Elements and concepts in music and drama in a preschool curriculum program:

Acting:
- Expressive use of body and voice
- Movement is important to free the child’s energy and emotions and aware of the workings of the body and to control them.
- Increase ability to communicate
- Enhance child’s imagination
- Sensory awareness activities to sharpen perception and appreciation of how sense help us enjoy and know the world
- Sensory recall activities to remember feel, look, sound, smell and taste that enable to recreate the sensations even it’s just in their imagination

Playmaking(informal)/Playwriting(formal):
- Collaborative improvisation
- Playmaking, chidlren will will decided on who the character and what the character will be doing, there is no need to write down.
- Playwriting, a formalized script is prepare and it’s it’s already pre-planned on who do what.

Responding & Constructing Meaning:
- Development of aesthetic sensibility
- They must know the theater convention such as curtain up, curtain down, curtain call etc.
- They should also know the audience etiquette where they should keep quite when the play is going on, laugh at appropriate time, clap at appropriate time and so on

Designing:
- Envisioning and arranging the environment
- Arrange furniture to suggest a a particular setting or use fabric or accessories for costumes

Directing:
- Planning classroom improvisation
- Develop social, group, and concensus skills as they plan and rehearse to improvised on the scripted scenes to be presented to the audience

Researching
- Finding information to support classroom dramatizations
- Use books, posters or any visual material

How theatre arts work in the classroom?

1. Introduce
Give idea, story or poem to engage attention by related them to their own experiences or ask them questions.

2. Present poem or story
Tell the children the story and have them relate it to their personal experiences

3. Plan
Teacher will plan for the play by being a sidecoach(give suggestions to the chidlren, let the children pantomime) or play a role(teacher act it out) or appreciative audience(just sit/stand and watch).

4. Act
Start acting and chidlren should keep stay in their intended place and quiet and wait for “curtain” signal.

5. Reflect/Evaluate
Make connection between the play and real life with the children and help them recognize, appreciate the aesthetics of the play. This will let the teacher know how well the children understand the art form.

6. Plan & Replay
Repeat the 5 steps above either replay the same character or scene or move on to a new scene.

Music and drama help children develop an awareness of of themselves as:
Physical beings: Body and voice as an instrument to create and communicate
Creative beings: Enhance creativity
Organizers of experience: Learn to solve problems, shape and control what is happening by using their minds and bodies to give form to the art
Reflective beings: Responding thoughtfully to their surroundings
Social beings: Enhance and cultivate moral values among their peers and their surroundings

Key issues in selecting materials for music and drama lessons:
1. Must be safe and sturdy.
2. Must be suitable for their age.
3. Can be used as teaching materials for other lessons as well.

The result is out but I haven’t go get it Hahaha… I’m not even feeling nervous or panick about it. Wonder why? Last week, we were told that 9 persons failed the exam, everyone in the class was so worried. Hmm… I don’t think I’m one of them. *cross my fingers* Will go collect it this Saturday.

Assignments not given yet… When will it be given?

What is safety?
Safety relates to the condition at workplace(Nursery) and applies to the pursuit of a state where the risk of harm has been eliminated or reduced to an acceptable level. There will not be accident when there is safety.

What is Accident?
It’s an undesired event, giving rise to death, ill-health or injury. It also infers a chance occurance that us accompanied by no control or responsibility.

Accident caused by 2 factors:
1. Unsafe behaviour/act
2. Undafe conditions

Caregivers must realised that most injuries to children can be prevented by having control(prevention) and responsibility(protection).

What is hazard?
Hazard is an article, substance or situation that has the potential to cause harm or damage. Example of hazards:
1. Water
2. Chemical
3. Lighting
4. Noise
5. Electricity
6. Toys
7. Heights
8. Flooring

What is risk?
Risk is the likelihood of harm occurring. The severity of outcome can be zero, low, medium or high. When the severity is high, this should have the highest priority.

