EARLY CHILDHOOD CONCEPTS – SONGS ABOUT UP & DOWN, IN & OUT, TOGETHER & APART

You might be surprised to learn that I do not have a degree in music or music education. !!!

 

 

I know – that seems kinda crazy. Here I am now a children’s music artist, and a music & movement specialist and educator but my undergrad degree is in Dance and my Masters Degree is in Educational Theater. (NYU)

 

But I think that my route to this career – from professional dancer & theater performer to NYC teaching artist (teaching ages 0 to 8th grade in a variety of programs) to preschool teacher to children’s music artist, performer & educator – is what makes my approach to music & movement special and different.

 

I’ve always loved to dance and have found movement to be my first “language”. While at NYU I learned about Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences – his theory that we all are “smart” in different, multiple ways. (For instance, I am definitely a Kinesthetic Learner). And in that program among many things, we learned how to use drama “across the curriculum” to reach all learning styles.

 

So when I found myself with a new position in a New York City preschool, but with the freedom to create my own curriculum –  I took pieces from all my experiences – dance, early childhood teaching, Educational Theatre – and rolled them into my own original curriculum.

 

My curriculum is one where each week I take a pair of early childhood concepts – like Big & Little, for instance –  and with a a seasonal theme I teach them ACROSS THE PRESCHOOL CURRICULUM.

 

I’d find stories about Big & Little, we’d do art around Big & little, sensory activities, Gross motor activities about Big & Little,  and of course, my favorite –  Music & Movement.

(This, by the way, is what you get in my Fall Online Playschool!  My full Fall Curriculum based on Early Childhood Concepts. If you missed the info, you can find it HERE)

 

But you know what? It wasn’t easy to find songs simply about one pair of early childhood concepts!

Sooooo….I started to write them!

 

 And one of them has become my most popular song of all time! The video of my song Up & Down has over 1 Million views and counting.

So for you today I have three videos/songs I wrote specifically for my own curriculum. And that you can now easily use in yours!

 

 

1. UP & DOWN – move your body up and down and high and low, and get ready to dance with Miss Nina and her song Up & Down from the album Every Day’s Your Birthday by Miss Nina & The Jumping Jacks!

 

 

2. JUMP IN- JUMP OUT:  If you’re want something a little more dance-y then the Hokey Pokey to help little ones learn In & Out, this song is for you! Put a hoop on the ground, make a shape with masking tape on the floor, or stand in a large circle with your class and jump in and out – as well as do some other moves – with Miss Nina!

 

 

3. TOGETHER APART:   So, as we approached Thanksgiving one year I was trying to figure out what themes to draw out from it for a toddler. Sure, we could talk about family and we could talk about Turkeys or we could talk about the Farm. But if I had to distill it into simple early childhood concepts, I decided Together & Apart were it.  Here in the USA, Thanksgiving is the first big holiday weekend “off” of the school year. College kids come home to visit, we get together with family for a big meal and/or visit. It’s all about being together. And of course to come together means that we are at first, apart. And so along with stories of getting together for a big meal and Turkeys, etc. I focus on the concepts of Together and Apart and wrote this fun (and high energy) song – or really activity more than a song – to go with it!

 

 

 

If you want to experience my curriculum – teaching early childhood concepts across the curriculum – you can! Check out ONLINE PLAYSCHOOL!  It’s a video-on-demand done for your course of 5 weeks of my Fall Curriculum. Find out all about it and/or sign up HERE.

 

I also teach my music lesson plans in this way. If you ever want to join us for online music & movement class via Zoom – we’d love to see you! You can sign up for a session or drop-in when convenient. All the info fro that is here:  MISS NINA ONLINE MUSIC & MOVEMENT.

And now, I’m off to the lake to get in some R&R for these last days of summer!!

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead!

XOXO

MISS NINA