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How Pizza, Pickle, & Pumpernickel Help Kids Learn How to Read

bigstock_Baby_Girl_Clapping_Hands_724132The steady diet beat of “Pizza, Pickle, Pumpernickel” helps children learn how to read. Of course, we are talking about the children’s nursery rhyme, not the food! Being able to move the entire body to a steady beat contributes to the ability to speak and read fluidly. In fact, children who can keep a steady beat independently score higher on reading assessments.
In this lap bounce version from Kindermusik@Home, even the youngest children can experience steady beat throughout their entire bodies. The more children experience steady beat with the help of a grown-up, the more likely they will be able to keep a steady beat independently. This steady beat activity works for older children, too. Try clapping hands to the beat or bouncing a favorite stuffed animal. As an added bonus to this music activity for kids, fingerplays improve and advance memory and language skills by linking motions to words.

So, go ahead and order in some “Pizza, Pickle, Pumpernickel”!

Kindermusik@Home

Find out more about Kindermusik at www.Kindermusik.com.

Contributed by Lisa Camino Rowell, a freelance writer living in the Atlanta area.
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3 Ways Music Enhances Auditory Processing

A 2-year-old boy prepares to play the fiddle sticks in a Kindermusik class.

The pressure to establish strong pre-readers can be overwhelming. Early literacy development (the foundations needed for reading and writing) depends greatly on auditory processing skills, which includes auditory identification, discrimination, and sequencing. It’s hard to imagine the time it would take to focus on all of those skill sets individually. But there’s a one-stop-shop. 

Continue reading “3 Ways Music Enhances Auditory Processing”

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New Research: Music Can Offset Children’s Academic Gaps

Musical activities stimulate development in every area of the brain

Musical activities stimulate development in every area of the brainMusic changes us. Of course, we know that music can move us to tears, conjure up (and make) memories, or even quiet a child’s cries. However, music also literally changes our brains!
A new presentation from neuroscientist Nina Kraus at the American Psychological Association’s 122nd Annual Convention displays some of the strongest research to-date proving how music changes the brains of children who are most at risk.

The Science Behind Music’s Impact on Learning

At the convention, Kraus shared her research findings that indicate learning to play a musical instrument or to sing can help disadvantaged children strengthen their reading and language skills by improving the way their nervous systems process sounds in a busy environment, such as a classroom. The boost to the neural function can lead to improved memory and longer attention spans, which help children focus better in school and improve communication skills.
“Research has shown that there are differences in the brains of children raised in impoverished environments that affect their ability to learn,” Kraus explained in a press release about her research study, Biological, Behavioral, and Academic Impact of Musical Training in At-Risk Children. “While more affluent students do better in school than children from lower income backgrounds, we are finding that musical training can alter the nervous system to create a better learner and help offset this academic gap.”
See, music changes our brains!
Kraus’ partner at The Harmony Project is Margaret Martin, DrPH, MPH. She started The Harmony Project in 2001 to serve children of poverty in areas with school dropout rates above 50 percent. To help prove that music improves language and literacy abilities of children, she enlisted the help of Kraus. And, what a great partnership for all music educators!
“Early sustained music learning is actually the frame upon which education itself can be built for low income kids,” Martin explained in this PBSNewsHour segment:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZHg8dr6gf0#t=18[/youtube]

Musical training in early childhood

In Kindermusik early childhood classes for children from newborn through age 7, we intentionally use music as the vehicle for learning. So naturally, we get excited when research proves that musical activities really do have a positive impact on the way children learn.
Kindermusik supports all areas of development including—musical, language, emotional, physical, social, and cognitive development. When children actively participate in musical experiences, they engage their whole brain in the process. Here are just four areas and examples of how Kindermusik programs use music (and movement) to support a young child’s development:

  1. Communication Skills: When we recite a rhyme about shaking an apple tree then shake our bodies in the same way or sing “Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes” and move our bodies to touch our heads, shoulders, etc., children develop a vocabulary and understanding of these concepts, even in infancy…by seeing, hearing, and doing.
  2. Listening Skills: By focusing intently on one sound, such as the beat of a drum,
    Laura Ainamo teaches English in Zimbabwe with Kindermusik
    Kindermusik class in Zimbabwe teaches children through music.

    children practice the skills of attention and engaged listening. Encouraging children to imitate the sound and discussing the sound increases comprehension and learning.
  3. Memory: Young children move to learn and learn to move. We specifically include lots of movement in our classes, which stimulates the release of chemicals in children’s brains that support memory and learning. So, when we dance a jig or hop like a frog children get the wiggles out….and keep the learning in!
  4. Comprehension: Engaging in language and literacy-rich musical activities that incorporate movement such as tapping the steady beat to a nursery rhyme correspond to greater comprehension.

