Animals A-Dancing

Animals A-Dancing
Play
hide-and-seek
with a pig
Dance with
Little Frog!
(p.6)
(p.10)
Music and learning:
A powerful connection
Music unlocks
the potential
in your
child
(p.2)
(p.3)
Stomp like an elephant
in your living room
(p.4)
Things to do at home!
(p.4)
This month’s learning focus:
ABC Music & Me
is more than just a music class—it’s a learning class. Research clearly
indicates the importance of music at a very early age, and ABC Music & Me has created a carefully planned program to enhance each child’s learning and growth during these important
early years.
When young children sing, play, move, and interact in their ABC Music & Me class, the
sounds, rhythms, and movements of the activities enhance their emotional, social, physical,
and cognitive growth. Inhibitions fall away, self-esteem grows, and social skills develop.
Through moving, dancing, and playing instruments, children also develop muscle control and
coordination.
Each ABC Music & Me lesson includes a strong literature component, encouraging the development of important skills such as listening, sequencing, anticipation, empathy, and early literacy.
ABC Music & Me helps children learn how to learn, and to have fun while they’re at it!
Every ABC Music & Me lesson contains a variety of activities designed to encourage many different kinds of learning:
• Greeting and Goodbye Rituals help children feel comfortable, individually recognized,
and ready for learning.
• Singing is a natural way for children to express their innate creativity and growing sense
of rhythm and melody.
• Vocal Play helps children develop expressiveness and confidence when speaking.
• Movement activities help children develop coordination and rhythm.
• Instrument Exploration and Play-Along helps children practice fine-motor skills and
experiment with sounds, rhythms, and steady beats.
• Storytime exposes children to new vocabulary and prepares them for reading.
• Focused Listening activities give children an opportunity to practice the skills of attention and careful listening.
Kindermusik® International is the world’s leading publisher of music
and movement curricula for parents and their children, ages newborn to 7 years old.
For more information, please visit our website at www.Kindermusik.com.
2
A new Family Guide and Home CD are included with each month’s unit of ABC Music & Me.
Look forward to more fun next month!
Parent Notes e e
This month’s learning focus:
ABC Music & Me™ LEARNING-AT-A-GLANCE
THIS MONTH’S
AREAS OF DEVELOPMENT
IN ABC MUSIC & ME,
YOUR CHILD . . .
IN ABC MUSIC & ME,
YOUR CHILD . . .
IN ABC MUSIC & ME,
YOUR CHILD . . .
Gross-motor development
Dancing, hopping, and other
large-muscle activities help a
child develop muscle coordination
and spatial awareness.
is becoming adept at walking
and running, and is perfecting
the ability to jump with both
feet.
is learning to gallop, hop, and
skip!
will move her body in a variety
of creative and active ways
while playing, dancing, rolling,
and hopping.
Fine-motor development
The small-muscle movements
involved in instrument playing
and sing-along motions help your
child develop dexterity and
sharpen his fine-motor skills.
is beginning to use his small
muscles for more detailed
activities, such as twisting caps,
playing with shapes, or coloring.
has a growing facility with
fine-motor activities requiring
small-muscle control and
precision.
will practice eye-hand
coordination and fine-motor
activities such as tapping,
gesturing, and playing
instruments.
Vocal development
The give and take of everyday
vocal play helps your child
experiment with pitches,
sounds, rhythms, and
vocal inflections.
imitates a wide variety of
sounds, and enjoys exploring
the many different sounds she
can make with her own voice.
is beginning to experiment
with different rhythms and
patterns in speech and music.
will have fun exploring the
amazing things voices can do,
while singing and imitating an
array of sounds.
Language development
Singing songs, playing musical
games, and hearing and telling
stories help children learn to
form words and phrases, speak
expressively, and imitate the
rhythms and vocal inflections of
their native languages.
is absorbing all the sounds and
language he hears in his surroundings, and has a rapidly
expanding vocabulary.
is talking more and more, sharing
his own experiences by using
sentences and small stories.
will practice emerging
literacy and language skills by
participating in songs, rhymes,
sounds, and stories.
