Minds On Music – The Kindermusik Blog
For three generations, Kindermusik has helped millions of children around the world build a strong foundation for a lifetime of learning.
Children are the real movers and shakers of this world. Watch a toddler practice walking, supervise group activities for kids, or even catch your young children in your arms as they run to welcome you home, and you will see there is a whole lot of moving happening! From birth, children learn to move and …
Pairing language with movement sets the stage for cognitive and kinesthetic learning. The right hemisphere of the brain is our emotional side where much of our creativity is channeled. The left hemisphere organizes logical skills, such as language. When children are engaged in movements determined by the lyrics, the brain automatically cross-references both hemispheres, mapping …
Continue reading “FOL Fridays: Pairing Language with Movement”
Anne Green Gilbert, author of “Teaching the Three-Rs: Through Movement Experiences” talks about how brain development is directly linked to movement. For example, holding your baby in different positions actually helps develop new neural connections in the brain. In Kindermusik classes, we use musical concepts like “high” and “low” in our dances and chants to encourage …
The developing brain is wired to learn as the body moves. To achieve the precision of the mature brain, stimulation in the form of movement and sensory experiences during the early developing years is necessary. Providing children with sensory-motor experiences, including activities that integrate visual information, sound, and find-motor movements, stimulate and strengthen the brain’s …
Continue reading “FOL Fridays: Movement with Instrument Play”
Children learn best with their bodies. By providing a venue for movement, either in Kindermusik class or at home, children have a chance to “try out” a variety of creative, self-expressive movements. Being sensory learners, children should be encouraged to move, use their imaginations, and engage their large and small muscle groups, all in a …
Continue reading “FOL Fridays: The Movement-Learning Connection”
It is through dancing with others that children can quickly learn to work within the group dynamic. Movement becomes more than just fun – it becomes the road to communication, fostering both social interaction and cooperation. Structured dance, such as what we often enjoy together in Kindermusik, or free dance, which is easy to enjoy …
A primary need of young children is the ability to express themselves through movement. Fundamental movement development occurs in children between the ages of two and seven, which means our Kindermusik kids! During this time, locomotor (e.g., creeping, running, or leaping), non-locomotor (e.g., stretching, twisting, or shaking), and stability and balance skills are able to …
During movement activities, children learn to organize the available space in relation to themselves and in relationship to objects and other individuals… this is how they develop body control, spatial awareness, and confidence in the power and ability of their own bodies. (Linda Carol Edwards, The Creative Arts) TIP: Turn on some dancing music and dance …
Music and movement are magical ingredients to learning for both the child and parent. A baby’s first communication is through movement. A toddler immediately responds to lively music with silly gyrations and flailing limbs – and while these movements usually make us giggle, to him they are serious attempts to coordinate movement with rhythmic patterns. The …
Continue reading “Music and movement: magical ingredients to learning”
Research has proven that the area of the brain that deals with cognitive thought is activated through movement. In other words, movement can literally turn on your child’s mind! For example, when you hold your baby and whirl around in one direction and then whirl in the opposite direction, this stimulates his neural pathways and …