Find out more about Kindermusik at www.Kindermusik.com.

Contributed by Lisa Camino Rowell, a freelance writer living in Atlanta, Georgia.
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How music helps a teacher and children in Monaco live happily ever after

Munchkins Club Monoco 2Once upon a time, an educator who loved music moved from Milan, Italy, to bring the joy of learning English through music to children in a land faraway. Around the same time, an enchanting place called Monte Carlo Munchkins Club opened its doors to welcome children during their most formative years. As in any great fairytale, the two were destined to meet.

On the way to happily ever after

And, so begins the magical journey of Kindermusik educator Alina Botezatu, who explains in her own words how teaching children is changing her life and theirs!
“I love Kindermusik and seeing how the little curious minds assimilate information like sponges. It took some time to win the children’s trust, but now, as soon as they see me, they hug me and are excited about joining the class. This is such a wonderful feeling for a teacher. 
teaching ELL students“I’ve only been living in Monte Carlo and teaching Kindermusik at the Munchkins Club for a few months but I can already see the children’s progress in so many ways, including:

  • They learn new English words faster.
  • They sing many of the songs with me.
  • They dance and move their bodies in a more balanced way.
  • They know the stories we read together.
  • They have better concentration and listening abilities.
  • They are happy to take turns sharing instruments and helping each other and me during the class.

“It is always a lot of fun to sing and dance together. I’d like to thank my mentor, Laura D’Abbondanza Berryman, for all her invaluable support and my cute friends—the puppets—that make the children laugh and have fun during the lessons!”
Inauguration Monte-Carlo Munchkins Club 2013Of course, what fairytale is complete without a princess? Alina’s story includes Princess Charlene of Monaco, who visited the Munchkins Club to show her support for early childhood education.
We love happy endings. And, with Kindermusik, it is a good beginning with a happy ending that never ends!

Learn more about bringing Kindermusik’s ABC English & Me to your Language School, Nursery School, or Children’s Centre.

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4 Reasons Why the Creative Arts Matter in Early Childhood Education

4 reasons why Creative Arts Matter in Early Childhood EducationYoung children love music, dancing, painting, playing, and other creative ways to express themselves and make sense of the world around them. However, as if those reasons weren’t enough to include things like art and music in early childhood education, research indicates that the arts, including music education for kids, significantly impacts cognitive development, increases self-esteem, and actively engages everyone in learning—children, parents, and teachers!
We believe that music is the best vehicle for early childhood learning. We want to empower our Educators, parents, and teachers to instill a lifelong love of music and learning in their children.

4 Reasons to Include the Arts in Early Childhood Education

  1. The creative arts engage children through multi-sensory learning.

    Multisensory Learning - Creative Arts in Early Childhood EducationChildren thrive on (and naturally respond to!) multi-sensory learning opportunities, such as music and the visual arts. Each of our five senses (sight, smell, sound, touch, taste) activates specific neurons in the brain. For young children, multi-sensory activities provide more learning opportunities than single-sensory activities because more of the brain becomes involved in the lesson. For example in a music class, children experience multi-sensory learning when they listen to and imitate animal sounds vocally or with an instrument, see the animals in the story, and then move around like them. Art activities can bring in the sense of smell and taste through edible art works, such as creating rainbows out of colored cereal or even using edible finger paints for the youngest learners. Plus, experiences that integrate several senses simultaneously are responsible for lasting impressions and greater retention.

  2. Musical activities stimulate development in every area of the brain.

    While multi-sensory learning engages children and provides greater retention, music education for children—in particular—provides research-proven cognitive benefits. Incorporating music and movement into a child’s learning routine stimulates all areas of the brain, including: vision, balance, hearing, speech, behavior, sensation, cognition, movement, and emotion. Take a look at the mental benefits of playing music: [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0JKCYZ8hng#t=76[/youtube]

  3. Art and music classes teach children to love learning and school.

    Teachers and parents agree. We all want children to love learning and school. After all, it makes those early morning wake-up calls and afternoon lunch slumps a little bit easier. When asked: “What was your favorite thing about school today,” art and music consistently rank high on the list for young children. Why? It’s fun! As children grow beyond the early years, they carry that love of learning and school into the upper elementary years and beyond. Plus, the lessons learned in music classes can be applied throughout the day. Children who actively participate in playing music together learn teamwork, sharing, listening to and incorporating the ideas of others–and in turn learning the value of their own ideas, too! Plus, musical activities can help children learn self-regulation, the ability to regulate thoughts, feelings, and actions. All together, these skills translate into being ready to learn and success in school.

