Music Class

Once a week, our music teacher Ms. Christine, visits the full day early childhood classrooms at Barnes, Trombly, Monteith and Ferry. The children love when she plays the ukulele! Children have opportunities to explore vocal pitch, rhythm, speed, and a variety of musical genres. Music can bring together children and adults of all developmental levels and ages. Music supports many areas of our curriculum including giving children confidence in moving through space, gaining control over their bodies, and the ability to keep a steady beat. It exposes them to aspects of language such as rhymes and alliterations, and gives them opportunities to express themselves and build a strong sense of self. Music and movement activities support Bilateral Coordination which helps children use both sides of their body together. This coordination supports skills needed for reading and writing. We are so fortunate to have this special weekly music time in addition to the music and movement our classroom teachers are providing each day! 

#WOYC18 Wrap Up

Wow! We had a super fun week celebrating the National Week of the Young Child. The Week of the Young Child™ is an annual celebration hosted by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) celebrating early learning, young children, their teachers, and families. Each day had a different theme with plenty of fun to go around! Here is a picture review of our week:

Music Monday:

Tasty Tuesday:

Work Together Wednesday:

Artsy Thursday:

Family Friday:

#woyc18

Today begins the National Week of the Young Child 2018! This annual celebration is hosted by the National Associate for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Our classes have different activities planned for each day. Teachers will also be sending home some activity ideas for home, and informational articles from NAEYC. Check back at the end of the week to see pictures!

Music Monday

Tasty Tuesday

Work Together Wednesday

Artsy Thursday

Family Friday

Drumming

Our Zumba teacher, Ms. Michelle, is bringing drumming to the Barnes Early Childhood Center this summer. Drumming is a switch from our regular Zumba class but still incorporates music, movement and physical activity in a fun way! Using a bucket, a large exercise ball and drum sticks- children have the opportunity to follow a rhythmic routine, create a beat, and interact with music. We are excited to continue drumming throughout the summer.

Summer Break

It is hard to believe that summer is winding down. Our program will be closed August 31st-September 7th, so we can prep our classrooms for the new school year. We are looking forward to welcoming new friends on September 8th.

Summer has flown by! We had a blast sharing it with you!

Music and Movement

Ella Fitzgerald once said, "The only thing better than singing is more singing". We are about to be doing a lot more singing over at the GPPSS Child Development and Preschool Program!

Back in May, our program was awarded a grant from the Grosse Pointe Foundation for Public Education for the creation of Music and Movement Resource Kits. We have completed the process of ordering materials and assembling the kits! Each of the four kits consists of a classroom set of instruments, various dancing scarves, a puppet, and a large group material- such as a canopy or octa-band. Two of the kits contain instruments that are safe for infants and toddlers. In addition, we were able to create a lending library with books related to music, instruments and music concepts. These books will be available for teachers to check out and use in their classrooms as well. 

This week, our staff went through a training session to test out the new materials, share ideas and review information about the importance of music in the earliest years. Our teachers are now ready and equipped to begin using the Resource Kits in their classrooms. 

We are grateful that the Grosse Pointe Foundation for Public Education made this vision a reality for us. We are excited that everyone in our program, birth through age five, will be able to participate in music experiences!

A group of teachers test out the XL Stretchy Band

Practicing with an octa-band for large group movement

Welcome Jug Brothers!

We were so honored this morning to welcome live music from The Jug Brothers! Mr. Gordon and Mr. Glenn performed a musical set in each of our classrooms. It was hit with every age group- Infants through Pre-K! For some children, this was their first time hearing a live guitar and banjo. The brothers performed The Hokey Pokey, Twinkle Star, Itsy Bitsy Spider, The Chicken Dance, and many others!  Children were clapping, dancing and moving along to the beat. We truly value the experience of live music in our classrooms!

We want to send a warm thank you to the Jug Brothers for enriching our morning with the beauty of live music. Being able interact with, and incorporate movement to the songs, made our experience so much richer.You are welcome at our school any time!

Exciting News

We are excited to announce that our program has been awarded a grant from the Grosse Pointe Foundation for Public Education for the creation of Music and Movement Resource Kits. By enhancing our music and movement component, we can support development in the areas of social, emotional, physical, cognitive, language, and motor skills. Music supports many areas of our curriculum including giving children confidence in moving through space, gaining control over their bodies, and the ability to keep a steady beat. It exposes them to aspects of language such as rhymes and alliterations, and gives them opportunities to express themselves and build a strong sense of self.

Thank you to the GPFPE for all you do to strengthen our schools and our community! We will post updates as materials are purchased, assembled and explored by our children!