• Environment Plan: Classroom for Children Age 3 to 4
• Environment Plan: Classroom for children age 4 to 5
• Science Activity Plan: Raising Mealworms
• Creative Activity Plan: Singing with Preschoolers

1. Dress-up area for clothes and shoes

The main purpose of his area is for children to learn how to put on different types of clothes and shoes. In addition, they learn about the textures of different types of material, from soft and thin to rough and thick. The clothes include uniforms for common professions such as firefighter, police officer, doctor, nurse, and dentist. There are clothes for sporting events, hot and cold weather, rainy weather, and fancy dress occasions. The footwear consists of shoes, boots, slippers and sandals, with different types of fasteners: laces, Velcro, buckles, zippers, buttons, snaps. The children get practice in using all of these. Some children as young as 3 should be able to tie their own shoes if given enough instruction and practice.

2. Building area for blocks and Legos

The two areas are kept separate. The block area has colored blocks of different shapes and sizes. The Legos are kept in trays so they don't get on the floor.

3. Book area

This is a comfortable area with good lighting and sofas to sit on, so that children can read with an adult if they want, or just enjoy the picture books on their own. There are books of different shapes and sizes. The picture books are about any subjects that interest young children, such as toys, nature, family, animals, children's songs, numbers, colors, and the alphabet. The book area is located in the corner of the room with windows on two sides for maximum lighting. It has posters on the wall about books and authors to get the children more interested in those particular books.

4. Toy area and play kitchen

This is located next to the actual dining area so that the children can carry over the knowledge from one area to the other. There are plastic versions of some of the most common healthy foods, such as fruits and vegetables, bread, cereal, rice, eggs, milk, and cheese, along with toy dishes, utensils, cups, pots, kettles, and frying pans. The children can also play with the real kitchen tools and compare them to the toys. The rest of the toy area is dedicated to toys not related to food, such as dolls, cars, fire trucks, balls, puppets, and spinning tops.

5. Math and computers

This area has computers with simple programs that teach math through visual examples. There are wire sculptures with movable beads to encourage counting. Many good materials from the natural environment can be used: sticks, stones, shells from the sea, and anything else that makes your kids feel happy with their activities. They can practice counting the number of people in the class and in their families, and draw pictures of them. This is also a good area to learn about the hours of the day, the days of the week, and the months of the year. Among the toys found here are a cash register, play money, plastic coins, and a toy telephone. It's a good place for a circle time to count the attendance. You can have one basket of leaves from a tree for the girls, and another basket of sticks from the same tree for the boys. Then you count one leaf for each girl and one stick for each girl and add them together, so that the class can learn the total of how many have come to school that day.

6. Art area

This area has many different types of drawing materials such as crayons, markers, easels, scissors, glue, and various kinds of paper, such as colored paper, white paper, butcher paper, construction paper, and cardboard. The children can cut out pictures to make collages. There are also some more manipulative art materials such as clay and fingerpaints. Protective smocks can be worn so that the children won't damage their own clothes.

7. Pets and science

This area has several tame animals that can be petted or touched, such as rabbits, hamsters, chickens, lizards or tropical birds. For observation purposes, there are fish and insects. Children watch the animals' movements, listen to their sounds, get to know their personalities, and learn the responsibilities of feeding and watering them, cleaning the cages, and making sure they stay healthy. They learn how to touch animals gently and to play with them. They study the basic scientific facts about the animals, such as their preferred environment, their growth, the number of offspring they have, their dislikes, and their favorite foods.

8. Music room

It has CDs, a record player, a tape recorder, music boxes, and simple instruments that young children like to play, such as a xylophone, chimes, drums and rattles. It has an open door and padded walls to muffle the sound, so that it doesn't disturb children in other parts of the center. This area must be supervised by an adult.