  4. Grown-ups love the arts, too.

    While we spend much time thinking about children in early childhood education (of course!), the grown-ups remain equally important. After all, children can tell when educators enjoy teaching. When teachers laugh and smile during the lesson, they model for students that learning is fun…and it is! For parents, the arts provide an easy way to support children’s education and get actively involved. Kindermusik Educators have fun in their early childhood programsThis could mean listening intently as a child explains the colors of the rainbow on a painting brought home from school and then finding the perfect spot on the refrigerator to hang it. Or it can mean singing and dancing to the songs from music class or pretending to be favorite characters in the book from circle time.

Music In the Classroom

In our Preschool curriculum (ABC Music & Me supplemental curriculum for ages birth to early elementary), children and teachers sing and play instruments, participate in dance and creative movement activities, engage in vocal and pretend play, and receive all of the benefits of the creative arts.
KindermusikPresents_ABCMusicAndMe_AGlobalEarlyChildhoodCurriculum[1]Plus, teachers and parents love Kindermusik. It’s easy to use with minimal planning and intentionally provides a method for teachers to participate, notice, and observe the class. Teachers can just pop in the hosted audio and a trained Kindermusik educator comes alive in their classroom through the guided activities.
ABC Music & Me brings the learning home with materials that provide a peek into the classroom with “teachable moment” extensions and favorite songs, stories, and activities from class.

Want to Learn More? Request a Demo: abcinfo@kindermusik.com

Contributed by Lisa Camino Rowell, a freelance writer living in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Music Video Brings in the Clowns to Develop Kids' Gross Motor Skills

I am a clown video
When you send in the clowns, you can also introduce a whole lot of fun practicing all kinds of ways to move, jump, listen, focus, and even stop.  At first glance, it might seem like an activity such as “I Am a Clown” is just about moving and dancing.  But watch a little more closely, and you’ll see that there are a whole lot more benefits than just developing gross motor skills.
Linking language and movement – With each new verse, there’s a new movement… and a new movement word for labeling that movement.  This is how children expand their vocabulary and their repertoire of moves.
Inhibitory control – This is that all-important skill of learning self-control, both externally and internally.  Having to stop their movements helps children learn how to be better in control of not just their bodies, but also their emotions and their interactions with others.
Active listening – “I Am a Clown” is a fun way for children to practice listening and responding to those aural cues.  Active listening is a learned skill, and one that will serve a child well even into adulthood.
Following directions – Bringing together several different ways of moving into the different verses of the same song helps children with the all-important excecutive function skill of following directions.
Social-emotional development – There’s nothing much more powerful than bonding together through music and movement activities, whether that’s parent-child together time or whether it’s enjoying the company and inspiration of friends in a music activity.
Kindermusik is where music and learning playWith all of these great benefits from a simple music and movement activity, enjoy a little “clowning around” with your own child (or with your whole class if you’re a teacher!) for a sneak peek into how the Kindermusik curriculum works through music and movement.

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Why Music is One of the Best Things for Early Language Development

iStock_000006570426Large toddler dancing - language development through music and movement activitiesJust google it: “children’s language development.”  Over 35 million hits will appear almost instantaneously.  From tips for parents to academic dissertations, there’s a flood of information and opinion out there.  And while we haven’t checked all 35 million hits, we can guarantee that one of the common threads woven into the fabric of early language development is music.
That’s because we learn music and language in a similar progression.  First we are steeped in it. Gradually we detect and then imitate its sounds and patterns in babbling.  Eventually, our desire to communicate and the experience of our ears, brain and muscles converge and we speak our first  words – or sing our first notes!

So, how exactly can a music and movement class affect language development?

Vocal play encourages children to imitate, practice, and repeat words, phrases, rhythms,  accents, synchronization and tempo – all integral parts of communication.
Focused listening heightens sound discrimination, helping children isolate, identify, and imitate specific sounds.
Rhymes and chants develop rhythmic awareness, which aids speech fluency and an awareness of the rhythmic structure of language.
Pretend play provides rich opportunities for communication and self-expression as children share ideas and interact cooperatively with each other.
Moving and labeling those movements aids in language acquisition in the early years and expand vocabulary in the toddler and preschooler years.
Singing directly exposes children to patterns of language, including rhythm, speech sounds, syntax and rhyme.  Pattern awareness is crucial to learning, memory, and language development.
Expressive and receptive language activities give children practice and experience with both speaking and understanding, two very different but essential parts of language development.