It is impossible to eliminate all hazards to avoid accident but it is possible to reduce the risk to acceptable level where the hazard won’t turn into accident.

Why moral, legal and economics is closely related to health and safety?
1. Ligislation requirements (ensure it is as safe as possible)
2. Vicarious liablity (everyone related must be responsible)
3. Moral obligation (taking care of your neighbour)
4. Fines for non compliance to regulations
5. Economic impact (direct/indirect cost eg. insurance, medical fee, legal fee…)

Operator of nursery must:
1. Ensure safe workplace e.g good lighting, flooring, exit, access
2. Provide safe equipment and plant e.g repair any damaged things that can cause accidents
3. Ensure work safety e.g competent workers
4. Introduce safe procedure for oeprating tools/equipments
5. Provide adequate supervision, training and instructions e.g training, constant medical check-up
6. Provide appropriate PPE(Personal Protective Equipment)
7. Set health and safety policy
8. Comply to rules & regulations set up by the authority

Caregivers must:
1. Take care of his/her own and others’ safety
2. Comply with the rules
3. Use PPE
4. Report to top management about the hazards
5. Report all accidents

To ensure safety at all time:
1. Good management control
2. Implement OSH(Occupational, Safety, Health) policy
3. Identify hazards and associated risks then minimise or eliminate them
4. Promot OSH at all levels

Safety policy should be:
1. Clearly written
2. Include guidelines, checklist, injurty reports, strategies, practices
3. Limitations
4. Suggest methods of communication

Basic elements of safety policy:
1. General Statement of Intent (What)
2. Organisation involved (Who)
3. Arrangement (How)

4 major goals of high quality child care:
1. Maximize health status
2. Minimize risk
3. Use education as tool
4. Recognizing importance of guidelines

General child care safety policies should cover:
1. Creating safe environment - use all risk management and injury prevention tools(role modeling, education, observation, supervision)
2. Injury prevention management - safe enviroment for the child to learn, play and develop
3. Developing a safety plan - prevent risk & promote safety
4. Implication for caregivers - should use preventive and protective measures

Basic emergency response procedures:
- Knowledge of first aid is essential
- Should have basic first aid training
- Organise for emergencies, and plan according especially for children with special needs
- Emergency numbers and information should be easily available
- First aid kit must be available
- Understand the 10 steps for emergency response in right orders

Music is everywhere. It’s important for children to expose themselves to music as early as possible because music is one life’s essential ingredients as it’s a way they explore and experiment the world. It is the core of their socialization and expressive communication with one another and the refuge where they find peace, joy, and fulfillment away fom the worries of their young lives. It will also provide holistic development such as intellectual, emotional, physical, and spiritual selves.

Simple breakdown of functions of music to young children:

• Emotional expression whereby the children might dance when they are happy.
• Aesthetics enjoyment which it is use for deep emotional and intellectual enjoyment.
• Entertainment for the children.
• Communication between their family, community, and societal cultures.
• Symbolic representation which they will be able to relate certain music with certain scenario for example Chirstmas song is related to Christmas.
• Physical response to the music is able to enhance children motor skill and soothing music can improve their quality of sleep.
• Enforcement of conformity to social norm which children can learn about manners or warnings or instructions from songs.
• Validation of social institutions and religious rituals.
• Contribution to the continuity and stability of culture.
• Contribution to the integration of society as music is known as bringing people together no matter who they are.
• Improve academic understanding where music can be used to learn about numbers or alphabets.

Children may begin with musical toys in their earliest years, progress to nonpitched precussion instruments, and then to xylophones, recorders, and keyboards. Strings, wind and brass instruments of the orchestral and band variety are likely to be introduced to children in the intermediate grades.

Ways children demonstrates their musical capacities:

• Dance
• Sing their own tune
• Change the song lyrics
• Play musical instruments
• Make various sounds from things around them
• Mimic sounds or songs they hear

What is caring for a child?
It relates to meeting the health, safety and nutritional needs of a child in a care by parents or caregivers.

