This week will be fantastic fun with Relationships! We will be working with prepositions; on, under, through, etc using props, our body parts and each other. "Layered learner lingers longer." When we combine the language, with movement, music, and play together we are creating multiple memory pathways in the brain to recall the information later on. The key to learning is memory, and the key to memory is whole brain activities and secure attachments. I look forward to exploring Relationships with you this week.

This week we will be enjoying DIRECTIONS: Up & Down, Side to Side, Forward & Backward. We will have fun exploring the space around us moving in the 6 pure directions that mirror the neural pathways the brain uses to process information. Your baby's and child's whole brain is developing in class because we engage all of the sensory systems; sight, sound, movement and touch. It is wonderful to know that you are doing your child a world of good while they have fun in class.

This week we will be exploring Pathways and Body Shapes! What a great way to explore the space around us by finding the curvy, zig-zag and straight pathways we can move on. We will punctuate those pathways with the corresponding body shapes: curved, bent and straight shapes. A fun week to move our bodies at a gross motor level on the exact pathways used to write all the letters in the alphabet. When your baby or child becomes familiar with how these pathways feel, it is easier for them to develop their fine motor hand coordination.

This week it is all about Body Parts. Body parts come on-line sequentially during the early years of development starting with the mouth informing the hands and feet how to reach, grasp and release. All gross motor movement using the whole body precedes fine motor movement. As a child matures, the challenge becomes using body parts separately from one another. When we challenge them to use two hands differently or to just wiggle their fingers, the motor pathways in their brains become stronger. We will have fun finding all our body parts and shaking, wiggling, twisting and gluing them to props.

We will have fun exploring SPEED this week...fast, medium and slow. Discover how to rev up your muscles and then slow them down. Fun is awaiting with this high contrast dance concept that keeps the babies and children highly engaged and anticipating what will come next, fast or slow. The process of motor development requires placing a demand on the motor system to move in new and novel ways. The challenge will be moving slowly, great for refining motor coordination. The baby to three year old masters motor development as their first language because it is the foundation for learning. 80% of the brain is dedicated to processing sensory-motor experiences, only 20% is used for cognition. Taking the time to focus on your child's motor ski...

Concept of the Week: Self-space and General Space movement. We will explore many different ways the body can move in one place like turning, twisting, jumping, swinging and shaking and contrast that with moving through space. We will travel through the room galloping, sliding, running, and marching. We will play with props that we can use in one spot and take with us through the general space. This concept is foundational to dance and movement - the understanding of one's own personal space and relating to the space around us. Practicing movement in one spot improves self-control and listening skills and moving through general space helps us relate to others and successfully navigate the world around us. These basic skills underlie st...

To celebrate the season we are going to explore Relationships this week in class. We will find all kinds of props, body parts, and other friends to relate to using our prepositions - on, over, between, through, beside, near and far etc. Exploring these spatial relationships improves three dimensional thinking used by architects, sculpture artists, and engineers to name a few. Great fun and great developmental food for your baby or child's growing mind.

This week we will be exploring free and bound flow – the fun stuff! We will see what happens when we hug all our muscles to our bones and then let them go – like ice and water. This concept will lengthen your baby or child’s attention span due to its inherent contrast and it will refine how well their muscles fire – it is called motor grading. People that we think of as graceful have refined motor grading.

It is all about Size this week!

This week we get to have fun with body parts! We will move our many body parts and learning how to move them individually one from another. Not only does your baby or child build their motor skills from gross motor to fine motor, they become articulate movers and thinkers the more they practice moving individual body parts like wiggling fingers, shaking arms, bending elbows, wiggling toes, rolling shoulders and stomping feet. You are giving your little one a fabulous opportunity to expand their movement potential and when they see what is possible they are eager to learn and try new things. When you build their confidence with new motor skills you are creating a strong foundation for learning.