Find out more about Kindermusik and the benefits of music at www.Kindermusik.com.

 

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Use These Musical Activities to Develop Children's Language Skills

bigstockphoto_Happy_Mom_1646790From hearing those heart-melting coo’s and goo’s to interpreting first words and celebrating full sentences, the adults in a child’s life play an important role in enhancing a child’s language development.  Music and music activities provide a simple and fun way not only to bond with your child and inspire a lifelong love of learning, but also to encourage and greatly enhance language development too.

Here are three music activities that you can use to develop children’s language skills:

Name (or label!) that Movement

This one’s easy, but maybe so obvious that we forget how important it is.  Whether moving to recorded music or singing a favorite song with movement, label the movement.  Many children’s songs include movement words right in them, but you can also repeat that word or emphasize that movement word.  For example, before singing a song about marching, introduce the song by saying, “March, march, march, march” as you march.
Dancing with a recording gives many opportunities for labeling movement words while also exploring a variety of movement.  Sliding, twirling, bouncing, tiptoeing, zig zagging, stomping, galloping… wonderful words to learn and oh-so-fun as a whole-body experience!

Back-and-Forth We Go!

This echo game is a great time-filler – in the car, waiting in line, transition times, etc.  It also works well with words or rhymes.  Simply say a word or phrase from a rhyme and wait for your child to repeat it.  You can even play with silly nonsense words.  Once you get into the back-and-forth rhythm, it can get really fun.  Simpler and slower for little ones; more complex and faster for older children.

Pick a Song and Sing-Along

There’s nothing much better for enhancing language development than singing.  The flow of the music helps the flow of words, and the powerful combination of melody and words, especially songs with repetitive phrases, gives children exposure to and practice with forming words.  Yes, they are the songs that get stuck in your head, but some favorite children’s songs that are especially good for language development include songs like:

  • The Wheels on the Bus
  • The Muffin Man
  • If You’re Happy and You Know It
  • I Like to Eat Apples and Bananas
  • Here We Go ‘Round the Mulberry Bush
  • Baa Baa Black Sheep
  • A Ram Sam Sam
Where Music and Learning Play
Find out more about how Kindermusik can fill a child’s heart – and vocabulary! – with music at www.Kindermusik.com.
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How to Talk to Babies When They Can’t Talk Back…Or Can They?

Caring for an infant can be a bit like visiting a foreign country, especially considering the language barrier. After all, most grown-ups—from first-time parents to experienced early childhood educators—are no longer fluent in Baby. Take a look: Do you know what these babies are talking about? They certainly seem to understand each other!
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UfFY6PSVu0[/youtube]

How to talk to babies

Even though we may not know exactly what those sweet babies are saying, parents and caregivers around the world naturally speak “parentese” when talking with babies. Common features of this baby-friendly language include:

  • Using a high pitch to get a baby’s attention
  • Repeating words (e.g. Who is the cutest baby in the world? You are! Yes, you are!)
  • Keeping sentences short
  • Exaggerating syllables and words

New research from the University of Washington indicates that using parentese with babies actually encourages them to try and imitate what they hear! In the study of fifty-seven 7- and 11- or 12-month old babies each child listened to a series of native and foreign language syllables while the researchers observed their brain activity. As expected, the researchers noted brain activity in an auditory area of the brain, however, they also observed activity in the parts of the brain responsible for planning the motor movements required for producing speech.
“Most babies babble by 7 months, but don’t utter their first words until after their first birthdays,” said lead author Patricia Kuhl, in a press release. “Finding activation in motor areas of the brain when infants are simply listening is significant, because it means the baby brain is engaged in trying to talk back right from the start and suggests that 7-month-olds’ brains are already trying to figure out how to make the right movements that will produce words.”
These findings suggest that the exaggerated characteristics of parentese makes it easier for babies to model the motor movements required to speak. Bottom line: Keep talking to babies!

Babytalk Tips from Your Mother Goose

Kindermusik@Home Nursery RhymesAs the mother of all nursery rhymes, Mother Goose knows a thing or two about talking to babies. With their rhymes and rhythms, nursery rhymes “wire” the brain for communication before speech even begins. It’s one of the reasons we include nursery rhymes in our early childhood curriculum.
Try these tips from Kindermusik@Home to talk to the babies in your life! Repeating these activities helps increase language acquisition and retention.

Find out more about Kindermusik at www.Kindermusik.com.

Contributed by Lisa Camino Rowell, a freelance writer living in the Atlanta area.