9. Green room: plants

This area is located next to the window so that it gets plenty of sunlight. Green has been shown to be the one color that is most comfortable for people to experience for an extended period of time. It is an appropriate color to go with plants. The room contains plant pots, watering cans, soil, seeds, seedlings that can be transplanted, and some mature fruit or vegetable plants so that the children can learn the connection between things that grow and the food they eat. The water area is conveniently located nearby, so that children can fill the watering cans in the water area. Because of the bright colors associated with plants and flowers, this is a good area to learn about the colors.

10. Water and sand

This area is located outdoors, just outside the green room, because water and sand have a close relationship to plants. There is a sandbox with shovels, buckets, large spoons and sifters to let the children experience the texture and physical properties of sand. Water and sand go together well, so the area also has running water, plastic tubs, measuring cups, sponges, toy boats, and bubble solution for blowing bubbles.

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Introduction

This environment meets the needs of the staff as well as the children. All the teachers are familiar with the setup of the environment, so that if any child asks a question, any teacher staff will be able to answer. The ratio of teachers to children is 1 to 5, which is large enough so that even if a teacher needs to take a bathroom break or go out for lunch, the remaining staff will be able to handle the children.

The environment is designed to promote learning in four areas of development -- physical, social, emotional and cognitive.

1. Eating area/art area

The eating area is used for breakfast and lunch. It helps kids to develop good manners and social skills by interacting with the other kids and the teachers. It teaches them the responsibility of passing the food to other children and cleaning up after themselves. The kids use fine and gross motor skills and experience sensory motor development. They learn balance, visual skills, and eye-hand coordination.

This area can also be used as the art area, where the children paint, draw, color, and do other projects. It has many different types of drawing materials such as crayons, markers, easels, scissors, glue, and various kinds of paper, including white paper, colored paper, butcher paper, construction paper, and cardboard. The children can cut out pictures to make collages. There are some more manipulative art materials available, such as clay and fingerpaints. Protective smocks can be worn so that the children won't damage their clothes.

Art helps develop eye-hand coordination, it builds the child's self-confidence and develops cognitive skills, fine motor skills, imagination, independence to choose, and the responsibility to not waste water or get paint on themselves or others.

2. Dress-up area/toy area

The main purpose of this area is for children to play make-believe while putting on different types of clothes and shoes. In addition, they learn about the textures of many types of material, from soft and thin to rough and thick. The clothes include uniforms for common professions such as firefighter, police officer, doctor, nurse, and dentist. There are clothes for sporting events, hot and cold weather, rainy weather, and fancy dress occasions.

The footwear consists of shoes, boots, slippers and sandals, with different types of fasteners -- laces, Velcro, buckles, zippers, buttons, snaps. The children get practice in using all of these. Some children as young as 3 should be able to tie their own shoes if given enough instruction and practice.

This is also used as a multipurpose kitchen area, with a table and chairs, kitchen cabinet, play stove, and play refrigerator. It is located next to the real dining area so that the children can benefit from the overlapping of knowledge from one area to the other. There are toy dishes, utensils, cups, pots, kettles, and frying pans. The children can play with the real kitchen tools and compare them to the toys. There are toy versions of some of the most common foods, such as fruits and vegetables, bread, cereal, rice, eggs, milk, and cheese.

The rest of the toy area is dedicated to toys not related to food, such as dolls, cars, fire trucks, balls, puppets, toy work tools, and spinning tops.

All the activities in this area help the child build skills in cognitive development, tactile development, visual and social development, emotional development, and self-esteem. They help the children to use their imagination by role-playing, and teach them independence by being able to choose what role they want to play or what they want to do.

3. Building area for blocks, Legos, jigsaw puzzles

The block area has colored blocks of different shapes and sizes. The Legos are kept in trays so they don't get on the floor. The jigsaw puzzles can be done in one small area of a table. They can be used separately, or together in a single project, depending on the children's age and physical ability. The most important thing is not to restrict the children if they want to use the different materials in creative ways.

This area helps kids to use their imagination, fine motor skills and gross motor skills. It helps them with coordination, balancing, and problem solving. This is one of the most difficult areas to clean up because of the many small parts involved and the need to separate them at the end of the play session -- an important activity for the children.