“Froggy Went A-Dancing” is excerpted from Frog Went A-Dancing by Lissa Rovetch, Kindermusik International, Inc. © 2003.
3
Activities for you and your child
In ABC Music & Me™, your child will sing along to fun
and simple songs and rhymes with catchy tunes and
silly verses.
At home, you can play the Home CD and sing along
to the tunes you remember. Once you and your child
are familiar with some of the songs and rhymes, try
leaving a word or two out when you are singing,
and encourage your child to fill in the blanks.
In ABC Music & Me, your child
will hear Frog Went A-Dancing
read aloud, participate in the
animals’ dances, and anticipate what comes next in the
story (CD Tracks 6 and 7).
At home, you can read Frog
Went A-Dancing together, and
try out your own interpretation
of each animal’s “perfect dancing
song.” Then make up some
new animal dances: what if
Little Frog went to see his
friend Horse? Or how about
his friend Penguin?
In ABC Music & Me, your child
will listen to and imitate
recordings of real pigs grunting
(CD Track 11) and real adult
and baby elephants trumpeting
(CD Track 8).
At home, you can turn your
house into a barnyard (without the mess)! Play the ageold game of “What does the
(duck, horse, rooster) say?”
Have fun exploring variations
on animal sounds by trying
them loud, quiet, fast, slow,
high, and low.
In ABC Music & Me, your child will experiment with
several unique instruments, including one that sounds
a little like a frog croaking!
At home, you can make your own simple instruments
from cardboard tubes, water bottles, plastic cups, metal
spoons, corrugated cardboard, or anything else around
the house. You’ll be amazed how many different sounds
you can make with simple items. Be creative!
In ABC Music & Me, your child will play “This Little Piggy” on her fingers.
At home, you can listen to “This Little Piggy” on your Home CD
(Track 13), then make up your own little piggies! As you wiggle
each piggy (finger or toe), ask a question such as “What did this little
piggy eat for breakfast?” Then re-tell the piggy rhyme, incorporating
your child’s answers into the rhyme as you wiggle her piggies!
4
In ABC Music & Me, your child
will practice gestures and
small-motor motions that
coordinate with different
verses of songs and rhymes
such as “Leap, Frog!” (CD
Track 4) and “Roly Poly”
(CD Track 12).
At home, you can use the
Play-Along activity on p. 6–7
of the Family Guide to practice
fine-motor skills even more.
Three mama animals are playing
hide-and-seek with their
babies. Help your child use a
crayon to trace the correct
footprints to match each baby
animal with its mother. When
you’ve finished, there are even
more hidden items to find!
In ABC Music & Me, your child will add his own sound and motion ideas to
songs and dances such as “Morning Song” and “ABC Music & Me Hello.”
At home, you can listen to “Morning Song” (Track 2) or “ABC Music &
Me Hello” (Track 1) on your Home CD and then make up your own
verses and movements.
y in many different wa
ve my bod
ys.
o
m
n
a
Ic
My voice
can make many different sounds.
In ABC Music & Me, your child will leap like a frog, roll
like a pig, stomp like an elephant, and free-dance to
all kinds of songs and rhythms.
At home, you can free-dance in your living room! Pop
in “Old Joe Clark” (CD Track 15) or your favorite CD
and boogie!
In ABC Music & Me, your child will explore playing egg
shakers in different musical ways: fast, slow, high, low,
to a steady beat, etc. . . .
At home, you can play along to the songs on your
Home CD. Gather any instruments you have—or
make your own—and shake, tap, or jingle your way
through the tunes on CD Tracks 10 and 14.
5
Play-Along Activity
Hide-and-Seek!
Mama Frog, Mama Pig, and Mama Elephant
are playing hide-and-seek with their babies.
Can you help Little Frog, Little Pig, and Little Elephant
follow the correct footprints to find their mothers?
Use a crayon to trace the animals’ paths.
art by Jane Dippold
6
Did you find all the mama animals?
Now can you find 1 butterfly, 2 bumblebees,
3 dragonflies, 4 flowers, and 5 apples?
