Our Time "Away We Go" Lesson 2

Lesson Focus: Fast and Slow

Tempo: Tempo is central to transportation as well as to music and is the speed of the beat. Children learn best about tempo by experiencing the contrast of opposites such as slow and fast.

Scaffolding: Scaffolding is an interactive learning process between adult and child. The adult observes the child's play ideas, then gently guides and supports the child's learning by building on what the child already is able to do. Ideally, the adult will begin by meeting the child where she is - by copying her play idea, for example. Then the adult makes a slight variation on the activity, providing appropriate challenges to lead the child to new levels of learning.

Patterns and Memory: Short-term memory has the ability to hold about seven bits of information. But when patterns and related groupings of information are bound together as a unit, the volume of material stored increases. Patterns then become an important avenue for recall and memory. Rhythms of Learning, Chris Brewer and Don G. Campbell

Vestibular System: The vestibular system controls the sense of movement and balance. It integrates the sensory inputs which give us information about gravity and motion, our body's muscular movements, and position in space. Movements that move the head off center and stimulate the vestibular system include rolling, tipping, swinging, swaying, turning, and twisting.

Internal Control: "Control of the body is the first kind of control children have over themselves and is the first step toward the development of the internal control or self-discipline. Activities that encourage the child to focus, listen, then react through movement or non-movement develop a strong sense of internal control." Dance for Young Children, Sue Stinson

Away We Go! At Home

• The train and tunnel cut-out on pages 7-8 of the Home Activity Book is a great way to explore the concept of size with tunnels. A big tunnel can be made with your body and a small tunnel with the cut-out pattern.

• Read Shiny Dinah together.

• Tunnel Time, p. 6.

"We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make."
~Marian Wright Edelman
Founder and President of the American Children's Defense Fund (CDF)