4. Book/library area

This is a comfortable area with good lighting and sofas to sit on, so that children can read with an adult if they want, or just enjoy the picture books on their own. There are books of different colors, shapes, and sizes. The picture books are about any subjects that interest young children, such as toys, nature, family, animals, children's songs, numbers, colors, and the alphabet. The book area is located in a corner of the room with windows on two sides for maximum lighting. It has posters on the wall about books and authors, so that the children will see the pictures and get excited about reading certain books.

The book/library area is a relaxing area, a learning area, an imagination area, and a questioning area. The kids develop cognitive skills, fine motor skills, social skills, emotional skills, visual skills, imagination, eye-hand coordination, and color recognition.

5. Math and computers

This area has computers with simple programs that teach math through visual examples. There are wire sculptures with movable beads to encourage counting. Many good materials from the natural environment can be used -- sticks, stones, shells from the sea, and anything else that makes the kids feel happy with their activities.

It is a good area to learn about the hours of the day, the days of the week, and the months of the year. Among the learning tools here are a toy cash register, plastic coins, play dollars, a toy telephone, a clock, a calendar, and posters about different events.

The clock helps teach the kids how to tell the time and the concepts of time-related things. It helps them to know about breakfast time, cleanup time, circle time, outside time, lunchtime, play time, and nap time. The calendar lists birthdays, and the posters help the kids to identify things that are happening in the months of their birthdays.

The kids can have a circle time here to count the attendance. The teacher can use a basket of leaves from a tree for the girls and a basket of sticks from the same tree for the boys. The children count out one leaf for each girl and one stick for each girl, and add them together. This way, the class can learn the total number of children who have come to school each day.

The computer area helps develop the child's eye and hand coordination, imagination, emotions, fine motor skills, patience, response, and ability to follow directions.

6. Pets and science

This area has several tame animals that can be petted or touched, such as rabbits, hamsters, chickens, lizards or tropical birds. For observation purposes, there are also some fish and insects. Children watch the animals' movements, listen to their sounds, get to know their personalities, and learn the responsibilities of feeding and watering them, cleaning the cages, and making sure they stay healthy. They learn how to touch animals gently and to play with them. They study the basic scientific facts about the animals, such as their preferred environment, their rate of growth, the number of offspring they have, their likes and dislikes.

The pet area helps kids to be responsible and emotionally responsive. It teaches them about the different kinds of foods that animals eat and how to feed them. It helps build self-esteem, emotional development, fine motor skills, tactile and auditory skills.

7. Music room

This room has an open door and padded walls to muffle the sound, so that it doesn't disturb children in other parts of the center. This area must be supervised by an adult.

It has CDs, a record player, a tape recorder, music boxes, and simple instruments that young children like to play, such as a xylophone, chimes, bells, drums, rattles and tambourines.

Playing music helps the children build their fine motor and gross motor skills, depending on which instrument they choose. Participating in music helps children's cognitive development, social skills, emotional skills, auditory development, sensory skills, imagination, and self-confidence.

8. Green room: plants

This area is located next to the window so that it gets plenty of sunlight. Green has been shown to be the color for a room that people feel most comfortable being in for an extended period of time. It is an appropriate color to go with plants. The room contains plant pots, watering cans, soil, seeds, seedlings, and some mature fruit or vegetable plants so that the children can learn the connection between what grows and what they eat. The water area is conveniently located nearby so that children can fill the watering cans there. Because of the bright colors associated with plants and flowers, this is a good area for the children to learn colors.

The plant area teach kids learn how plants grow and how to take care of them. It helps the kids build fine motor skills, benefits them emotionally and visually, and lets them exercise their sense of smell.

9. Water and sand

This area is located outdoors, just outside the green room, because water and sand have a close relationship to plants. There is a sandbox with shovels, buckets, large spoons and sifters to let the children experience the texture and physical properties of sand. Water and sand go together well, so the area also has running water, plastic tubs, measuring cups, sponges, toy boats, and bubble solution for blowing bubbles.

