Beginning the Year
Old McDonald-Exploring Musical Concepts and Expression
An important rule for playing musical instruments is to learn the resting position. Controlling impulses is part of building self-regulation.
Benefits of Old McDonald:
Vocabulary Expression- The children learn the names of the different farm animals and the sounds that they make.
Verbal Expression- Singing along builds the children’s confidence in speaking and articulation.
Social Interaction- Singing in a group shows the children that everyone belongs and gives them the feeling of belonging, and helps the children to learn to listen to others
Counting and Sorting
Each child started with ten keys. I would then take a few away, and they each had to tell me how many keys they had left and how many I had taken. The children also got to play with the keys and sort them into different groups. The children sorted the keys into small, medium, and large groups and different color groups.
Fine Motor Skills
Our letter of the week is F. The children all learned how to write an F, the sound it makes, and different things that start with F, such as fish or frog. We had a fun activity where the children made an F out of Play-Doh. Making the letter out of Play-Doh helps to strengthen the muscles in the hand because the children had to pinch and roll out the dough. Building those muscles in the hands helps to strengthen their grip and writing.
