5 Benefits of Play for Children

Benefits of Play for ChildrenI think play is an expression of our creativity; and creativity, I believe, is at the very root of our ability to learn, to cope, and to become whatever we may be.  To me, play is the process of finding new combinations for known things – combinations that may yield new forms of expression, new inventions, new discoveries, and new situations.
Fred Rogers, 1993

We couldn’t agree more, Mister Rogers! That’s why play is such an important part of the Kindermusik experience, both in class – where we explore instruments, use our imaginations, enjoy pretend play, and even play games – and at home – where Kindermusik@Home learning resources and educational activities for kids inspire all kinds of together-time play.

Play is so much more than just the proverbial fun and games. Play is a natural activity for children. The child at play is self-motivated and actively engaged. Whereas games are governed by rules, the value of play is that it provides freedom from evaluation and judgment. The freedom of a playful atmosphere fosters intellectual development as well as self-construction and the development of personality.

In short summary, play is:

  1. how children learn
  2. one of the first steps toward social interaction
  3. a means for children to develop self-motivation
  4. one essential that helps accelerate a child’s cognitive development (Dr. Carla Hannaford, author of Smart Moves: Why Learning is Not All in Your Head)
  5. a great way for adults and children to bond

Kindermusik - Where Music and Learning Play

Shared by Theresa Case, whose Kindermusik program at Piano Central Studios in Greenville, SC, is proudly among the top 1% of Kindermusik programs worldwide.

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4 ways Kindermusik@Home protects the environment for kids

Kindermusik@HomeLong before Kermit the Frog sang, “It’s not easy being green,” Chief Seattle spoke about the importance of sustainability for kids. He said, “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors. We borrow it from our children.” At Kindermusik, we take those words and our role as educators and protectors of the environment for kids seriously. It’s one of the reasons we introduced Kindermusik@Home in 2012. With these educational activities for kids, families participate in age-appropriate digital learning, such as reading eBooks, virtual fieldtrips, and music downloads, that connects the classroom with a family’s daily routines and rituals while also supporting Kindermusik International’s commitment to sustainability.

4 ways Kindermusik@Home helps protect the environment for kids

  1. Kindermusik@Home eliminates the printing and shipping costs of traditional books, CDs, instruments, and packaging.
  2. Virtual fieldtrips introduce children to new ideas, places, animals, and people without using carbon fuels to travel long distances or possibly disturbing fragile ecosystems. On a virtual fieldtrip, families may visit the studio of a drum maker in Chicago, go on a bird walk to see and hear birds from around the world, or even experience a carnival (without the long lines!).
  3. Digital eBooks provide children and families with the same educational benefits of print books while saving nearly 5 million (and growing!) sheets of paper each year.
  4. Parents discover creative ways to re-use items normally reserved for the recycle or trash bin to create instruments, parade crafts, a train, and more. These fun and practical ideas spark imaginations and turn “trash” into a beloved treasure.

To learn more about enrolling in a Kindermusik class and receiving access to Kindermusik@Home, contact a local educator and 
Find a Kindermusik Class Near You.

Schools, preschools, and childcare centers can also benefit from Kindermusik@Home. To learn more about bringing our digital early learning curriculum into your classroom while also increasing parental involvement, email us at info@abcmusicandme.com

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Using eBooks with ELL students to aid reading comprehension

Today’s children live in an increasingly digital and global society. These digital natives can intuitively navigate around a smart phone, tablet computer, or iPad. As early childhood educators and curricula creators, we closely evaluate how established and emerging technologies can be used in an age-appropriate manner that supports how a child learns best. More and more research continues to emerge about digital learning, including a new study about reading comprehension and eBooks.

How eBooks measure up on reading comprehension

Using eBooks with childrenAs published in the Applied Cognitive Psychology journal, researchers assessed the impact of technology on reading comprehension. Under the leadership of Dr. Sara Margolin, the research team split the 90 participants with an average age of 19 into three groups to read 10 passages. One third read the passages on paper, one third read on a Kindle eReader, and one third viewed the passages on a PDF-reader via computer. The passages contained an equal number of non-fiction and fiction excerpts. After reading each passage, participants answered comprehension questions. The research team found no difference in comprehension scores across all three platforms.