Outside area

In the playground, children play kickball and other outdoor sports. They experience the environment through their seven senses (seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, feeling, balance, muscles & joints), by physical moving around and through social interaction.

The most appropriate teaching technique for infants is to give them ample opportunities to use self-initiated repetitions to practice newly acquired skills and to experience feelings of autonomy and success. They will grasp, bang, or drop their toys. Patience is essential as a toddler struggles to put on a sweater.

Infants absorb and organize a great deal of information about the world around them when adults talk and sing to them. Important skills in independence are acquired during these years, including personal care such as toileting, feeding, and dressing.

Imitation is important for learning at this age. Realistic toys enable children to engage in increasingly complex types of play. Adults should emphasize language activity and movement. They should have meals with children and talk to them about what they like doing. Asking them simple things like "How was your day?" may bring them closer to the child.

By saying rhymes out loud, adults can have fun while socializing with children. Here's one example:

Black cat, black cat
Looking for a witch
All around the night
As black as pitch.
Who can see you
With those eyes of green?
Black cat, black cat
This is Halloween.
Boo!

Age group: 3 to 5 years old

Number of children designed for: up to 20

Equipment and materials needed:

- 1-gallon plastic aquarium (costs about $8)

- 25 mealworms (available from almost any pet shop or aquarium store for about $1)

- small box of whole-grain cornmeal

- 1 raw potato with skin still attached

- cardboard egg carton

Description: One of the simplest and safest animals to keep in a classroom is the yellow mealworm. Although it resembles a worm, it is actually the larva of the darkling beetle (Tenebrio molitor). It is interesting to watch, safe to handle, and easy to raise.

Most pet stores sell them as pet food for reptiles, amphibians and small mammals. They are not intended to be pets in their own right, but they provide an excellent opportunity for young children to learn about insects, and to respect and like them. By touching and holding them, children learn to not be afraid of things that might initially seem repulsive, but can also seem cute. The mealworms help serve the children's emotional needs and act as a positive role model for insects. They also stimulate the children's tactile senses, because the sensation of touching them is very different for their three stages of life -- larva, pupa and beetle.

Children get cognitive development from the mealworms by learning some practical science. They find out how long the insect lives in each stage, what they like to eat, how they drink water, how they move, how they can sometimes be cannibalistic, and other behavior.

Children learn to recognize when the mealworms are about to change from one life stage to another, and how they can be protected when they are most vulnerable. They learn to keep records of the insects, how to clean their habitat, how often they must be fed, and when they need to replace the potato slices.

I have been raising mealworms in my home for more than two years. Most of what I know about them comes from personal experience, although I have done enough research on the Internet to learn how to keep them alive, and to know that they are absolutely safe to handle.

To raise mealworms, simply buy a bag of about 25 of them, along with a 1-gallon plastic aquarium that has many small holes in the top so that the air can circulate freely. Without these holes, items put in the aquarium will become moldy and endanger the mealworms' health. Also put in the aquarium a handful of raw whole cornmeal, a piece of bent cardboard from an egg carton, and a few thin slices of raw potato cut from a whole potato.

Mealworms like to squirm and climb; the cardboard is like a jungle gym for them. The cornmeal provides all the food they will need, and the potato slices provide water. Mealworm have sharp jaws that they insert into the potato to draw out the moisture. The slices dry up like potato chips, and must be replaced every few days or the worms will get dehydrated and start to kill and eat one another. The potato should be kept in a plastic bag in the refrigerator to stay fresh. One large potato should provide enough slices to last for about two weeks.

I have found that several mealworms from each batch are likely to die within the first few days after they're purchased, but you can count on at least 20 out of 25 being healthy. With luck, the hardiest ones can live as long as one year after they are brought home.

Mealworms move forward very slowly, twisting back and forth as they go. So they are fun to take out and observe in your hand or on a desk. The children can play a game by putting two of them in the middle of a circle and seeing which one can get out of the circle first. Their coats are hard and shiny, their color ranges from pale gold to dark brown, and their jaws feel ticklish at the touch. Worms can chew through cloth, and like to escape if given a chance.

