Can We Please Let the Kids Play?
Educator Bev Bos, who recently passed on, famously said, “If it hasn’t been in the hand, the body and the heart, it can’t be in the brain.” The Roseville Community Preschool, which she founded in Northern California, is dedicated to experiential learning. Children are constantly moving, exploring the world through…
Lift the Cap on Charter Schools in MA
Massachusetts state officials are currently considering whether to lift the “cap” on the number of public charter schools in the Commonwealth. Governor Charles Baker has proposed lifting the cap to allow creation of more public charters, and a 2016 ballot measure could put the question to voters. I’m in favor…
Five Ways to Support Learning Through Music
What follows is an excerpt from a recent interview with Liz on the Lesley University web page. Liz received her M.Ed. degree in 2009 from Lesley’s master’s program in Creative Arts in Learning. 1 In early childhood, use songs and finger plays to encourage learning about rhyming, letter sounds, narrative,…
The Power of Song
“He loves music!” As a children’s musician, that’s a common refrain I hear from parents. It’s just a fact: most kids’ happiness meter jumps several notches when the singing and dancing starts. I’ve written a fair bit about the connections between music instruction and early literacy skill development as well…
Singing is the Best Way to Learn to Rhyme!
This school year, I have the pleasure of teaching music to 120 kindergarten students at the newly-opened KIPP elementary school in Lynn, MA. Our school will add a grade each year, so for now, we are all K! It’s great fun. One of the first literacy skills kindergarteners need to…
Making the Music & Reading Connection
Many academic studies have shown a strong connection between musical activities and early literacy learning. One study that especially interests me is detailed in “Early Language Learning With and Without Music,” by Douglas Fisher, published in Reading Horizons in 2001. The study evaluated four classrooms of students in kindergarten and…