream!)


QUESTIONS FOR YOUR CHILD

1.) Do you remember what instruments Clara Schumann played? Piano, violin

2.) Do you remember how many songs Clara Schumann wrote? 29

3.) Did you pretend to be a dog in music class? Which friend had your bone? 

Week of August 28th, 2014

Tuesday was National Dog Day!

If you missed your weekly email and music class updates, my apologies! Due to family illness, classes were rescheduled to Thursday this week. We still had a blast singing dog related songs, exploring the drum, and playing a fun game! Check out the pictures below and watch the video to learn the lyrics and tune to "My Dog Rags". Don't forget to review the "Questions to ask your child", and check out an explanation of what music class looks like at the infant level! Please note that due to previously schedule activities, the four year olds and school agers did not have music today. Also, there are some changes coming for the music schedule, beginning next week!

MUSIC SCHEDULE CHANGES

Beginning the week of September 8th, 2014

MONDAY: Threes Group @ 9 a.m.

Toddlers @ 11:10 a.m.

TUESDAY:  Fours Group at @9 a.m.

Infants @ 9:30 a.m.

Twos Group @11:30 a.m.

DOGGY, DOGGY, WHERE'S YOUR BONE?

Today we played a fun "hide and seek" based game where children took turns pretending to be a dog looking for their bone (that another classmate was secretly hiding) while singing a simple song: "Doggy, doggy, where's your bone? Someone took it from your home! Who took the bone?" The kids absolutely LOVED playing this game. Ask your child about it!

WHAT'S GOING ON IN INFANT CLASS?

If you have a young infant, you may be asking--what's going on for my child in music class? The answer is--a lot! Each week in infant music class, children are exploring a new instrument, both by hearing it being played, touching it, and seeing it! With all of our new babies, my focus has been on spending individual moments with each child--gazing in to their eyes, singing to them with varying pitch, and helping them to track the sound of my voice as well as the objects I am holding. Through repetitive motions, rocking, swaying and touching to the beat we are not only making emotional connections but plenty of cognitive ones as well, as the language centers of the brain are stimulated along with many sensory elements, both visual and auditory. If you are looking for songs to sing at home with your baby, please search the blog for terms like, "infant songs", "infant music" and "rocking songs". You'll find years worth of entries with videos and music (as well as outsourced web links) to inspire you!

MY DOG RAGS

I have a dog.

His name is Rags.

He eats so much that his tummy sags,

His ears flip flop 

and his tail wig wags.

And when he walks, he goes zig zag!

He goes flip flop, wig wag, zig zag.

He goes flip flop, wig wag, zig zag.

He goes flip flop, wig wag, zig zag.

I love Rags and he loves me!

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CHILD TODAY:

1.) (Toddlers and up) Where was the doggy's bone hiding today?
2.) What is your favorite kind of dog?
3) What do dog's eat?