Introduction
Kindermusik activities provide a foundation for all learning and development: physical, emotional, cognitive, social, language and, of course, musical development. In baby classes, the Kindermusik educator creates a musical environment that invites a developing musical disposition but, most importantly, nurtures the baby’s total development and the baby/caregiver interaction.
These last two items, nurturing the baby’s total development and fostering a warm and supporting baby/caregiver interaction, are central to our mission. To successfully achieve this, it is necessary for the educator to understand how babies learn and develop.
Babies, even more than toddlers and preschoolers, learn through an intertwining, integrated manner. Understanding the specific nature of how babies learn will facilitate the educator’s teaching, which focuses on communication of this information about Baby’s development to the parents. To see these characteristics in action, let’s follow a set of Kindermusik twins, Matthew and Emma, as they develop and grow through these three stages.
2 The Kindermusik Twins
Meet Matthew and Emma, the Kindermusik Twins!
Matthew and Emma as Lap Babies and Crawlers, newborn – 1 year
As infants, Matthew and Emma are learning to adjust to their strange new world. They explore this world mostly with their eyes, but will turn their entire head in the direction of a new sound. They love to hear Mom’s voice as she sings to them, listening with rapt attention; and at 3 months, Emma occasionally coos along! In this body-oriented learning phase, they learn to support their head, roll over and, finally, sit upright all by themselves. Mom tells anybody who will listen that Matthew smiled at her when he was just three weeks old. Even though it was probably a reflexive smile, it doesn’t take long for both of them to smile consistently at familiar people in their lives. Dad feels so proud that they remember his face! What smart kids! At 5 months Emma starts to make a fuss when he leaves the room, as if she were afraid or angry.
When the twins cry, both Mom and Dad find it hard to figure out just why they are crying. At first it seemed they were in such distress; but as they approach 6 months, Mom is sure they are sometimes just plain bored. Are they hungry? Matthew seems to be able to anticipate being fed, because he stops crying when he sees Dad with the bottle. As Emma tries to crawl she becomes very frustrated and cries at her lack of success. And then there’s the whining to be picked up and held!
In Kindermusik class, Emma especially loves the vocal play activities. She clicks her tongue and smacks her lips, gurgles and giggles with mom. It is so much fun to see her express her pleasure with her whole body. When she was younger she was content to sit and absorb all the sound and motion without much expression. She always calms right down during rocking time when the lullaby is played.
At 6 months, Matthew is very serious about picking up the egg shaker and dropping it. It was an accident at first, but now he tries it over and over again. He discovered it makes a rattling sound when he drops it as well. They both greet Miss Debbie, the teacher, with their own special sounds; and just last week on their six-month birthday, they started swaying to the music when they saw the other moms and babies moving.
Emma is the first to crawl, with Matthew following almost four weeks later. She always wants to be on the move, while he is content to sit on a blanket surrounded by toys within easy grasp. He explores the toys with his hands and mouth. One day, Mom came in to get them after their nap and found Matthew repeatedly kicking the crib mobile with his feet to make it move, while Emma was standing up at the crib rail with a big grin on her face! What an accomplishment! Matthew will intentionally shake and bang things, perhaps trying to figure out why they work. His favorite game is when Dad hides a toy from him. He loves discovering that it’s still there! Emma especially likes books and peers intently at the pictures. Their minds are continually working!
Although they love toys, they seem equally delighted to play with their own hands, feet and toes. Matthew’s favorite toy is a small red fire truck, and Emma will not part with the well-worn stuffed bunny she got at 10 months old. They are very attached to Mom and Dad and are increasingly wary in unfamiliar situations, though Grandma is pleased that they still seem to like her. When Emma had to be stopped from eating the dirt in the planter with a firm NO, Mom was surprised (and secretly amused) to see a huge frown appear on her face! In fact, Emma lets her know in no uncertain terms what she likes and dislikes. She pushes the green beans off the high chair tray and reaches for Dad’s chicken sandwich, crying for “Da-da, Da-da!” the whole time.
