Brooke (14 months) is using a child-sized carpet sweeper and Mackenzie has her hands on a shortened Swiffer (thank you, Amy, for the idea!). Life is getting better for Mama! Stay tuned for more soon.
If you’ve been following me on Facebook, you know I host live music concerts for the neighborhood kids in my home. So far, we’ve had several violinists, violist, guitarist and pianist come to play for us. It’s an hour of live music, where children can play and listen. I ask the musicians to play 1-2 children’s song, but mostly, they play real music, classical, jazz, rock whatever they’re best at. And if we’re lucky, the musician will allow the kids to touch their instrument. They get a kick out of it! If you are a musician or know of a musician who may be interested in playing for us, please email me directly at stephanie@stephaniewoo.com. Cellist, drummers, flutist, harmonica-player or any other instruments are welcomed!
Here are some pictures from our last couple concerts.
Luella (18 months) finds a chair next to the musician Erik as he plays
Rock musician, Erik, lets Brooke touch his guitar
Jette (17 months) is captivated by the music
Beth, from Janus Trio, lets Vivienne (18 months) touch the strings on her viola
The kids loved SunYoung, an amazing violinist
Brooke and Patrick, the keyboardist, exchange looks
“Really? I can touch this?” says M.
The best books for kids are ones based in reality.
Elementary school kids love fantasy, but very young kids, with their limited time on earth, are still doing all they can to learn about this world. So give them books that are based on things they can see, touch and experience in their everyday life. Don’t confuse them (and possibly scare them as they get older) with fantasy, myths or fairy tales. Put away books with animals that talk or go to school. YOU may find this boring, but it’s good for THEM to play on the swings in the park and then read a book about a child who plays on the swing, or for them to read books about children who nap, bathe, eat and sleep.
Which is why I love this book. It is based on reality, it’s about all the things you can with your hands, and most of the images are ones little kids can relate to, like waving bye-bye, playing peek-a-boo and putting on shoes. My kids love this book. I’ve been reading it to them for months now, and now, they will read it by themselves and do all the hand gestures that go along with it!
The picture shows a girl reaching up to touch a leaf, that’s what M is doing too
That’s M giving herself a hug!
Mackenzie waves bye-bye, just like the boy in the picture