7
4
Writing
Mice Dancing
Fours are fun! Invite your child to count the mice
below. Next, introduce the number four. Have your
child trace the number with a finger, and then
color it in. Invite your child to trace the 4s, then
practice writing 4s on the lines.
4 4 4 4 4 __ __ __
8
art by Shirley Beckes
Listening
T
h
s
i
s
e
S
k
o
a
u
M
n
o
d?
h
W
Children can’t seem to resist animals and the noises they make. To play a
matching game, ask your child the questions below. Then, have your child
point to or circle the animal that makes the sound.
Who makes this sound: Ribbit, ribbit, croak, croak?
Who makes this sound: Ruff, ruff, ruff?
Who makes this sound: Oink, oink?
Who makes this sound: Squeak, squeak, squeak?
9
Read-Along Story
by Lissa Rovetch
illustrated by Holly Berry
Listen to Track 6 on your Home
CD to hear the story read aloud,
or invite your child to fill in the
missing words of the story as
read on Track 7.
10
In ABC Music & Me™, children will be dancing
like elephants—stomping their feet and
swinging their trunks. Try some elephant
dancing together at home as you listen to
“The Elephant Stomp,” Track 9 on your
Home CD!
11
12
You can hear real pigs
grunting on Track 11 of
your Home CD. Try
imitating those noises as
you roll and twirl in a
creative pig dance while
playing “Water Come a
Me Eye” (Track 16).
13
14
Insert a popsicle stick into half a
ripe banana, wrap in foil, and
freeze for a cool banana snack
Monkey would love! Your child
will too!
15
16
Dance together to Little
Frog’s new dancing song or
make one up that’s just for
you and your child. Try
Tracks 3, 10, or 14. Be
sure to end with a hug!
17
Speaking
Would You Kiss a Frog?
Listen to CD Track 5 (Frog Kiss)
with your child. Practice saying the poem together several times.
Frog Kiss
Frog kiss, frog kiss, such a special thing.
For when you kiss a froggy’s nose,
the frog will start to sing.
Ribbit, ribbit.
Croak, croak.
Kou-ack-ack-ack!
art by Shirley Beckes
Invite your child to draw a picture of a frog that someone kissed. Next, engage
your child in a conversation about kissing a frog. You might ask: Would you
ever kiss a frog? Why or why not? What do you think would happen if you did?
18
#
cut along dotted lines
To make a book, cut along the dotted lines, then
crease the paper along the solid lines. Next, fold
the page in half lengthwise. Finish by folding the
horizontal lines accordion-style. Page 1 should be
the front cover, and page 6 the back cover. Time
to read!
2
My Little
P is for pig.
How does P sound?
Puh, puh, puh.
cut along dotted lines
#
P
Book
1
#
Name ___________
cut along dotted lines
P is for panda.
Panda starts with P.
3
Try singing Roly Poly (CD Track 12) with lots of
Ps—sing “poly poly” instead of “roly poly”!
4
P is for puppy.
How many P’s are
in puppy?
5
cut along dotted lines
P is for parrot.
Where is the P in parrot?
#
P is for penguin.
Point to the P in penguin.
6
cut along dotted lines
#
My Little P Book
Reading
ABC Music & Me is a program created by the folks at
Kindermusik who have been teaching award-winning
classes for parents and children for over 30 years.
ABC Music & Me is proud to be helping children,
teachers, and families build listening and early literacy
skills through music, storytime, and movement activities!
Manufactured by MidAtlantic Printers
Altavista, VA USA
April 28, 2010
18881/73365
To learn more visit us at:
www.abcmusicandme.com
Reading, writing, listening, and speaking activities created by Simone T. Ribke.
The ABC Music & Me™ Family Guide is published by Kindermusik® International, P.O. Box 26575, Greensboro, NC 27214.
Published as the Family Guide to the Animals A-Dancing unit, part of the ABC Music & Me™ program. Copyright 2008, 2004 Kindermusik® International.
All rights reserved, including right of reproduction in whole or in part, in any form. Printed in the United States of America.