Big Idea for Village: Surrounded by Sounds

Babies seemed to be mesmerized with the sounds of the woodblock and the drum.  As soon as these instruments were played the babies were captivated. Their facial expressions were big questions—something new, a new sound, what is this? Babies are developing their own vocabulary of sounds or timbres.  When a baby experiences a variety of sounds, he develops sensitivity to the similarities and differences of these sounds. Tuning in to the subtle differences between sounds stimulates the brain’s language centers and extends your child’s ability to focus and listen attentively.

We are surrounded by sounds—no matter where we go. But your baby is hearing many of these sounds for the first time.  Enjoy re-discovering even the simplest of sounds with your baby this week—a train at the railroad crossing, a bird on your front step, a drum on the CD, or your barking dog.

These three easy steps will tune your baby’s ears:

  • Point out the sound.
  • Copy the sound.
  • Play with the sound (loud/soft, high/low, fast/slow)

Big Idea for Our Time: We like to Move it!

The children in our room go ha, ha, ha…all through the class.   By moving our bodies, arms, and fingers up and down, listening to music with up and down melodies, and exploring our voices as they glide up and down, we not only hear the words, we can feel what these words mean, both in music and motion.   Doing this, we’re learning in a multi-sensory way. People learn best in so many different ways. Experiencing and experimenting with our senses and how we learn best by using them means your child can discover the way she learns best.

Big Idea for Imagine That!: Sea ya!

I see you went to sea to see what you could see!   As your preschooler’s language skills continue to improve, she begins to see great humor in the different ways words can be used. This is an important step in the growth of your child’s sense of humor, which is based on real life experiences and develops slowly over time.   As your child’s understanding of words evolves, she learns about using words in intelligent, creative, and funny ways.   This week think of ways you and your preschooler can play with words.