Kindermusik: Feathers ... and a busy B

Vocal play was the "call" of most of this term's Kindermusik lessons. Nice timing as B is also acquiring language - a gradual development process that includes listening, facial interaction, symbolic play, means-to-an-end behaviour, object permanence, imitation and vocal chord development.  Vocal play engages the vocal muscles intensely and is great preparation for expressive speech.  Exploration with sound also increases spatial reasoning, which is the ability to understand how things relate in space and time, to visualise the world accurately, to form mental images of physical objects, and to recognise variations of objects.

We were encouraged to keep up vocal play by exaggerating the shape of the mouth, using animated facial expressions and eye contact via mirrors and/or positioning yourself within his view.  In addition, we should sing often and invite him to accompany on instruments.  Kids actually start singing early by babbling, repeated words and fragments, and finally adding rhythmic features and pitch components.  Singing is enjoyable AND beneficial in both cognitive development (abstract conceptual thinking, verbal abilities, originality) and motor development, esp. coordination. Besides sounds, we did some symbolic play too with feathers, toy birds and paper "leaves" to teach that one thing can represent another, starting with familiar items.  This correlates to language acquisition in that a word represents an object. The first stage of symbolic play usually manifests from 6-8 months and becomes more sophisticated as they grow with imaginary and role play.  This time there were new syncopated swing and jazz song-and-dances!  "Sing a Song of Sixpence" (dig that groovy intermission!), "Gee, But It's Great to Meet a Friend" and "Once I Saw a Little Bird", "Hop To It" and "Duck Dance" which explored the tribal calls of the muskogean people and combines vocal play with singing in a fun way.  :D

Home library:

1. Feathers for lunch.  Lois Ehlert, Harcourt Brace and Jovanovich Co.  
2. Baby Steps. Claire Kopp, WH Freeman and CO.  
3. Singing Bee! A Collection of Favourite Children's Songs.  Compiled by Jane Hart with pictures by Anita Lobel, Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books. 
4. Trees, a poem. Harry Behn, illustrated by James Endicott, Henry Holt & Co.
5. CD. Brahms at Bedtime:  A Sleepy Serenade.

On a side note, I renewed B for one last term at Chengzhu Playnest and Kindermusik Village. We've thoroughly enjoyed these and mama's morning "right brain class" (plus books, numbers, phonics, music and outdoor activities where possible). But when he turns 18 months, we'll need to tweak his schedule (drop some, *maybe* add a few like drama or Montessori?) as he'll attend morning toddler group at Pat's Baby Haven and continue his weekly mom/buddy afternoon playdates.

He also had his MMRV booster shot yesterday. Thankfully there's only 2 more jabs till the next series at 10 years old. Pheew!  He's now 11.3 kg, 81 cm at 15.5 months, understands lots of words, vocalises some, learning to self feed (patience and mess are a challenge for me!), naps ~2 hours once a day, sleeps from 830p to 730a with occasional waking (argh), and works on his gross and fine motor skills every chance he gets.  What a busy boy!

Zoo-phonics makes ABCs fun

I'd been meaning to try both phonics as well as whole words with B, regardless of the ongoing debate. Besides daily reading, we started regular flash cards (real images, Doman style) with words spoken in English and Chinese after he turned one.  This has improved B's focus and vocabulary (or at least his comprehension since he's hardly a talking encyclopedia!).  However after several alphabet attempts, the latest being Dr Seuss's ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book, I realised B needed something more "whole brain" to connect the abstract letters with concrete words.  By chance, we stumbled upon Zoo-phonics when a friend passed us her son's used cards. I decided to give it a try after researching online and seeing this method adopted in Singapore (e.g. Growing Up Gifted includes it in their enrichment curriculum from infant to kindy).  If B remains interested after we run through all 26 lower case merged animal letters (!), I might get the full essential pack.  For now, here's what we're doing and why.

Zoo-phonics was developed in the mid 1980s by Charlene Wrighton and Gigi Bradshaw, two teachers in Northern California, who developed a strong phonics and physical component to enhance the existing whole language methods. Zoo-phonics introduces the alphabet as one thing with 26 parts via a multi-sensory approach involving the whole child, eyes, ears, mouth, mind and body. 

• Endearing animals as letter shapes (visual learning) - Shows animals in the shapes of lowercase letters before teaching the actual letters for easy remembering.  Lowercase letters are taught before capital letters as it's easier for a young child to form a lowercase letter and 95% of reading materials are in lowercase anyways.  In addition, when you flip the Animal Letter Cards around, a "bear" is always a bear but a "b" can easily be a "d" "p" or "q." 
• Sounds and songs (auditory learning) - Teaches sounds of the letters through the animal names ("a" as in Allie Alligator, etc.), and letter sounds are taught before letter names.  The sound of each letter comes through the initial sound of the animal name. 
• Hand and body motions, games and activities (kinesthetic learning) - Introduces a body signal to represents each animal letter, which in turn helps them lock in the learning.  Children decode letters (read) and encode letters (spell and write) all at once to songs and what looks like dancing, sucking the stress out of building phonemic awareness.   

For 1-2 year olds like B, Zoo-phonics is taught via music and movement, animals and nature, all which he truly enjoys.  According to them, parents can start as soon as your child is ready to sit for a few minutes and listen to a story.  Teach the individual letter shapes and sounds of the lowercase alphabet with the Animal Letter Cards and Body Movements, which will lay the foundation for all future reading, spelling and writing.  Show one Animal Letter Card at a time then reinforce all the letters you have taught previously with the fun games and activities.  Leave the Animal Cards where your child can find them easily and play with them daily!   