English Language Learners and eBooks

While the students in this study were not ELL students, reading comprehension remains a key focus for teaching English to children. As mentioned in a previous blog, “5 Ways to Support English Language Learners,” the number of young ELL students in the United States continues to rise. However, teaching English to children extends beyond the United States as more and more parents understand how teaching a young child a second (or third!) language can help prepare a child for future success.

With ABC English & Me, we use music and movement to teach English to speakers of other languages that meets the TESOL curriculum standards for Pre-K. This beginners program for English Language Learners combines Kindermusik’s decades of experience in early childhood education with the latest research on learning a foreign language. Plus, with Kindermusik@Home, children and parents get the added benefit of using technology, including eBooks and music downloads, in age-appropriate and fun ways that engage the whole family.

Get more info on teaching English to children around the world with Kindermusik and ABC English & Me.

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3 Advantages of Kindermusik@Home

Kindermusik@HomeYou might have heard the exciting news – there’s something new at Kindermusik. But not only is there a brand-new curricula with fresh and delightful themes, there is also a whole new kind of home materials to complement those themes and extend the classroom experience in a whole new way.

Introducing… Kindermusik@Home!

Advantage #1: More educational activities for kids to enjoy

The new curricula introduce a new theme every four lessons, and with every new theme comes another set of learning activities and parenting resources, automatically delivered to you.

Advantage #2: With you wherever you (or your device!) are

Kindermusik@Home - Online Learning Games for KidsAs long as you have your phone, your tablet, or your computer, you have your Kindermusik@Home with all of the activities, resources, play ideas, and music at your fingertips.

Whether you’re at home, or on-the-go, you and your kids can enjoy fun and educational activities, any time or day of the week!

Advantage #3: Yours for always and forever

The longer you’re enrolled in Kindermusik, the larger your library of Kindermusik@Home learning games and educational activities for kids becomes. And that library will always be available to you, even if you are no longer enrolled in Kindermusik classes.

There’s no better gift you can give your child than Kindermusik, especially when it includes all of the advantages of Kindermusik@Home!

Shared by Theresa Case, whose Kindermusik program at Piano Central Studios in Greenville, SC, is proudly among the top 1% of Kindermusik programs worldwide.

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4 Surprising Ways Your Child Benefits from a Variety of Music

Kindermusik is dedicated to bringing you and your child a variety of music. See how this type of exposure to musical learning expands your child’s development of 4 essential, surprisingly, non-musical skills.

Benefits Of Music for Children

Greater language proficiency

Just as you read a variety of books to expand your child’s vocabulary, exposure to a wide variety of music and sounds expands your child’s “ear vocabulary.” High quality musical recordings and real instruments help your child “fine tune” her ear to recognize and imitate the sounds that make up words and language.

Spatial awareness

When a child listens to music, her mind perceives the sound in multi-dimensional ways. The sound is loud or soft, fast or slow, it moves up and down, or left to right. Eventually, she’ll use that “awareness of space” to work with her body when she walks through the living room and tries not to hit the coffee table. Much later, this same awareness is necessary skill for learning how to get around things, jump, run, and move in zig-zag ways.

Temporal reasoning

You hear this skill in action when a preschooler tells a story. He starts with his own experience and then moves to some imagined place with a princess or a superhero then goes back to something real again. Music does the same thing. It goes back and forth between established places (the chorus) and to new places that take you somewhere else (the verse). The ability to go back and forth from something established to something imagined comes from temporal reasoning, a skill used in music writing, storytelling, and problem solving.

Emotional intelligence

With exposure to a greater variety of musical styles—like jazz, folk, or classical, this increased exposure to music increases a child’s awareness and understanding of different moods and emotions.

So there you have it – at least four reasons why we make the claim that Kindermusik is so much more than just music.  But we’ll not only help your child become a better learner, we’ll also deliver a classroom experience that inspires a lifelong love for music and gives you tips, ideas, and tools like Kindermusik@Home, resources for parents and educational activities for kids with music downloads that make great parenting just a little bit easier.

Edited and revised by Theresa Case, whose Kindermusik program at Piano Central Studios in Greenville, SC, is proudly among the top 1% of Kindermusik programs worldwide.

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