Classes CANCELLED Monday 2/28/11

Due to the tornado watch and impending storms that are due in the Rome area this afternoon,

Kindermusik classes are CANCELLED

for the evening of February 28.

Kathryn & Kay's classes will be made up at a later date.

Sleep...is it important?

If you have children, you are probably not getting enough sleep. You stay up late to pay the bills, do the laundry, or have adult time with your spouse. Even if you get to bed at a reasonable hour, your sleep is possibly interrupted by a child.

In her book, Different Learners, Jane M. Healy devotes several pages to discuss the importance of sleep. Though her comments are aimed at how lack of sleep affects children, I believe it also applies to adults. Here are some of the facts on sleep:

• The brain is the first casualty when you aren't getting enough sleep.
• Lack of sleep affects learning, memory, mood and attention problems.
• It affects cognitive/emotional functioning.
• Sleep restores mental energy that children use in school & adults need for work
• A well rested student/adult has more brain power
• Adequate sleep sharpens psycho-motor skills & coordination (e.g., athletics, handwriting, driving ability)

As a pianist it is a waste of time if I try to learn new music or practice when I am tired. My body needs to rest, and so does my brain. With proper sleep, my practice time becomes productive.

And on that note, I'm going to bed!

Whatever the Weather!

The forecast calls for snow tonight & early tomorrow morning. Remember, if the Floyd County Schools are closed DUE to inclement weather, then Kindermusik will not meet.

HOWEVER, if the schools go in late...come on to class. ALSO, afternoon classes will meet IF the roads allow it...even if schools are closed for the whole day. It's supposed to warm up, so chances are the roads will be fine tomorrow afternoon.

I will send an email & leave a message on the office phone 706-233-4091. So check those if you are UNSURE.

What about the week we missed at the beginning of the semester? We will add a week to the end of the semester, so that all 15 weeks will be offered. If we miss another class on Thursday due to weather, we'll make that up too.

Blessed are the flexible. We can't change the weather!

Children at Play

A child's work is to play. What do children need to accomplish their work? According to Jane M. Healy in her book, Different Learners, all that is needed is good imagination. "Children whose imaginations are alive don't even need toys - they can create a game out of whatever materials happen to be at hand or out of ideas alone." (p. 341) According to Albert Einstein, "imagination is more important than knowledge."

My daughter, Carrie, is one of those kids who could play with dirt. She could entertain herself for hours with only her thoughts. As a teenager, that can mean extra time in the bathroom as she does her hair in a variety of styles! When my children were young, I was told that you could give them a box and that would be just as good as the toy inside. Dr. Healy has this to say about toys, "a good toy is 90 percent child and 10% toy, but children's play today has those percentages reversed." (p. 341)

What do children learn through their play? They learn to interact with others, to recognize and solve problems, and to feel the sense of mastery that results. Today's children have games and sports galore, but they are structured and have adult imposed rules. They need to explore on their own. Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods has a prescription for play. "Take your kids outside to walk on grass, not pavements, see the sky, inhale brain-restoring oxygen, soak up natural hormones stimulated by sunlight and roam freely in the natural world." Children seem to gain the most positive benefits from nature when they are permitted to explore and enjoy according to their own inclinations - not under the rule-based adult structure imposed on, for example, a soccer field.

In Kindermusik we are always asking the children for their ideas. We listen to sounds from the city: cars honking & sirens, then we give the children a paper plate or a hoop. They take the prop, and decide how to incorporate it into their play. The object is no long the major focus, but taking the object into play in which meanings and goals are assigned by him. Through these type of experiences the children discover that every object has unlimited possibilities, and their imagination stretched to new limits. A child's work becomes play when their imaginations are engaged