They shed their skin quite often, and you can see the crumpled-up skin lying in a heap, sometimes still attached to the end of mealworm. Immediately after shedding, they are very light in color. They turn gradually darker over the next few days. Children may notice that the mealworms are most likely to be killed when their skin is pale, because the new skin hasn't yet hardened completely. When killed, they are gradually eaten by their former companions over a period of several days, until very little of them remains. The aquarium acquires an unpleasant odor until the carcass is removed. That is definitely not the fun part, but it teaches children about competition and survival.

The mealworms in one aquarium are not all active at the same time. At any point in the day, some of them may be clustered together quietly underneath the coolness of a potato slice, while others are in motion on top of the slice. When a room is very quiet, you can sometimes hear the mealworms moving about. I keep a jar of them in my bedroom, and occasionally I'll become aware of the sound of their movement at night.

For their own safety, the mealworms need to examined daily so that they can be isolated from the others when they are in process of metamorphosis. This can happen at any time. Some mealworms remain worms for 10 months or more after leaving the pet shop, while others begin to change within a month. I don't know why, but my guess is that the shops hatch them throughout the year and mix them together without regard for when they were born.

When a mealworm is about to change into a pupa, it curls into an C shape and stops moving. At this point, it's wise to put it in a small glass dish inside the aquarium. Worms cannot climb up the side of the glass, so the motionless worm will be safe from harm. Five to seven days after it curls up, it will shed its skin and become a pupa. It won't move in this stage unless you jiggle it in your hand, and then it will start curling back and forth. This is quite an amusing phenomenon, which the kids enjoy feeling. It remains in the pupa stage for about 15 days, then hatches into a beetle. The beetle is a pale gold color, like a worm that has just shed. Over the next few days, it gets darker and darker until it is jet black.

When you have examples of the mealworm in all three stages, it's an interesting exercise to put them side by side and have the children compare them. Which is bigger? Darker? Which moves faster? Which feels harder?

Both worms and beetles can turn cannibalistic if there isn't plenty of food and moist potato slices on hand. But beetles are much more aggressive than worms, and can climb up the side of a short glass dish. So when you have beetles in the aquarium, it's better to isolate any pupas in a separate container. The beetles can't fly, but they like to be in the highest part of the aquarium, which means on top of the pieces of cardboard.

When you put them on your hand, their feet cling to your flesh and they don't fall off even if you turn your hand upside down. But they do not bite or sting, and they are not known to carry any diseases.

Some teachers encourage students to take a mealworm home in a yogurt container and take care of it there. I don't agree, because I think mealworms need the supervision of an adult. They require very little space in the classroom, and can survive easily through a three-day weekend. But for longer vacations, they should be taken to the teacher's home for proper care.

Besides promoting learning in cognitive, emotional and physical ways, mealworms promote social development when the children get interested in them as a group project. They interact with each other by discussing the mealworms and seeing who dares to hold them and who doesn't. In my after-school class last year, many children wanted to keep the jar of mealworms on their desks, so they learned to share them and take turns with them; the girls liked them as much as the boys. The children develop respect for insects as living beings with their own personalities, rather than as pests to be destroyed.

Mealworms seem to be appropriate for children from about the age of 3 to 12. Because of the ease of raising them, the low expense involved, and the big payoff in terms of student learning, I think mealworms do meet the personal and professional needs of staff.

Unfortunately, the preschool where I now work has a policy that forbids bringing any kind of animal to school, even mealworms or snails. That is because long ago, someone brought an animal to the preschool that was abused by children. As a result, the board of directors instituted a no-animal policy.

Probably my toughest challenge as a teacher is dealing with faceless bureaucracy that stifles so many good ideas for no valid reason. Last year I brought at least six types of small pets to school, including a giant cockroach which my son found on the street one night, and which we captured in his backpack. Now the only living things I can use in class are plants.

