One of the highlights of my NAEYC adventure was a wonderful session presented by the Mexican children’s performer/educator José- Luis Orozco. His latest CD, Come Bien! Eat Right! is pictured above and can be ordered here. The session was more like a concert, except with the entire audience performing! Mr. Orozco has a very lively, […]
Author Archives: Abby Connors
I had a wonderful time at the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Annual Conference in Orlando last week! Thank you to the terrific participants who joined me for my presentation “Shake, Rattle and Roll,” based on my new book. You really threw yourselves into the activities with enthusiasm and I appreciate […]
11 Strategies to Support Children’s Creative Thinking We often think of creativity as being kind of magical – a touch of inspiration, the voice of an inner muse – something you either have or you don’t. Creativity isn’t something that can be taught. Or can it? Of course it can! Creativity is a process of generating […]
(This article appears in the October issue of TEMPO, the magazine of the NJ Music Educators Association.) Reinventing the Wheels on the Bus: Music Improvisation with Young Children Several years ago, I was presenting a workshop on rhythm instrument activities to a group of elementary music teachers. It was going well, the participants seemed interested […]
A couple of years ago, I experienced one of my most exciting moments as a teacher. I was playing a game with a class of three-year-olds, when a little girl named Kyla raised her hand and said, “I have an idea!” What made this moment so special for me was that in the eight months […]
Great Stories About Friends At the beginning of the school year, all our students are nervous to some degree about making friends. Some are feeling shy, or left out of groups of friends that may have formed last year, Others may feel confident, but lack the social skills needed to be friends – they haven’t […]
Here’s a fun blog post from my publisher, Gryphon House, about how music and movement activities promote muscle development. It includes an activity from my book “101 Rhythm Instrument Activities for Young Children,” called “Animal Footsteps.” Music Activities to Boost Language Development and More August 27, 2015 Music activities for preschoolers not only stimulate the brain […]
That time of year is almost here – September! It’s when early childhood teachers welcome new students – always an exciting and challenging time. It’s also when many of us start units on apples. They’re in season, and conveniently, they help children learn shapes (circles), colors (red, but sometimes green and yellow too), healthy eating, […]
Wouldn’t it be nice if our circle time always looked as calm and peaceful as the teddy bears in this picture? Well, even though the young children we teach may be even cuter than teddy bears, they’re rarely as good at sitting still. Real, human children tend to talk, kick their feet out, touch the […]
“The Paw Paw Patch” Whenever I play this game, many young children (and their teachers) ask me what exactly a “pawpaw” is. Well, those odd light green fruits above? Those are pawpaws. They taste kind of like mango mixed with banana, apparently (I’ve never tasted one). Anyway, a paw paw patch is the setting for this traditional […]
Music (and Science) For Young Children 