Kindermusik

This fall we participated in Kindermusik at UNI again!  We had taken the spring semester off and were anxious to get started again, especially since we were able to sign up for the same class as many of our friends!

Overall McKenna did great each week.  She was good at listening to directions, putting things away when told, and for the most part shared when needed.  It got to the point that she’d ask me when our next class was.  I’d always have to try and explain how many days away it was until Tuesday!  It was cute how she would ask about her friends too.  “Mommy, when do I get to see Alaina and Jani?”

This semester our teacher was Miss Cassi.  She graduated with Danielle so it was fun having someone that we knew as our teacher!  McKenna would always ask about her too when we’d sing Kindermusik songs or when I’d talk in a high pitched voice!

It was amazing how much more the kids could do this year.  Last year they went from crawlers to walkers and now we have a hard time keeping them from running and knocking each other over!

At the end of each class Miss Cassi brought out the bubble machine.  They LOVE bubbles!!  She also put a music note stamp on their hands which was a big hit!

Each 45 minute class is broken down into many activities.  The kiddos get to play with something for about 5 minutes before we switch to the next activity.  Great for  two year old attention spans!

The book Pete and PJ was a favorite because we got to say, “wishy, washy, wishy, washy, wishy, washy, weeeee!” throughout it.  McKenna loves to sing this in the bathtub!

Kindermusik is a great opportunity to have special one-on-one time with mommy or daddy.  (Not that she doesn’t get that already being the only child!!)  I took Kenna most weeks but daddy had to relieve mommy a couple times when she had places to go!  Kenna LOVED when daddy came.  She’d run over to him and tell him to “sit right here”!

Our last class of the semester was right before Christmas.  Kenna, Jani, and Harrison were so excited to see each other.  I love these pictures of them holding hands!  Kenna and Jani couldn’t believe they had the same bow in.  It was too cute!

McKenna’s favorite part of class is when we sing the Hello Song.  “It’s our time to sing to together, it’s our time to sing together, it’s our time to sing together, sing hello, hello.”  Then each child gets to pick what action they want to do for their Hello Song.  McKenna finally started to tell Miss Cassi on her own what she wanted to do the last couple classes.  “It’s our time to jump to McKenna, it’s our time to jump to McKenna, it’s our time to jump to McKenna, jump hello, hello.”  Her jump was so cute.  It was kind of like a hop!

Spinning became majority of the group’s favorite action.  I’m amazed at how long the little ones can spin without getting dizzy!  My head is spinning after just a couple times around!

There’s something about watching your child follow the directions from the teacher that puts a smile on your face.  Maybe it’s the teacher in me, or the just me having a proud mom moment.  :)  Either way, watching McKenna “perform” during Kindermusik sure made me happy!

My favorite activity to watch was bouncy balls!!  McKenna has actually been pretty good at bouncing this year (thanks to the bouncy ball Ella let her take home), but many of the kids didn’t have a lot of experience.  This meant that there were kids FLYING everywhere!  It was hard not to laugh when someone tumbled off.  Many tears were shed, but by the end I would say most of them had the hang of it!

Another favorite song:  “I play loudly on my drum, boom boom boom, boom boom boom!  I play quiet on my drum, boom boom boom, boom boom boom!” 

During the Goodbye Song it says to hug someone.  McKenna ALWAYS walked up to Miss Cassi and hugged her all by herself.  The last couple classes they all started hugging each other, so sweet!  Then it was a mad dash to the cupboard to wait for their stamps!

We will be taking the spring semester off again this year, but plan to return in the fall.  In the meantime we will be trying out Kindergym on Saturday mornings at UNI!