Thursday, December 07, 2006

Imagine That - SWIS Lesson 9

Hello parents! Hope you are finding enough activities to fill the time of the kids who are on holidays! There is the kindermusik camp to consider if you are looking around for options. You can get the information from reception.

This week, we will be doing activities to train the ears and to relate high and low instrument sounds to animals in the park. For example, the sound of a triangle will be a high sound and the kids will have to think of animals in the park that are high up - like a bird or butterfly. This will be done with the hello and goodbye song. The kids will not only get training in listening but also to be able to translate what they hear into something that is real.

I didn't get a chance to do the Feed the Birds activity last week so we will definitely do it this week. As I mentioned before in the previous lesson plan, this activity focus on copying which is a process that involves the ability to discriminate sound patters, activate auditory memory and imitate sound pattern. We utilise this skill when we play instruments by ear.

We will be empahsize on fine motor skills this week through the activities of Three Blue Pigeons and Mister Sun. The kids will be taught fingerplay; which is a chant or song coupled with finger motions, through these two songs. As most of you would know, the development of fine motor skills, which are movements made by the coordination of smaller muscles such as those in the hands, feet and mouth are very important as the kids need these skills in many aspects of their life - playing a musical instrument, writing, painting etc.

We will be doing some puppetry play during parent sharing time. Your At Home Materials Family Activity #9 has several suggestions how to make finger puppets at home. There is something magical about singing a song while playing with finger puppets or hand puppets. The power and use of puppets fulfills many developmental needs of the child and opens up the door to imagination and make-believe. Extending vocabulary, building self-esteem, exploring emotions, coordination of speech and movement - these are a few benefits associated with puppet play.

We are going to dance to All Join Hands.....and let us see how many creative ways we can move our body parts in circles!! Parents, this is a chance for you to see the kids think out of the box. You will be surprise how good Kindermusik kids are at doing this because of the many opportunities they get to explore different ways of moving.

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