January 25, 2012 - Posted by Fern Michonski - 0 Comments
Fern Michonski / Fern’s Music
Pre-School Music Education Expert: The Children’s Advocate for Love and Kindness, Inspiring Creativity and Joy.
January 25, 2012—What should I wear today?
I’ve heard a lot of parents talking about the hassle they have every single morning when it comes to getting their child dressed for the day, whether it’s for school or just to play and hang around the house. There is often a big struggle because their child wants to wear something inappropriate for the weather or time of year, etc. and then the crying begins when the parents says “no.”
Here is an idea I always used to avoid this scenario as much as possible. First of all, when the season changes, I always made sure that the shorts, summer tops and bathing suits were put away in a different place than the child’s bureau. Then, every night I would go into my child’s drawers and pick out two different outfits I felt would be appropriate for him/her to wear the following day, given what activities were happening for them. When my child woke up the next morning and it was time to get dressed, I would say, “You can choose either one of these two outfits. Which one would you like to wear today?” That did it. My child was happy because he/she was allowed to make their own decision about their clothing, but their choices were within my parameters. It really did work well. I only chose 2 outfits for them to choose from because very young children go into immediate overload if given too many options. I wanted my kids to make choices, but with guidance. Yes, there were times when either my daughter or my sons would point to the bureau and suggest we look in there. I would simply redirect them and say, “These are the choices for today. You can mix and match them anyway you want!”
This may seem like a very simple idea, but it worked like a charm and I did not have any fighting mornings with wailing children, dismayed over what to wear.
Here’s to a happy and peaceful tomorrow morning!
January 18, 2012 - Posted by Fern Michonski - 0 Comments
Fern Michonski / Fern’s Music
Pre-School Music Education Expert: The Children’s Advocate for Love and Kindness, Inspiring Creativity and Joy.
January 18, 2012—Family Portrait Puzzles
The best gift anyone can give to their children is their time. There are many ways to share and spend quality time with your children. One exciting activity is what I call Family Portrait Puzzles. It is something you need to plan for ahead of time, but once you have created the portrait puzzles you can use them time and again for an enjoyable evening of fun with your kids.
Take a close-up picture of every member of your family. Develop each picture into an 8X10 and then glue each picture onto separate 8X10 pieces of poster board paper. Then cut each picture up into simple puzzle pieces and put each picture’s pieces into a brown lunch bag. Finally, place all the bags from each person’s individual pictures into a large bag. You are now ready for a fun night of Family Portrait Puzzles.
Get the whole family together and one by one, each person reaches into the large bag and chooses one brown lunch bag. At this point, no one knows whose picture they have chosen. Then, one at a time, each person puts their puzzle together, figuring out as they go, which family member’s picture they have. Once the puzzle is completely put together and you know whose picture you have, you then give that person a big hug and tell them why you love them! Each person in the family ends up with a big hug, compliments and memories that will last a lifetime.
You could expand this game including pictures of extended family members, family pets, outside animals, etc.
January 11, 2012 - Posted by Fern Michonski - 0 Comments
Fern Michonski / Fern’s Music
Pre-School Music Education Expert: The Children’s Advocate for Love and Kindness, Inspiring Creativity and Joy.
I’ve seen bumper stickers on cars that read “Do random acts of kindness.” I like that idea. How do we encourage our young children to do “random acts of kindness?” My friend and colleague, Cheryl Elizabeth Waddell had a wonderful idea that encouraged the preschoolers in her classroom to really get excited about carrying out random acts of kindness. Cheryl’s idea can be used either at home or in a classroom setting, and on top of that, it is fun and creative to do!
Create a tree out of paper and put it up on the wall. You can create any type of tree, from an Evergreen to an Oak. If you choose to be more creative, you can trace each of your children’s hands and place them on the wall in the shape of a tree, or use their paper hands as leaves on the tree. Tell the children that this is their “Act of Kindness” tree. Explain that every time someone in the class does something nice or kind for someone else, he or she will be allowed to make a heart and write down what nice thing he/she has done on the heart. The heart is then taped up onto the “Act of Kindness” tree. The individual names of the children who do these kind things is not put on the heart—just what they have done. These acts of kindness can be many things from sharing, helping someone clean up, saying something nice to someone, offering to water the plants, feeding a pet, feeding the birds, etc. Finally, tell the children that once there are a certain number of hearts on the tree, the class will have an “Act of Kindness” Celebration where heart cookies will be baked and everyone will share in the delicious kindnesses they have showered on each other for the month. A new tree is started every time their goal has been reached.
