Silence, no longer exists for today's child. We live in a world that has constant sound. Even at night I can hear the pitch of electronic devices humming along; in order for me to sleep I must completely turn off the power to items like printers, computers, dvd players and coffee makers. I find that most children today no longer make distinctions between this "invisible sound" and others in their environment. I often play a game in Kindermusik with my Imagine That (ages 3-5) and Young Child (ages 5-7) classes.....we lie on our bellies, count to three and put our listening sticks up (pointer and middle fingers are extended and put over our lips). I ask them what they hear and I will always get responses like: mom's talking in the waiting area; a truck or car just drove by or a motorcycle. What I never hear as a response is the air-conditioning unit, flourescent lights (which buzz loudly), a classmate breathing or the wind blowing through the windows.
This has caused me to think about my own childhood.....I grew up in the country (am quite thankful for that) before air conditioning was standard for a home and well before the age of electronics. So, I can say that when it was quiet.....trust me - there was silence! I remember laying in my bed at night listening to the sound of crickets, bullfrogs or a fly buzzing in my room. Sounds were fascinating to me and I loved to listen.
Listening and hearing are quite different from each other.....as we hear stuff all day long it becomes a familiar sound and our brain does not even register it, in otherwords we no longer distinquish between the sounds of our environment and new sounds that enter. A good example of this is when you move into a new living space, especially when moving from the country to the city or vice versa, you cannot sleep at night because there are different sounds and your brain registers each one.
Listening is the intentional focus and concentration of the sounds.....along with all the qualities of that sound. It is my belief that children can learn to listen, but because we live in a "noisy" society it is a skill that needs to be taught. In Kindermusik class we teach this intentional listening.
Here are some suggestions to help foster an ability to listen in your child:
1. Plan a ten (add more as your child's ability increases) minute period of time within your day, find a quiet place to sit with your child and listen. Just listen, do not talk just listen. Then after the time period, talk about all the sounds you heard. If your child is young, pictures work well...your child can point to the picture of what he or she hears or hold it up.
2. Attend live concerts,especially informal ones with acoustic instruments (acoustic is important, because children hear electronic sounds all day long).
3. Encourage your child to listen to different sounds and describe them with words. Words used could be expressed in terms of colors, hard, soft, full, tingy, brassy or woody.
4. As your child becomes a better listener, make listening challenges more difficult. For example, when filling a glass with water determine it's fullness by listening. The pitch of the water filling the glass will ascend (go up) the challenge is to listen closely enough to know when the glass is full.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Friday, September 2, 2011
Kindermusik, a caring & compassionate environment!
As I was contemplating subject matter for this mornings blog...I decided that I needed oatmeal, coffee and a book for me--a treat, as I normally read only early-childhood material. As I am enjoying my breakfast at a small coffee shop nearby while reading "The Art of Happiness, A Handbook for living" by Dala Lama and Cutler...I ran across a paragraph that I couldn't help but think about how what I do in each Kindermusik class is helping to create not only an environment for rich language development, but an environment of compassion and caring for others. There is a passage in the book found on page 59-60, that compares language development to the development of caring and compassion. I think everyone agrees that surrounding our children in a language rich environment--like that found in a Kindermusik class--is an essential key to developing and broadening the capacity for language in a child, but the same is true for developing a capacity for caring and compassion--and Kindermusik provides this as well.
In any Kindermusik class you will find many opportunities for your child to work with another child in sharing, taking turns, observing, gaining ideas and cooperation; all of these are essential in developing the capacity for compassion. The authors give some specific examples of environments in which experts agree that the seeds of caring and compassion are able to flourish and ripen in children: "having parents (or I would add, teachers) who are able to regulate their own emotions, who model caring behavior, who set appropriate limits on children's behavior, who communicate that a child is responsible for her or his own behavior, and who use reasoning to help direct the child's attention to affective or emotional states and the consequences of her or his behavior on others."
We live in a world where caring and compassion, at least seem to be declining. We see and hear about war, fighting, hurtful behaviour towards others, people killing people and governments operating to only serve themselves....precious little evidence of caring and compassion.
In Kindermusik, there is plenty of evidence of caring and compassion: each child and parent is an important part of our class and is respected for what they can bring to the class; we share with each other, we are kind and courteous to each other, we learn together and from each other, we enjoy a common language together--music and when we choose behavior that hurts others--we face it and begin to learn the consequences for such choices....what a beautiful model for creating an environment that the seeds of caring and compassion can take root, flourish and blossom to their fullest potential.
In a few weeks, we will have an additional chance to experience caring and compassion. We will have an opportunity to fill a shoebox with special items for our friends here in America and around the world...Operation Christmas Child. I would encourage each of you to participate in this in your own way; some of you will choose to schedule a Saturday morning trip to the dollar store with your child to purchase items for another child who may not have soap, toothbrush, toothpaste or even a comb while others will make items with your own hands--knitting a scarf, washcloth, mittens or socks. Whichever you choose, your child benefits directly--as you are modeling for your child the capacity for caring and compassion.
I can't help but think of the song, "If I had a Hammer" (I love this recording--as it is sung by children).....this would be a great song about caring and compassion to add to your child's repertoire. In Kindermusik class, we have a a hammer of sharing each time we get the rhythm sticks from the basket, we have a bell of respect as we ring with each other and we have lots of songs--songs of love, friendship and learning!
See you in Kindermusik class.
In any Kindermusik class you will find many opportunities for your child to work with another child in sharing, taking turns, observing, gaining ideas and cooperation; all of these are essential in developing the capacity for compassion. The authors give some specific examples of environments in which experts agree that the seeds of caring and compassion are able to flourish and ripen in children: "having parents (or I would add, teachers) who are able to regulate their own emotions, who model caring behavior, who set appropriate limits on children's behavior, who communicate that a child is responsible for her or his own behavior, and who use reasoning to help direct the child's attention to affective or emotional states and the consequences of her or his behavior on others."
We live in a world where caring and compassion, at least seem to be declining. We see and hear about war, fighting, hurtful behaviour towards others, people killing people and governments operating to only serve themselves....precious little evidence of caring and compassion.
In Kindermusik, there is plenty of evidence of caring and compassion: each child and parent is an important part of our class and is respected for what they can bring to the class; we share with each other, we are kind and courteous to each other, we learn together and from each other, we enjoy a common language together--music and when we choose behavior that hurts others--we face it and begin to learn the consequences for such choices....what a beautiful model for creating an environment that the seeds of caring and compassion can take root, flourish and blossom to their fullest potential.
In a few weeks, we will have an additional chance to experience caring and compassion. We will have an opportunity to fill a shoebox with special items for our friends here in America and around the world...Operation Christmas Child. I would encourage each of you to participate in this in your own way; some of you will choose to schedule a Saturday morning trip to the dollar store with your child to purchase items for another child who may not have soap, toothbrush, toothpaste or even a comb while others will make items with your own hands--knitting a scarf, washcloth, mittens or socks. Whichever you choose, your child benefits directly--as you are modeling for your child the capacity for caring and compassion.
I can't help but think of the song, "If I had a Hammer" (I love this recording--as it is sung by children).....this would be a great song about caring and compassion to add to your child's repertoire. In Kindermusik class, we have a a hammer of sharing each time we get the rhythm sticks from the basket, we have a bell of respect as we ring with each other and we have lots of songs--songs of love, friendship and learning!
See you in Kindermusik class.
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