In Kindermusik class, Miss Debbie has noticed that Matthew really enjoys the simple rhyme activities. He loves moving to the music and is fascinated with the ipod dock as the source of beautiful sounds. Emma is so serious about her babbling. It almost sounds like she is talking in real sentences! Mom is sure the babbles and crooning will turn into singing at any moment. Matthew was the one who spoke the first word, however. He cried out “Ba!” when Miss Debbie brought out the chime balls.
3 Developmentally Appropriate Class Practice
Domains of Development in Class
Physical
- Starting to support the head
- Rolling over to sitting upright
- Beginning to crawl and after a while pulling up to stand
- Exploring with eyes at first, then with hands and mouth
- Turning head to orient in the direction of sound
What this means in class: Parents will be doing much of the actual physical moving of their child, from moving their arms and legs in rhythm to the music to carrying them as they dance with the class. A lap baby will be mostly observing what is going on around them in class and only begins to be expressive as they mature. Parents will want to be reassured that this is normal development for their baby.
Emotional Icon Emotional
- Moves from distress crying to crying when bored
- Can be frustrated and can frown when dislikes something
- Demonstrates pleasure by gurgling and smiling with their entire body
- Seeks comfort of others when anxious or afraid
What this means in class: Although many new educators worry that their youngest class will have nothing but babies crying all the time, this actually rarely happens. The music and the movement and the activity in the room engage the baby and when she feels secure, she will be content to participate as is natural for her developmental stage. Babies that are brand new to Kindermusik may be a little unsettled in their first few classes, but when they understand what class is all about, their comfort level will increase and they will be smiling and gurgling away!
Cognitive
- Remembers faces and situations
- Anticipates
- Begins to experience cause and effect by dropping objects or shaking them
- Repeats play sequences with a variety of objects
- Peers intently at pictures
What this means in class: As parents participate with their baby doing Kindermusik activities at home, and as babies learn to understand what is going to happen in class so they feel secure and not anxious, they will begin to anticipate certain types of activities and people and light up with delight when it’s time for class to start. A good portion of class will be spent in allowing the babies and caregivers to explore objects, as important learning takes place while they play. It’s not all about moving quickly from one activity to another. Babies can happily repeat something they enjoy for a long time. Learning is most obviously evident in a baby class!
Language
- Listens with rapt attention and tracks sounds from side to side
- Begins to coo at about 3 months of age and makes tongue clicks and smacking sounds
- Moves into babbling and forming their first words like ‘dada’ and ‘mama’ and ‘ba’, although ‘talking’ will not come until later
- As they mature, they can associate a word with an object and babbling takes on vocal inflections that imitate the sound of a sentence
What this means in class: Parents will need to be primed to engage in silly vocal play activities with their baby in class. Repeating syllables and making clicking and smacking sounds might be uncomfortable for grown-ups at first, but as you explain the language benefits and the normal stages of language development for their baby, they will be happy to join right in. They will also need to be reassured that if their baby just observes and does not yet respond, they are still learning.
Social
- Moves from a reflexive smile to a social smile when they see familiar people
- Begins to fuss when people they love leave and will display increased wariness to unfamiliar people and situations
- Evidences preferences toward gender based toys and wants to be like parents
What this means in class: Babies are extremely social and will adore being in a group situation with other babies and moms once the class becomes familiar to them. They will light up as the fly towards the middle of a circle of other moms and babies and will delight in watching other friends as they move around the room safely in mom's arms.
Musical
- Responds and reacts physically to music and rhymes and appears to be calmed by lullabies
- Recognizes familiar voices and begins to join the group in swaying to music
- Looks to the sound source and babbles expressively, possibly cooing or ‘singing’ along
- Shakes an instrument to produce a sound
What this means in class: Babies are inherently musical! Do not underestimate their ability to respond wholeheartedly to what is happening in class, from rhythmic movements to singing and instrument playing. The steady beat they heard for 9 months in their