1. Age group: 3 to 5 years old. Number of children designed for: up to 25

2. Equipment and materials needed:

- Stringed instrument for teacher, such as guitar, mandolin or banjo
- One percussion instrument for each child. These can include tambourines, bells, shakers, rattles, squeeze toys, sticks, kazoos, blocks, clickers, drums.
- Collection of songs geared for young children
- Blackboard, white board or easel for drawing pictures

3. Preparation and description of activity:

Choose a place that is spacious enough for the children to move around without colliding, and where they can have a choice of standing, jumping, dancing or sitting, can play percussion instruments forcefully, clap their hands, stamp their feet, and sing without constraint. A private playground, indoor gym or large room would all be good.

Ideally, the place should have a blackboard, an erasable white board or a wall where large pictures can be posted. Even children who can't read at all can learn songs more easily if there are pictures to illustrate them. This is especially true for "progressive" songs that start off simply, then gradually add a new line with each verse that must be repeated each time. One example is "The 12 Days of Christmas," which starts off with a partridge in a pear tree and ends with 12 drummers drumming. How much easier it is to remember if the teacher has a picture of each item named in the song, and can point to them while singing.

For the lead instrument played by the teacher, a stringed instrument is probably better than a piano, because the teacher can face the children throughout the performance and teach the song more easily. It is important for the teacher to memorize the lyrics and the chords ahead of time, and learn the song thoroughly, so that he can devote all his attention to the children, maintaining eye contact with them, and making gestures, pauses and repetitions when needed.

Most young children enjoy live music if they have the freedom to respond to it as their spirit moves them. If their movement, rhythm, voice or noise level is constrained, they cannot fully experience the music in the way they would like to. And there's usually no good reason to hold them back: after all, adults at rock concerts and baseball games are not told to hush up and sit down. So why should children? They should be encouraged to get into the flow of the music. Therefore, the place for the music program should be carefully chosen to allow maximum freedom of expression. The only reason for constraining a child should be if the child is detracting from others' participation.

Most children especially like to join in a song if they can play a percussion instrument along with the music. It's a good idea to have enough extra instruments to let everyone choose their favorites, to avoid squabbling over who gets what. Some children obviously have more talent than others for staying in rhythm, but even those who are off the beat add something to the performance because of their enthusiasm, and they tend to improve with practice.

The children should have a regular time and place for singing. The session should be organized so that the percussion instruments can be handed out quickly and smoothly, perhaps by letting the girls choose first one day, and the boys first the next time. The teacher should have the list of songs taped to the top of his stringed instrument so that he can glance at it at any time, and know which songs to choose from, and which keys to play them in.

If there are any large drawings to accompany a song, the teacher should draw them ahead of time or post them in an appropriate spot. The teacher should prepare some commentary about each song that will be of interest to the children, to increase the teaching value of the song. For example, in "Wheels on the Bus," the teacher could ask the children how many of them take the bus, which bus they take, how much they pay, where they sit and what they observe. Other approaches could be to discuss the songwriter or origin, the meaning of certain words, or the lesson behind the song.

The greatest preparation needed is for the teacher to memorize a very large repertoire of songs so that he always has something new to present. Although young children usually like to hear their favorite songs over and over again, some members of a class get tired of certain songs, and will even start covering their ears to show their displeasure. The songs should reflect a wide variety of subjects and styles to provide the maximum learning experience.

Description of activity:

Here are some types of songs that work with preschoolers, with examples:

- Clapping songs (B-I-N-G-O)

- Songs with choreographed fingerplay (Itsy Bitsy Spider)

- Nature songs (Baby Beluga)

- Humorous songs (Down by the Bay)

- Songs that let children shout out new verses (Old McDonald)

- Songs that mention the children's names (The Name Game)

- Songs about children's real-life problems (Don't Laugh at Me)

- Songs that teach the alphabet, months of the year, days of the week, numbers, colors (Alphabet Song)

- Songs about foreign cultures (Dayo)

- Songs with sound effects (Comin' Round the Mountain)

- Dancing songs (Hokey Pokey)

- Echo songs (The Bear)

- Foreign language songs (Alouette)

- Songs from children's movies (Over the Rainbow)

Some of the best-loved songs include more than one element, such as Old McDonald. It combines sound effects, progressive repetition, animals, and empowerment for the children to choose the next verse.

