FOL FRIDAY- Learning by Contrasts

In Family Time! this semester, we are focusing on contrasting fast and slow.  Learning how to differentiate between fast and slow and understanding when either is appropriate can be a difficult task to master.  Children do every new skill quickly.  They crawl as fast as they can. Once they walk, they run.  Learning to slow down takes a lot of practice.  Here's a wonderful article about the benefits of learning by contrasts.

FOL Fridays: Learning by Contrasts

Children enjoy learning within the context of contrast, as it is one of the primary tasks of their preschool years. Understanding contrasting concepts (i.e., loud and soft, fast and slow, high and low) is a significant aspect of cognitive development. The capacity to learn relationships between ideas and then apply the learned information in other situations is highly related to a child’s success in school. (Johnson-Martin, Attermeier, and Hacker, 1990)

Tips for parents: Play the Contrast Game. Sing a line from a song or say a line from a favorite little rhyme or chant in a high voice. Ask your child what she heard. Was it high or low? Then invite her to copy you in her low voice. Repeat this with other musical contrasts like fast and slow, loud and soft, or long and short. You can also switch and let your child be the leader. (This is a great game for the car, while you’re getting supper ready, or while you’re waiting in line at the store!)

- Contributed by Theresa Case, whose Greenville, SC program, Kindermusik at Piano Central Studios, is proudly among the top 1% of Kindermusik programs worldwide and originally posted at http://mindsonmusic.kindermusik.com/benefits-of-music/fol-fridays-learning-by-contrasts/