Children love this idea! Soon everyone’s frame of mind is thinking about being helpful, kind and loving to their peers. We would all like to see our children develop this quality. It may seem simple at first, but if everyone did this in every classroom, our world would become a much better place and it just might be the first step in putting a stop to bullying at school.
Let’s spread random acts of kindness right from the start, beginning in our homes and in our preschool classrooms.
January 5, 2012 - Posted by Fern Michonski - 0 Comments
Fern Michonski / Fern’s Music
A Pre-School Music Education Expert: The Children’s Advocate for Love & Kindness, Inspiring Creativity & Joy.
Today I was singing about birds to my preschool classes. We were talking about feeding birds during the winter. I have small stuffed, toy birds from the National Audubon Society that sing exactly like real birds. We talked all about how birds find food and the fact that birds are not allowed to go food shopping at the local grocery store! All the children thought that was quite funny! Suddenly one little girl raised her hand to say that she was very sad because her family did not have a birdfeeder. Then the entire class got creative. We decided together that if anyone didn’t have a birdfeeder, one solution would be to make a snowman. We talked about making the snowman’s eyes out of nuts and his smile out of peanuts. That would certainly please the woodland squirrels and chipmunks. Then we figured the snowman should definitely have a carrot nose as a treat for the deer and bunnies living in the forest. Finally one child suggested using his summer beach pail for the snowman to hold, filling it with birdseed! Somebody else thought the birdseed could also be the snowman’s hair.
What a great idea! (Of course, Mother Nature has to cooperate and provide the snow!) A snowman, put together by children, bearing gifts for nature’s creatures– big and small. We concluded by singing Frosty the Snowman. It was a wonderful day, full of happiness and great ideas. As for me, I left with a renewed sense of childlike urgency. We NEED to have some snow.
I want to build a snowman!
December 23, 2011 - Posted by Fern Michonski - 0 Comments
Deck the halls and hurry mother, hurry father—hurry, hurry, hurry! The hustle and bustle of Christmas preparations can leave you and your children in a holly-jolly whirlwind. Take a few moments to throw open the windows of their imaginations on—where else? The North Pole! Then enjoy with them a respite with Santa’s Reindeer on the day before Christmas. www.fernsmusicforkids.com “Kids! Christmas! Fern!” Track 4
SANTA’S REINDEER
The day before Christmas at Santa’s shop,
Everyone’s much too busy to stop,
Except for the reindeer who pull Santa’s sleigh,
They take it easy, all through the day.
Dasher’s curled up with a map of the sky.
Dancer is munching on fresh carrot pie.
Prancer is taking a stroll by himself.
Vixen is having tea with an elf.
It’s okay to rest today,
Tonight you pull Santa’s sleigh!
All around the world you’ll go,
Jingle, jangle, to and fro!
Comet is dreaming of landing on roofs.
Cupid is buffing his antlers and hoofs.
Donder is reading the Reindeer News.
Blitzen is settling down for a snooze.
And Rudolf is watching for fog or snow,
His shiny red nose, warm and aglow,
Safe and snug in his own little stall,
Waiting and listening for Santa to call!
© 1992 Fern C. Michonski—music/vocals, Cheryl Elizabeth Waddell—Lyrics
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!
November 30, 2011 - Posted by Fern Michonski - 0 Comments
Frequently adults are so busy with planning holiday meals, cleaning for the company and simply preparing all the little details, that they don’t stop for a minute to check in with their children to ask them what they think about the holiday or what they would like to see served at the meal.
Just for fun, I decided to ask each one of my piano students what their favorite part of Thanksgiving Dinner was. My students range in age from 5 through adult, so the answers were quite varied. The usual, expected answers were things like the turkey, the stuffing, the mashed potatoes & gravy, the pumpkin pie, etc. However, one of my students took me by total surprise and I found myself doubled over, laughing hysterically. I asked, “Sophie, what is your favorite part of Thanksgiving Dinner?” She thought very carefully and then looked at me and said in a most serious tone, “When it’s over!” My immediate response was, “I guess that means you don’t like turkey, right?” She then leaned close to me and whispered, “Miss Fern, you must know—I am a very picky eater!”
So, the next time you are sitting at your holiday meal, enjoying all the fixings, you can be certain that there are definitely children out there who just cannot wait for the meal to be over so that they can go back to their favorite macaroni & cheese!
October 17, 2011 - Posted by Fern Michonski - 0 Comments
When you look through a window what do you see? What do your children see? So much depends on what they see.
MY WINDOW
There’s a window through which I can see
Tall ships sailing a wide, blue sea,
Bearded pirates with their treasure chest,
A rainbow of the colors I like best,
Rockets touching down on Mars,
A swing that reaches to the stars,
Snowflakes falling like a curtain of lace,
The sun, the moon, and my best friend’s face,
A tree house in a tree so high,
It’s hidden by clouds in the summer sky.