The activity begins with the distribution of the instruments and continues until the last note is sung. For children of this age, 20 to 30 minutes of singing is probably optimum to keep their attention. The songs should be a combination of old ones, new ones, and requests by the children. If a particular song doesn't go well, it's advisable to cut it short, end it smoothly, and go on to the next one.

The activity should not be relaxed, not rushed, so that there is always time between songs to welcome comments or answer questions about them. Children should be able to experience music as a stress reliever.

4. This is a creative activity because music is an art, not a science. Singers, like actors, use the words of others but perform them using their own artistic interpretation. That is why great singers are called artists, not technicians. Every singing performance should aim for artistry, not mechanical repetition. The notes and lyrics are merely the starting point.

It is possible to perform songs many different ways, depending on the natural style and the abilities of the singers. Paul McCartney's song "Yesterday" has been recorded in more than 2500 versions. Bob Dylan is well known for changing the singing style of his own songs for his concerts, so that they differ radically from the more commonly known recorded versions. He set the trend in his 1974 album Planet Waves, in which he featured both a fast and a slow version of his song "Forever Young."

The children also have the opportunity to make up their own movements and rhythms to go with the songs, which opens up a whole new avenue of creativity. And because the makeup of a class is never the same twice -- some of the children may be different, or they may be using different percussion instruments -- the sound they make will always be different. As they learn the song better over a period of time, their interpretation will develop in a creative way.

5. Possible learning:

This activity teaches children to learn through the senses of hearing, sight, touch, movement and balance. It has the potential of teaching rhyme, vocabulary, drama, history, geography, ethnic customs, foreign words, irony, humor, and moral lessons, among other things.

Gross motor development: whole-body movement, toe tapping, clapping, dancing.

Fine motor development: voice control, finger-play, manipulation of musical instruments.

Cognitive development: Besides the direct benefits of learning to enjoy making music, learning about harmony, memorizing examples of good grammar, and getting to know the surface meaning of songs, there are some deep messages hidden within music which the child can absorb on a subconscious level. One example is the song "Row Row Row Your Boat."

Here is the interpretation by the motivational writer and speaker Wayne Dyer:

The song says "Row, row, row YOUR boat." It doesn't say your spouse's boat, or your children's boat, or your neighbor's boat. It says, YOUR boat. Do your life. Knowing what YOUR boat is, and row it toward your personal goal.

Row your boat GENTLY. Not roughly, not quickly, not with a struggle, but easily. Be gentle on your path. Take care of yourself and don't be in a hurry. Children are too often told that the harder they work, the more rewards they will reap. But Dyer says that life is supposed to be easy. This is a good philosophy in these pressured times.

Row DOWN the stream. Go with the flow, not against the current. You won't make much progress by rowing up the stream, but will only get tired and stay in the same place. Don't try to fight against nature.

"Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily": Find joy in life, not the empty, short-term pleasures of addictions, but the joy of a full, multidimensional, self-determined life of rowing your own boat.

"Life is but a dream": Be a dreamer. Make the most of the moment. As Rudy Vallee sang during the Great Depression: "Life is just a bowl of cherries. Don't take it serious, it's too mysterious."

Emotional development: Some songs provide insight into personal feelings and experiences of children, and give them an opportunity to grow as moral beings. Songs have the power of taking their message straight to the heart, and can make children think and talk about subjects that might not interest them otherwise.

One good example is the Steve Seskin song "Don't Laugh at Me," popularized by Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary. It starts like this:

I'm a little boy with glasses
The one they call the geek
A little girl who never smiles
'Cause I have braces on my teeth
And I know how it feels to cry
Myself to sleep

I'm the kid on every playground
Who's always chosen last
I'm a single teenage mother
Tryin' to overcome my past
You don't have to be my friend
But is it too much to ask:

Don't laugh at me
Don't call me names
Don't get your pleasure from my pain
In God's eyes we're all the same
Someday we'll all have perfect wings
Don't laugh at me.

