July report - Music time
This month Lucas has shown an increase in his independence, particularly as he has begun to walk independently. Lucas’ new-found sense of independence has contributed greatly to his confidence in small group experiences and over the month he has engaged in a variety of experiences with his peers.
In recent weeks Lucas has become really interested in musical play and as such we have been implementing many music and movement experiences for Lucas to enjoy. We have sung many of Nursery 1’s favourite songs such as Wheels on the Bus, Incy Wincy Spider and Rock-A-Bye Your Bear. Lucas has really enjoyed the actions aspect of these songs, loving to get his body wriggling and hands clapping along with the music. He frequently requests an encore by clapping excitedly when the song is over and has begun to recognise specific words and phrases from songs, hearing them and then immediately becoming excited, anticipating the rest of the song to follow. Extending upon this interest, we incorporated shakers and drums into our singing sessions and discovered that Lucas has a very curious disposition towards musical instruments and has been very eager to engage with them, picking them up experimentally before giving it a very enthusiastic go.
Although Lucas has really enjoyed engaging in music play with his class, we have noticed that he is a little reluctant to participate in the class’s weekly music lesson. This is perfectly understandable as it can be quite an overwhelming experience with all of his exuberant peers and sounds. However as a result of this we have been making a sustained effort to assist Lucas in feeling both secure and confident during these classes, seating Lucas on an educator’s lap to offer comfort and support. Once seated in an educator’s lap, Lucas is more than happy to participate from afar, clapping along to the music and playing the instruments on offer. He particularly enjoys shaking the eggs to the music and swaying scarves, responding positively to his music teacher’s attempts to engage with him and smiling across the room. The music class has been a great opportunity for Lucas to become familiar with different musical instruments and has served as a fantastic introduction to the concepts of beat, tempo, volume and direction. As he continues to participate in music class he is becoming more and more confident, gradually displaying signs of feeling secure within that space – once he gets started he doesn’t want to stop!
Continuing with Lucas’s interests in sound, Dee engaged him in a sensory experience in which they used information technology to listen to the sound of emergency vehicles. Lucas really enjoyed this
experience, responding to the different vehicles with wonder and a little caution as he seemed unsure about their piercing wails. Dee explained the meaning behind each sound, naming the vehicle it belonged to and finding its image within a book. Lucas spent quite a bit of time tracing the pictures of the vehicles with his fingers, seeming fascinated by the pictures. He revisited this book throughout the next few days, indicating a growing interest in the cars found within the pages.
Further extending upon this interest, one morning educator Jenna engaged Lucas and a small group of his peers in an imaginative experience after reading the book Pepper Pig and the Fire Engine. The purpose of this experience was to help Lucas become more familiar with the traffic sounds that he had heard and to further expand upon his emerging interest in vehicles. They used some recycled material to make fire hoses as per the campus’ sustainability philosophy, utilising red and blue cellophane for the fire and water. Lucas and his peers put on their hard hats and we sounded the siren. At first Lucas seemed a little daunted, unsure about the fire hat and the purpose of the experience – however once his friends began running about laughing delightedly, Lucas quickly chimed in, aiming his ‘hose’ at the fire in order to put it out. This went on for some time, with Lucas and his peers returning to put out more fires, grinning at each other as they pretended to sound the siren, mimicking its distinctive nee-nar noise as they moved about the room. Lucas had an absolute blast with this experience, especially enjoying recreating the siren with his peers.
Recognising that both music and vehicles remain an interest for Lucas, we have been implementing a range of learning experiences to support Lucas’ understanding of both concepts, intertwined whenever possible.
Analysis of Learning / Where to Next: Lucas has been displaying a growing interest in social play, participating in both planned and spontaneous shared play experiences and as such as is beginning to form relationships with some of his peers. He is noticeably more involved in music class, becoming more and more outspoken and keen with each passing week. As educators, we encourage children to participate in experiences knowing their interests however acknowledge that sometimes they need a little comfort when engaged in experiences with unfamiliar educators. This has been relevant in relation to music classes as Lucas has required comfort and encouragement, but with this support has made strides. Lucas continues to demonstrate a strong interest in music, pulling out the instruments whenever possible and educators will continue to support this by introducing Lucas to the many different kinds of musical instruments available, thus introducing him to unique sounds as well as continuing to engage Lucas in nursery rhymes and action songs. They will also continue to scaffold Lucas’ understanding of emergency vehicles, linking to his emerging interest in this topic.
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