“Polar Bear Night” by Lauren Thompson If you’re looking for a picture book and music experience to express the joy and peace of the holiday season, “Polar Bear Night” will delight your students with its starry winter magic. This is one of my all-time favorite children’s books, although it was written fairly recently, by Lauren […]
A very insightful five-year-old girl named Dina once taught me a very important lesson. I was teaching her class a song I’d written, one of those songs where the children were supposed to supply the rhyming words at the ends of silly phrases – like “Today when I put on my hat, it started […]
“The way to have good ideas is to have lots of ideas, and throw away the bad ones.” Linus Pauling Linus Pauling, one of the only two people in history to win two Nobel Prizes (the […]
“Meow Hou Hou” from the CD “Salsa for Kittens and Puppies” by Baby Loves Salsa available on iTunes I still remember when I first heard this delightful song – I was so excited! It’s not every day that I come across a song that not only is easy for young children to sing (basically all […]
“All for Pie, Pie for All” by David Martin Am I the only one whose first thought about Thanksgiving coming up is “Pie! Yessss!” I like the Thanksgiving Day parade, and relatives coming over is good, but I’m a vegetarian, so I’m not into turkey. Nope, pie is #1 on the list, folllowed by sweet […]
I LOVE teaching toddlers music! And I’ve been teaching them for about twenty years. I’ve even written a book, “The Musical Toddler,” with loads of great ideas for music activities with toddlers. Today I’d like to share a few tips for making sure every toddler in your group has positive, successful music experiences. 1. Slow it down. Yes, most […]
Some researchers believe that children first learn language as a kind of music. They listen and study the rhythm and pitch of language long before they understand the meanings of words. These researchers conclude that music and language learning develop in similar ways. Music activities have been shown to increase children’s oral and auditory language skills. Music underlies language acquisition, […]
“Bodies 1-2-3” by Peter and Ellen Allard from the CD “Sing It! Say It! Stamp It! Sway It!” Vol. 2 available on iTunes Sometimes you want a very simple, very easy movement song that children can follow easily and doesn’t require a lot of explanation. And one that children will have fun with! That’s […]
“The Three Bears” by Byron Barton I LOVE Byron Barton’s illustrations so much. They are bright, bold, childlike, and accessible to even the littlest children. Isn’t it annoying when children’s books have charming, “artistic,” illustrations but they’re incomprehensible to children? If three-year-olds can’t tell which animal is the duck, or thinks a bear is a […]
Many grownups (particularly music educators) like to say that music is the universal language. I’m not so sure. Just about everyone enjoys some kind of music, true. But do we all get the same meaning from a piece of music? Do we all understand and appreciate it the same way? Not so much. This is […]
Music (and Science) For Young Children 