This song had such an impact on children's audiences that it caused a an organization called Operation Respect to provide free CDs and teaching packets to schools nationwide through a Web site, www.dontlaugh.org.

6. Documentation of learning: The teacher should put out more instruments than are needed, and keep track of which ones are used, and which ones are left behind. The teacher can monitor which musical instruments are most popular and least popular, and eventually produce a list of how many copies of each instrument will be optimum for the class. Some children are attracted to certain instruments, just as adult musicians decide to specialize in one or more instruments.

The teacher can keep records of which songs the children like best, which ones they don't respond to, and which ones they most often request. It's a good idea to perform any song at least twice on different days before rendering judgment, because children often don't "get" a song on the first hearing.

One way to evaluate a child's learning is to note whether the child seems to be enjoying the music program as a whole. Does the child respond, or does he look bored? Does he play the instrument or just hold it? Does he move around? Does he seem to be trying to learn the words. Because the teacher is already so occupied during the performance, it would be helpful to have an assistant who could take notes on each child's reaction to the music.

One way to evaluate the music as a whole is to make a recording of one full performance, then listen to the recording afterward and try to determine how much the children are participating. Is the program successful or not? If not, what are some major changes that can be made to shake it up?

Are there any children who are completely uninterested in the music? Some people are born with a tin ear, and will never enjoy music. Should they be allowed to take part in another activity? The possibility should be considered.

What about the children whose talent or interest in the music is far above the average? Can they be given other musical opportunities, such as extra classes or individual instruction? Some of the best adult musicians began their musical careers while very young, and were given the chance to grow their talents without bounds. Such children should be encouraged, not held back. Every child in a singing program should be individually observed and monitored.

7. Activity evaluation: This activity is developmentally appropriate because there are thousands of children's songs for every age level, and it is easy to find them, learn them and sing them. In general, children are very responsive to live music if it is geared to their level. But there are no strict rules about which songs appeal to which class. The children's biological age is not the only important factor. Children who speak English as a second language are likely to prefer songs geared to a younger age, and tend to like a lot of repetition. Children with advanced English skills are more likely to be bored with songs that they have heard many times before.

Two things that are not appropriate for preschoolers are an insistence on excessive order in the classroom, and songs that are merely sung to the children, not with them.

Scott Gelfand, founder and owner of the Buddy Club, one of the Bay Area's leading organizations for children's entertainers, said in an interview in 2002: "You have to let there be some chaos in the room and be comfortable with chaos.... You're not in school with teachers hovering, you're not in a library where it's quiet, and so here they're welcome to be kids."

He added: "Any songs where the singer just sings to the audience, I have them cut that out. They all have to be call and response. That's because 3- and 4-year-olds have to be involved.... Kids don't want to be impressed."

The activity is open-ended because it has no definite starting and ending point. Some of the songs can be worked into other parts of the curriculum. If the preschoolers are learning about plants, they can spend the morning putting beans in wet cotton balls to make them sprout, and spend the afternoon singing "Everything Grows" or "The Garden Song."

The activity is child-centered because children's songs are not generally of interest to adults, except as a vehicle for communicating with children.

As a personal note, I have been performing children's music off and on for more than 30 years. Until recently, many years would often elapse between performances. However, in early 2002 I started using the mandolin and guitar regularly in my classes with first graders and preschoolers, and have found the children to be very responsive as long as I've carefully followed most of the rules described in this report.

My current frustration is that I work at a preschool that is located in a building owned by the Catholic church, and the church offices are directly above the classroom. Whenever I perform music, the children react with such intense energy that the principal now allows me to perform only outside, and I'm limited to one or two sessions per week. The playground is often cold and windy, and the sound doesn't project well outdoors. It is discouraging, because the children love the music and would like to do it every day, as I would. In order to stay in shape musically, I need to practice almost every day. So it is discouraging, and is making me consider whether to find another job where my music is more appreciated by the administration.