All these things I can see
Because my window is inside of me.
© Cheryl Elizabeth Waddell
Cheryl wrote “My Window” in celebration of a child’s imagination. Each child has such an inner window, and that window becomes a reflection of his or her soul. The child in this poem has a window that is clear and bright. It looks out on a vista of unmeasured possibility. Unfortunately, not all children are blessed with such a view. They stand before windows that are smudged, distorted, or darkened.
As a guest poet in a city school, Cheryl used “My Window” as a theme for a poetry reading and workshop. Some of the students’ poems were visions of unexpected beauty, while others held fallen tears. Reading them, one could not help but to feel that as responsible and caring adults, it is our challenge to help every child create an inner window that is clear and bright.
We begin by inspiring self-discovery in our children—discovery that leads children to perceive themselves as precious and to recognize the unique gifts they bring to the world.
And as we inspire those children entrusted to our care, they, too, will inspire us!
Cheryl Elizabeth Waddell
Fern’s Music / Fern Forest Enterprises
September 2, 2011 - Posted by Fern Michonski - 0 Comments
I was working with one of my piano students who is quite talented and has excellent listening skills. He played through one of his songs, but on this day he was making several errors. At the end of the song I asked him how much he had practiced during the past week. He looked at me quite seriously and said, “I must admit it. I only played this song, maybe once or twice.”
I am NOT a music teacher who believes in yelling or scolding children. Instead I told him that even though he had not practiced enough, he was actually able to play the song rather well, in spite of his errors. Then I asked him if he could imagine just how fabulous he would have been at playing the song if he had practiced every single day. He thought about it for a moment and admitted he would have been awesome if he had really worked on it.
Then his Mom, who was sitting on my couch, piped up and said, “I heard the greatest statement the other day. I have to share it with you.” Here is the statement:
HARD WORK BEATS TALENT WHEN TALENT DOESN’T WORK HARD!
I was very impressed by that comment and so was her son. He looked at me and said, “That’s it! I know I have talent and from now on I give you my word, I am going to work hard!”
I thanked his Mom for sharing those fabulous words of wisdom and I wanted to share it with the world! Here’s to a great new school year–and to working hard!
As for that quote, it is now taped to my kitchen cupboard where I see it every single day. It inspires me.
Fern
www.FernsMusicForKids.com
October 13, 2010 - Posted by Fern Michonski - 5 Comments
The other day I was doing music & movement with one of my preschool music classes. I love to sing a song called “Why Witch?” I did not write this particular song, but I enjoy singing it to the children. Before I sing the song I always ask them, “Why do you think witches fly on brooms when they could simply drive in a car?”
The responses I get are very interesting and quite funny. This time a little 3-year-old raised her hand and responded to my question with, “Witches fly on brooms because their hats won’t fit into the car.” The little boy sitting beside her piped up and said, “Well, that is no problem. Just cut a hole in the roof!”
I burst out laughing! I must admit–whenever I have dressed up like a witch for Halloween, my witch hat simply does NOT fit in the car! I have to take it off! Since I don’t want to cut a hole in the roof of my car, anybody got a broom?
Pretty smart 3-year-olds if you ask me!
August 23, 2010 - Posted by Fern Michonski - 11 Comments
As the owner of Fern’s Music / Fern Forest Enterprises, www.FernsMusicForKids.com, I have the privilege of doing many things including, teaching preschool music classes, teaching private piano lessons and performing full concerts for preschool children where I go onstage with my costume character friend, Charlie the Chipmunk. As a result I observe a lot of special moments in the lives of children.
The other day I was working with a 6-year-old who has only been taking piano lessons for 6 months. This little girl has the interesting & adorable habit of singing her responses to my questions. For example, if I ask her what the time signature of a song is, she will sing her response with “4-4 time signature” in her cute lilting voice.
We had just completed her lesson and she had learned a full-page song, using both the treble and bass clefs where she was using both of her hands at the same time. It was quite an accomplishment for her and she was very proud of herself. Suddenly she picked up her music book, lifted it high above her head, and sang out in her loudest voice, “I can’t believe I can do this! I am actually doing this!” She had a smile on her face that went from ear to ear, beaming with pride. It brought me such happiness to see the joy and sense of accomplishment in her face. I only wish I had a video camera at that moment so I could have recorded her reaction for her family to see!
Teaching a young child a skill that fills them with pride is a daily gift that fills my heart with joy. It is uplifting to the soul!
