There are as many ways to do CCS Activities with your children as there are teachers to plan them. How and when you choose to do CCS Activities can be different every week. You may choose to do CCS Activities with your children for one 20 minute segment one week and two 10 minute segments the next. Another week you might fit a Rhythm Activity in while children are lining up to go outside, a Tonal Activity before reading time, and a “Play Song” to spark the day. The more you and your children engage with CCS Activities, the more you will be able to integrate them into your day-to-day routine.
Your course requires that you engage with your children each week in the current CCS Lesson and one previous CCS Lesson. You can choose a previous CCS Lesson intact, or you can select a Rhythm Activity from one previous Lesson, a Tonal Activity from another, and a Song from yet another. Deliberate choice and planning for each CCS Activity with your children will enhance music learning. Alternate Rhythm and Tonal Activities rather than planning two successive Rhythm Activities or two successive Tonal Activities. The contrast between rhythm and tonal will guide your children’s developing musical imagination. The contrast between two Rhythm Activities or two Tonal Activities can be very subtle, requiring greater readiness.
Music learning requires repetition of content, but creativity can make repeated content brand new. You might, for example engage with a particular Rhythm Activity with movement the first time and with bean bags the next time. You might engage with a Tonal Activity with flowing movement the first time and with scarves the next time. In both cases, the musical content is old the second time, but the activity is new to the children. Favorite “props” can also be used to present different musical content. A favorite puppet, for example, might engage children with any number of CCS Activities.
Rhythm and Tonal Activities are essential for music learning, so be sure to give your children an equal dose of both Rhythm and Tonal each week, and make selections so that all content gets revisited. Choosing only your favorites Activities or the children’s favorites from previous Lessons might lead to only Rhythm Activities or only Songs. “Play Songs” are just the icing on the cake.
