Ready for school:

Camilla counts the ringing steeple bell.

Have you noticed when children first know how to count to ten (oh, we are so proud!) they know really only the poetry of
one
two
three
four
five
six
seven
eight
nine
ten!

You can tell this for sure if they point to their fingers while counting and assign 2 or more numbers per finger and skip some fingers to land on the last finger with the right number. They are missing the one-to-one ratio. So we are practicing just that right now by putting up one finger every time we sing the word EAT: I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas!

And how about counting with our ears? With this we are refining our listening skills. Listening is different from hearing--we hear it all and choose what to really listen to. So this week we count things we can hear like microwave beeps, telephone rings, footsteps....what will you listen to?

In music we are always counting. Eventually these young musicians will count with their ears and by feeling the patters of beats. I think this is a very special skill. We are not saying 1,2,3,4 for every measure of a concerto! (some tough measures, yes....) Someday do you think the researchers will recognize that sensing the beats and the numbers is what develops our brains in special intelligent ways? I have a hunch!