Sun Moon & Stars: Why We Teach Patterns

What makes Sound Beginnings special? One feature is our introduction of a handful of specific academic concepts  each semester. Here in the Gold Stars semester, one topic you'll see taught is patterning.

Why Teach Patterns?
A child who understands and looks for patterns has a door opened to understanding myriad concepts in life. Patterns help us predict and connect what is happening in our world, so a child that masters patterns is quick to apply the patterning skills to lots of topics. Patterns surround us! We have:

Literary Patterns: The gingerbread man meets a cow and runs away, then meets a horse and runs away, then meets a dog and...?  Your child can guess that he runs away! Children delight in the repetition with variation that arises in repetitive stories. Patterns are a strong narrative and literary tool.

Learning to look for patterns in stories and narratives is also how we draw connections between what we see in life and literature.  The stories we read to our children can help them understand their lives if they are able to draw the connection. Stories follow sequences that likely show up in our children's lives.

At Home: While reading stories, pause to ask your child if he can guess what will happen next.  When things happen in real life, connect it to how storybook characters solved problems.  "Do you remember in the book we read, when Lilly couldn't take her plastic purse to school?  Is that how you feel because you can't bring your bear to preschool today?" 

Children learn that storybook experiences and family narratives might follow patterns that show up in their own lives. This recognition helps children learn empathy and problem-solving. "Mommy is tired because she went on a long run. I get tired when I play a lot, too. I know how she feels."

By the way, here is a fun singing version of The Gingerbread Man for you and your youngster to enjoy. In this version the gingerbread man gets away safely. I always love turning a book into a singable story.


 
Word Patterns: As children begin to read, looking for patterns within word families help them quickly draw conclusions about how letters work. Teach your child to read AT, and he'll quickly be ready for CAT, SAT, BAT, HAT and MAT. Rhyming is definitely a fun and delightful version of patterning that you can play with at home.  At Home: Pick an easy-to-rhyme word, and see how many rhymes you and your child can think up for it. I love playing this game in the car with youngsters- we're always looking for a new car game.

Calendar Patterns: We wake up each morning, eat lunch, go on adventures, and come home for bedtime. Children learn and find comfort in the daily repetitive patterns; they are empowered by their ability to conclude what comes next in the pattern.  At Home: Talk to your child about what you do each day, and allow him to notice the daily, weekly, and monthly patterns. "We woke up and had breakfast, and then we went to the library, so what comes next? That's right, lunchtime." Create a chart of daily activities or weekly activities to help him recognize the patterns that emerge. "It's Tuesday! That means it's music day." Here are some free printables to help you make a daily agenda for your tot.

Math Patterns: I have heard one kindergarten teacher say that a child who thinks in terms of patterns is thinking mathematically! Math is dictated by patterns; an obvious first being just counting to 100!  We add up to 9 in the units place, then we add one in the tens place, then we add up to 9 in the units place again, repeat, repeat.  Students who "get" patterns and find them naturally are quick to notice the patterns in multiplication tables and understand how numbers work together.  At Home: Use your counting charts from SB class, or even print out an entire 100 chart for your child to count along with. Talk about the patterns you notice. I always had such fun with this that I even taught my preschoolers to skip count by 5s from looking at a chart and learning the pattern.

Speech Patterns: Did you know that simply repeating a spoken sentence a number of times shifts the listeners attention to the pitch and temporal aspects of the sound, so the repeated spoken language actually begins to sound like it is begin sung?

Our young children are subconsciously learning the speech patterns of their native language, and the more exposure, the better! Repeating your phrases a few times can give children more chances to recognize and hone in on what they are hearing.  At Home: Try repeating phrases 3-4 times for your child. Do you notice a sing-song quality start to emerge? Chances are, your toddler will be more likely to echo you and repeat the phrase after having a few chances to pick up on the patterns.

"Put your shoes on, then your coat."
"Put your shoes on, then your coat."
"Put your shoes on, then your coat." 
 

Musical Patterns: This TED talk explains why patterns are so natural in music: "Musical repetition is deeply compelling. Repetition connects each bit of music irresistably to the next bit. When you hear a few notes, you are already imagining what's coming next. Your mind is unconsciously singing along. Without noticing, you might start humming out loud."


"Repetition invites us into music as active participants." When we study classical music in SB class, the children listen to each phrase and anticipate what comes next. They dance along by engaging in the music and recognizing the patterns.

Years later, when your child is in the Orange Roots semester of Let's Play Music, she'll compose her own brand-new song! By then she will have examined the form of 12- 18 classical songs. She'll notice the repetition and patterns that themes create as part of the format, and she'll incorporate the structures into her own writing.  It's three years away, but we get her started now in Sound Beginnings noticing patterns in music!

At Home: Sing some songs from SB to your child, but pause dramatically- does she know what comes next? Can she fill in the next phrase? This fun musical game helps her audiate the song (hear it in her mind) and decide what comes next!