Health relates to the physical condition of both body and mind of a person, including the social and emotional well-being of the person.

Good Health is the result of:

• Reducing unncessary risk
• Preventing illness
• Promote well-being of the individual

To create such atmosphere and environment, caregivers need to focus on:

• Safety
• Nutrition
• Health

If the three above are not present, the child will be:

• Lacking of good health practices
• Living in unsafe environment
• Having poor nutrition

WHO defitnition of Health:

Health is a state of complete social, mental and physical well-being and not merely the absense of disease or infirmity.

Being health means that the likelihood of imminent or future ill health is minimised and there is a state of mental and physical fitness.

A risk factor in health and well-being of children can come from any area of the environment:

• Physical environment
  - Mother’s health, child’s health
  - Clean, safe and healthy home
  - Safe attractive school, neighbourhood
  - Available community facilities should be attractive and safe
• Social & emotional environment
  - Relationship with parents
  - Relationship with immediate and extended families
  - Relationshp with teachers, peers, and neighrbours
  - Sense of belongings, self-esteeem/confidence to operate in the greater community
• Economic environment
  - Family could afford child
  - Economic/work status of parents
  - Economic status of neighbourhood, services available for assistance
  - Economic status of greater community services for assistance for assistance
• Cultural environment
  - Ethnicity
  - Cultural practices of family
  - Neighbourhood ethnicity and cultural practices in school, churches, neighbourhood…
  - Sense of belonging / acceptance / ethnicity& cultural practices of great community

Healthy environment is established and maintained by:
Health promotion - checking for immunization, proper hand washing & diapering techniques, providing adequate nutrition, arrange for hearing, vision and dental screening tests.

Child protection - promoting safety practices; safett seats in travel, checking toys & other equipment for hazards, providing low-risk environment

Disease prevention

Risk is a likelihood of harm or danger occuring. Knowledge of risk and risk management are effective ways to protect and prevent the chance for danger/difficulties to occur

Result of health risks:
- Illness, infection, disease, mental illness
- Developmental difficulty
- Death

Result of safety risks:
- Accidents
- Disability
- Death

Result of nutritional risks:
- Developmental delay
- Growth retardation
- Poor health and lack of resistance to infection or disease

Risk management strategies to remove risk factors:
- Health promotion
- Safety protection
- Nutritional education

To maintain well-being of children, risk must be managed properly through compliance of standards and guidelines set for child care facilities, training and staffing.

Well-being is measured by wellness, degree of activity, resiliency, proper growth, at-level development and genral vitality.

4 Basic Goals for high quality child care programs:
- Maximise health status of the children
- Mnimise risk to health, safety and well-being of children
- Utilise education as a tool to promote health and risk reduction for both children and adults
- Recognise importance of guidelines, standards, and laws as they apply to health, safety and well-being of the children(child care) E.g. Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994

Ever since the first term, this college had messed with not only my payments but also my subjects. Good thing this time I haven’t buy the textbooks.

During my first term, they changed one of the subjects and I had bought the textbook. Now the textbook is lying there doing nothing. By the time the subject is offered again, don’t tell me they are going to change the textbook! Which means I spent the previous money for textbook I don’t need!

This term, it’s supposed to be Music & Drama for Young Children and Play & Learning. I just got their notification that it’s going to be Music & Drama for Young Children and Health, Safety & Nutrition.

I’m glad I didn’t get my textbook yet. Phew…

I’m sure Music & Drama for Young Children should be very interesting but I hope it doesn’t involve musical notes and those technical musical things as I can never understand those *LOL*

As for Health, Safety & Nutrition, this will require lots of fact memorising! Feels like going back to secondary school science and home science subjects.

Finally, two papers down! End of semester one. We are now having one week semester break.

Next semester would be studying Play & Learning and Music & Drama for Young Children.

I wonder when we will be able to study the Foundation of Early Childhood Education and Observation & Assessment of Young Children?