A couple of years ago, I experienced one of my most exciting moments as a teacher. I was playing a game with a group of three-year-olds, when a little boy named Christopher raised his hand and said, “I have an idea!” What made this moment so special for me was that in the eight months […]
Tag Archives: preschool music
“The Five Days Old Song” by Laurie Berkner available on iTunes Okay, so Laurie Berkner is awesome and if you haven’t heard her songs yet, stop reading this immediately and take a listen – it’ll brighten your day and give you a gazillion ideas for fun things to do in your classroom. I’ve used several […]
“Stop That Pickle” by Peter Armour Looking for something a little different to read to your threes, fours, and fives? Something a little wild and crazy and totally hilarious? “Stop That Pickle” by Peter Armour is for you. A variation of the well-worn “Gingerbread Man” theme, this story shows how a very fast and determined […]
On Saturday I presented a workshop, “Music and Movement Activities from Around the World,” at the “Kenyon at Kean” Conference in Union, NJ. What a terrific experience! I presented to two groups, and both groups were filled with energetic, fun, creative child care professionals who came ready to move to music! Working with teachers of […]
“Little Snowflake” by Super Simple Learning available on iTunes This song, by Super Simple Learning, is a lovely, peaceful song. It’s lilting and a bit slow, and the words and tune are repetitive and predictable (of course, these are good things in the world of early childhood). It’s sung by a child, which I usually […]
Little Wolf’s Song by Britta Teckentrup A few weeks ago, when we were making totally different animal noises with a different story, one little boy asked me if they could howl. Of course I said yes and we had fun howling for no reason (do you need a reason to howl?), but it reminded me […]
Jingle-Jingle by Nicola Smee Last week I shared one of my favorite “non- denominational” holiday picture books, “Polar Bear Night.” This one is quite different in tone, but equally lovable. The animals in “Jingle-Jingle” (the same crew featured in her earlier story, “Clip-Clop”) are wearing Santa hats, but there’s no mention of Christmas or any […]
(This piece appeared in slightly different form in my book “Teaching Creativity.”) As teachers, we often assume that praise will boost children’s self-esteem and confidence. And for encouraging appropriate behavior, or reinforcing tasks like learning to tie shoes, praise can be a helpful teaching tool. But when it comes to developing children’s creativity, praise can […]
“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 […]
Music (and Science) For Young Children 