Patterns Cards
In your Gold Stars workbook you will get a set of 21 cards with stars, moons, and suns.  If your cards accidentally get chewed up (it happens!) your teacher can help you print another set.  Help your child get out the cards and arrange them into increasingly difficult patterns.

What Comes Next? The simplest game uses only two cards in a repeating pattern.  Lay out some cards and ask, "What comes next!?" Your preschooler will be delighted to finish the pattern. 

If you lay out 4-5 cards and he just stares at you, READ the cards to him. "Star, Moon, Star, Moon, Star....?"  HEARING the sing-song quality that develops in your voice from repeating the pattern 2-3 times helps him get it in his ear, so he can continue to sing it on his own. Be sure to mix it up and use different cards sometimes.

Level Two: You can add a third card to the pattern and ask, "what comes next?".  "Star, Moon, Sun, Star, Moon, Sun, Star...?" If your child is getting good at this, don't read it out loud to her.  She probably will say it out loud to herself to get the sound of the pattern into her ear. The tough trick is figuring out where the cycle ends. Is this a star-moon-sun-star pattern, or a star-moon-sun pattern? When you sing the pattern, you'll probably naturally pause after sun and help her know where the pattern ends.

Level Three:  So far each character shows up once per cycle.  Try adding two or more per cycle. This is a new idea that might seem tricky or easy for your tot.

 
Around Town
Now that your child is having fun with patterns, be sure to notice patterns around town.  Every traffic light has a pattern of three colors-do you know it? Double check next time you drive to music class!

When you go to music class, you might notice a pattern: "that child has a mom, and that child has a mom..."

At dinnertime, you can make a pattern with dishes: plate, fork, plate, fork....  In the playroom you can make patterns with toys: bear, doll, car, bear, doll, car.  

My all-time favorite toy to play patterns with has always been Lego Duplo blocks.  I put a few together and the kids continue the pattern.  You can get more ideas online for using Duplos for patterns math. These pattern cards show a picture of a lego pattern, and your child tries to create a matching real-life structure.  

I hope you have some ideas for finding patterns in real life and helping your child start to notice them everywhere.  She'll benefit in lots of ways from the experience! 

What Makes Sound Beginnings Different?

We know you have choices for your children: what they'll wear, what they'll eat, who they'll spend time with, and what type of education they'll have. The choices are many, but we can help you with one choice today: is Sound Beginnings the right preschool music class for your family?  You want to know: how is Sound Beginnings different from other programs out there?

When to Start Music Class?

Much as for learning a language, early exposure catches youngsters during a critical time when they are sensitive and responsive. Babies and toddlers are primed to distinguish pitches and melodies in music and language; hearing them early sets the child up for success speaking the native tongue and success as a musician. Just as every child holds the potential to be fluent in her native tongue, every child is born with the potential to learn to perform and understand her culture's music.

With this in mind, is it ever too early to give music to a baby?  The answer is no! Just as your baby benefits from hearing you speak to her (the more, the better), she benefits from hearing music in her environment and hearing you sing to her.  

When music educator, Zoltan Kodaly, was asked about the appropriate time to begin incorporating music education, he declared "nine months before the birth of the child...moreover, nine months before the birth of the mother." Not only did he endorse exposing babies and children to music, he stressed that everyone (parents included) has a right to learn music, and children need to be raised in a musical family environment. His slogan was, "Let music belong to everyone!"

Let's Play Music
When Let's Play Music was created in 1998, a handful of music programs for young children already existed. LPM Creator, Shelle Soelberg, discovered that by the time her daughter was four and had delightfully enjoyed a few years of early childhood music classes, she was ready for more.

She was ready to learn to read musical notation, memorize themes in classical music, be challenged to sing on pitch, experience more advanced ear-training drills, complete weekly homework assignments, and reliably perform on instruments in class.  Her brain was ready to learn more serious music theory!  But her fingers were still four years-old.

Private piano lessons lacked the multi-faceted, playful education Soelberg was looking for, and required too much dexterity and sitting still for a four year-old.  She strongly felt that children should not be held back from music learning, especially during the age when they are best primed to hear, distinguish, and internalize musical theory concepts, just because their fingers are weak. So she created Let's Play Music.  

The minimum age is firmly set at age four, when students can begin to reliably perform, sing, and complete homework, but the program is also specifically designed with the playfulness and attention span of those children in mind.  For years, parents were told to go enjoy other experiential music programs, and come back to LPM when their child was four.  Families begged for a toddler class, and Soelberg promised that one day a program would emerge.