The elusive fourth

A week ago, my life turned upside down.  I thought I'd be ushering in the 2013 Year of the Snake with a happy "I'm pregnant!" announcement to family and friends, but ended up spending the first few days of Chinese New Year with intensifying cramps, spotting, clotting, bed rest and alas, a confirmed miscarriage. Our baby would have been 8 weeks now.  Physically, the pain and bleeding have passed but emotionally, it's been a rollercoaster ride to recovery.  It's hard to explain why such an early pregnancy loss can leave emotional scars.  Some days I do feel better but other days, it still hurts  - esp. when I meet others who "accidentally" conceived another baby when they didn't plan or necessarily want to.  That said, I'm thankful for the support of those who've gone through miscarriages/ still births and gone on to have healthy deliveries. I'll also revisit my obgyn this week to verify that a D&C procedure is not needed after this blighted ovum had passed (aka anembryonic pregnancy).  Last night at our rather bittersweet Valentines dinner, we reflected how this has made us appreciate B so much more and acknowledged the need for closure. We'll definitely try again when the time is right, approx. 3 months from now.  In a small way, there's some relief that I don't have to mind two kids under two... and there's less pressure for B to grow up into the big brother he will be one day.

I woke up in the wee hours this morning feeling a little down but was reminded of this song.  The joy of the Lord will be my strength!

I'm trading my sorrow

I'm trading my shame

I'm laying it down for the joy of the Lord

I'm trading my sickness

I'm trading my pain

I'm laying it down for the joy of the Lord

And we say yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord

Yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord

Yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord Amen

I'm pressed but not crushed persecuted not abandoned

Struck down but not destroyed

I'm blessed beyond the curse for his promise will endure

And his joy's gonna be my strength

Though sorrow may last for the night

His joy comes in the morning

Refining those fine motor skills

Now that B is walking and occasionally running more confidently, it's time to refocus on his fine motor skills.  I've noticed that boys tend to be slower than girls in this age group to master certain tasks... B expresses interest in doing these things, but when he’s stuck, he gets frustrated quite easily and just swipes or throws it away.  Perhaps we can incorporate more intentional fine motor skill practice throughout the day, either through daily routines or short “games." 

Some ideas:

1) Filling up, dumping out and scooping:

Prepare for this stage by setting up play areas and offering manageable activities. Taking blocks out of a large box, pegs out of a pegboard, toys out of a trunk, and sturdy puzzle pieces out of a puzzle. Once he has the "taking out" step down, it's time for the "putting in" step. Some of the above tasks can be reversed (although you may not be able to generate much enthusiasm for putting toys away) and will flex your child's visual and mental muscles as well as fine motor skills. For a follow-up, encourage your little one to try a more challenging feat, such as dropping "O" cereal bits or beans into a smaller container/with a slightly narrowed neck, or using a shape-sorter. This is the precursor to self feeding.  Use a deep, short spoon that easily fits in a tot's hand. Practice with yogurt, cereal or beans when there's time (and energy) to clean up.  Be prepared to help a little (or a lot....)

2) Dressing and undressing 

Putting things on and taking them off is a toddler delight.  Dressing and undressing — himself or a toy — provides a host of opportunities for him to practice his finger and hand coordination. Tiny doll clothes are too intricate but big capes or ponchos for his teddy bears, felt boards with people shapes and changeable outfits are perfect. Reusable stickers can also fascinate, though very small ones are tough for little fingers to manage. Provide a big box of dress-up clothes that are easy to manage — Dad's old coat and shoes, your old scarves, and hats galore. When it comes to dressing himself for the day, your toddler will do best with pants that have elastic waists, pull-on tops, and Velcro-fastening shoes to minimize morning struggles. Be sure to introduce new challenges — a single large button or a big snap — one at a time.

3) Drawing and scribbling

Sometime between the ages of 12 and 18 months, your toddler will probably attempt to "write" by making marks on paper or with crayons, and sometime between 18 and 24 months she may surprise you by drawing vertical and horizontal lines and perhaps a circle. Set up your budding artist with big sheets of thick paper taped to the table. Thick, sturdy crayons or washable pens in a few primary colors (so as not to overwhelm) are a good choice. Chunky sidewalk chalk to use outdoors, paper pinned to an easel instead of a flat surface, or soap crayons in the tub, finger-painting and printing (hand- and footprints, brush leaves, acorns, carrot-tops, or flower petals with paint to use as homemade stamps)

4) Stacking, sorting and stringing

From carefully balancing one block on top of another to placing colored rings on a pole, stacking (and knocking down, of course) is a toddler tradition. Let your child experiment with blocks of different sizes, shapes, and colors, and offer a variety of other materials for building and manipulating. Though ABCs and 1-2-3s games are a ways off, your toddler can sort refrigerator alphabet magnets by color or size or string beads with plastic snap-together beads. Once he’s mastered those, offer a thick shoelace and a piece of felt with holes cut in it or a sturdy string and big wooden beads, colored pasta shapes or fruit rings.

5) Poking and pinching

Toddlers are sensualists above all else — they love to smell, taste, and touch. Nontoxic modeling clay invites hand and finger movement as your child rolls, shapes, punches, and molds the material to her liking. A few simple tools, such as a lightweight rolling pin and some plastic cookie cutters, stretch this activity out longer. The softer the dough, the easier it is for small hands to shape. Real edible dough is, of course, the ultimate treat or “gak” - the gooey preschool favorite made from equal parts white glue (or flour, colored with food colouring) and water , which kids just love to squish and squeeze. If there's opportunity outside, a mud pie kitchen or a sandcastle construction zone creates opportunities to use those same manipulative skills.