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| Dance Ballet, Tap, Hip Hop, Creative Movement, Capoeira, Tumbling Out Preschool Classes, Birthday Parties, Corporate Events, Productions Loud Parenting Groups, Community Music, Sing Alongs |
| East Bay, San Leandro, Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco, Bay Area, Albany, El Cerrito, California, Dance Classes, Parties, Music Classes, Sing Alongs, Baby Music |
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| From our Newsletter March 2009 Issue One |
| Jazz If you've read our mission statement, you might know that we are interested in Arts Education in and of itself and as a vehicle for child development, individual expression, community building and changing the world. Not a small endeavor, by any means. But let's begin with the most important part: why music and movement for preschoolers? If you're like me, the answer is obvious, but you still want the stats to back it up. We have come up with a simple explanation of what it is and why it's important developmentally. To simplify, perceptual-motor efficiency is the means by which a child uses their body to get feedback from the world around them in order to develop motor skills, cognitive abilities and abstract thinking. Basically this means that when children move, and make decisions about how they move, they form connections in their brains and bodies which last a lifetime. Perceptual motor efficiency is defined for K-8 students by national and state education agencies as having certain abilities such as hopping on one foot, catching a ball, or turning around without falling (unless, of course, the fall is on purpose). At this time there are no national standards for early childhood education, but existing standards can be applied to preschoolers by using the lens of appropriate application for their age group. (And the NAEYC is working on national standards, as well.) For instance, one way that we know whether toddlers are on track developmentally is through the use of the ASQ developed by early childhood educators at the University of Oregon. Click here to read more of this article. So what about children who cannot perform certain tasks? Does this mean that their cognitive abilities will be limited? Not necessarily. One reason for diagnosing physical challenges early is |