Sound Beginnings

In 2010, the time was ripe for the creation of Sound Beginnings, a weekly preschool music class for children ages 2-4, with a parent.  Unlike LPM, younger siblings and babies are also invited.  Below are a few key points about Sound Beginnings:

Begin with the End in Mind: Sound Beginnings was purposefully created years after Let's Play Music.  Now that we have a firm grasp on the ear-training drills, the note-reading skills, and the musical concepts that will be taught in LPM, we were able to design a program that sets up for those skills in the toddler class.  The first 80 Sound Beginnings teachers, and most still, are also Let's Play Music teachers.  That means your teacher knows where we are going with playing rhythms, singing melodies, and identifying intervals- so she can help your toddler start to hear them now.  Sound Beginnings is unique because it is taught by teachers with an intimate, long-view awareness of how the skills in class will build up over the next five years.  Sound Beginnings is the best program to prepare toddlers for Let's Play Music.

Musical Concepts: We don't skimp on introducing real musical skills and playing with them.  Some concepts included are: audiation, staff reading, rhythm, pitch matching, major scale, pentatonic scale, solfege hand shapes, and classical form. Sound Beginnings is unique because we don't hold back on laying foundation for real musical skills.

Play time! Early childhood is a time when children learn about their world through play. A rich musical environment consists of a continuous exposure to new musical elements followed by playful experimentation with these elements. Class time will have lots of moving around and playing games.

Parent bonding: For the 2-4 year-old child, parent involvement is a must. You are the one your child wants to play with, and you are the one she trusts to guide her in music-making.  Sound Beginnings classes (and this blog) are a resource for guiding parents in the art of creating a musical environment through play. We'll teach you how to "play music time" with your child.  Read our post on the hows and whys of parent involvement.

Folk Songs and Games: Authentic folk music has short form, pentatonic style, and simple, repetitive language.  It's simply perfect for providing foundational skills in rhythm and melody while connecting to a common culture.  Read more about why we use folk music.

School Readiness: Research indicates that preschool music exposure improves reading and writing skills, not to mention classroom readiness. We will have a singing story time in each class, and you can learn to sing stories, too!

Specific Academic Concepts: Sound Beginnings is unique as a music program because we also include specific academic concepts.  Each semester we focus on different academic skills like telling time, counting, the alphabet, colors, manners, planets, and name recognition.  Children learn content like this best when it is taught through a song or musical game, so we show you how to teach through song. What specific concepts will you teach your preschooler next?

Fast-Paced:  Sound Beginnings covers 13-15 activities per 30 minute class, making it more fast-paced than other programs. Toddlers require much repetition for mastery and practice, so after trying out new games and variations in class, you'll probably have fun repeating them at home throughout the week.  We help you build a musical environment that lasts all week long, and give you plenty of ideas.

Workbook: Sound Beginnings uses our unique workbook in class.  Several pages are "smart charts" to engage students and teach concepts.  Your child will tap along in her workbook while singing the songs, and it works at home, too! Your workbook also has several stick-puppet figures to color and cut out; then you'll use them during our rhymes and songs from class.  We recommend a tote bag for carrying your workbook and puppets so they stay neat.

Although your teacher will give weekly home-fun suggestions, homework is not required or graded like in LPM. Some students love coloring and cutting, and others don't.

Digital Downloads: Each semester includes a CD of songs from class and beginning Fall 2016, a digital download of the CD.  Songs are easy to sing-along with and include traditional folk songs, classical pieces, and original compositions. We want to make it easy for you to get the songs in a format that works for you in your home.

Instrument Day: Children experience performing in front of a group in their own mini recital and have the pleasure of hearing real instruments on the final day of class.  After studying the instruments and their sounds, it's a pleasure to touch and try them.  Each semester also includes a take-home small instrument for the student to use during the semester and keep.

Superb Teachers: Our teachers are carefully selected, then trained in person to present our games and activities.  Teachers always have a support team and an online community of teachers available for idea-sharing and problem-solving.  Networking and support help us improve continuously.

What we Value: Our values are at the core of Sound Beginnings and Let's Play Music, shaping our decisions and attitudes. When you know what we care about, you'll know what to expect here, and have confidence that you're choosing a quality program.

• We play! (and we understand its benefits)
• We embrace the process of learning
• We give consistent effort
• We focus on abundance
• We make the most of our time
• We communicate openly and honestly
• We pursue quality
• We celebrate accomplishment
• We face challenges with optimism
• We purposefully cultivate relationships

Let's Go to Class!  

Although there are no prerequisites for Let's Play Music classes, students who spend some time at home or in SB class playing with skills like singing and making rhythms have an easier time meeting the demands of LPM. 

Would you like to have a special time each week for bonding and playing with your child, while increasing your knowledge and confidence about creating a musical environment at home?  Sound Beginnings classes could be perfect for you!

Find a teacher by searching our database.  Many teachers even have a video of their class you can watch, and most teachers welcome you to come visit for a sample class.  Semesters begin in Fall and Winter, but teachers may be flexible about adding students, so it doesn't hurt to ask if you can enter even if the semester has begun. 

Unlike Let's Play Music, there is no multi-year commitment for Sound Beginnings class.  You could try it for a semester and even take a semester off- so there's really no reason NOT to give Sound Beginnings a try.  I hope you give it a try and feel inspired to play and sing music with your toddler even more often.