Just wanted to take some time to address a few of the questions that were asked following my recent post about Circle Time.
Mary wrote:
"What do you do if you have toddlers mixed in with older children? How do you plan songs for differing ages?"
That is a great question. My oldest son (11) does independent table work while the rest of the children (8, 4, 2) do circle time. I try to include some traditional nursery rhymes for the littles, some songs with hand motions and some livelier, patriotic tunes for my eight year old. Anything involving marching or military seems to be a hit for boys. :) The girls current favorite is A Ram Sam Sam. Here is a video clip from UTube, though we don't do the "Olha a Onda" part, but rather sing the "A Rafi" version.
Michele wrote:
"What music sites or sources do you use to choose the songs and, fingerplays?"
Two of my favorite songbooks are Rise Up Singing and American Folk Songs for Children. Both are dog eared books that I have used since my oldest was a baby. We have never done a formal Circle Time prior to this past fall but I have sung to my children since they were tiny, especially in the car.
The Rise Up Singing book has a myriad of songs by topic, plus guitar chords for those of you who play. The book is spiral bound, which I love. There are a few songs in it that I would never sing to my children but the good far outweighs the bad.
Also, American Folk Songs for Children comes in compact disc form. It is a two disc set which contains most of the noteworthy songs every child should know. Mike and Peggy Seeger have VERY DISTINCT voices, great for folk music. Most people either love them or hate them. I would really encourage you to listen on the Amazon page before purchasing the set, just to make sure you like their voices. (My husband can't stand them.)
I would encourage anyone who is tempted to just play the songs for their children from a CD player NOT to do it. Play them for yourself so you can learn them but sing them to your children. Your kids don't care if you are not the best singer. They love you and want to have fun with you!
I love to teach the children folk music because it is so richly steeped in our country's history. So many of the songs were passed on from generation to generation, sung on the prairies, the cattle ranges, and the battlefields of our country.
I also use the patriotic songs from Wee Sing America. There is an accompanying CD that I can't seem to find on Amazon right now....
Jennifer wrote:
"LOL!! I tried it Rebecca. Now you said that the children wouldn't mind
my singing voice, but when we began The Itsy-Bitsy Spider, my three
year old son curled up in a ball on the floor and began to sob. What
did I do wrong??? :) Too funny"
I smiled when I read this because Mary Kathryn put up quite a fuss the first few days that we did circle time. In our case, it was that she was not accustomed to having a lot of fun and personal attention in the morning. I think the structure and stimulation was a little emotionally overwhelming to her. After a few days, she began to ask for circle time but initially, she was very disruptive. (I really doubt it has anything to do with your singing voice! :) ) My guess is either the overwhelming interaction of it all or that your son is afraid of spiders. LOL!
It is helpful when doing circle time with little ones to arrange the songs in such a way that there are quieter songs in between the large motion, louder ones. That seems to help the children to settle and calm down after much excitement.
Above all else, don't give up! Little ones really thrive on routine and circle time is a gentle way to introduce a morning rhythm.
I hope I did not forget anyone's question. If I did, feel free to resend it again.
Have a great day!
