Head, Shoulders, Knees, and all that

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

15 reasons why Mr. Rogers was the best neighbor ever.  I couldn't agree more. 

More on the great Fred Rogers here, here, and here.

Ten in the Bed

Ten in the Bed is a classic children's rhyme/song in the tradition of Five Little Monkeys... a countdown song with some great visual images.  These songs work great with young learners because the lyrics repeat over and over, making them easy to remember, and the anticipation builds with each verse.

Here are the beautiful children of Daddy Ross Preschool in Buenos Aires, Argentina enjoying the Super Simple Songs version of the song.  What stars!

Their wonderfully creative teacher, Val, sends along the following suggestions. If you have a group of less than 10 children you'd like to do this activity with, try adding some stuffed animals.  Or, you can just start the song from whatever number of children you are working with...you don't have to start from 10.

Thanks Val!

Here's a nice online storybook version of Ten in the Bed you can use to introduce kids to the idea before singing the song.

Elephants on the loose!

Wow...what a weekend for friend of this blog Eric Herman!  His excellent video for The Elephant Song got featured at youTube over the weekend and he's had something like a quarter of a million views in the past couple of days!

Well deserved.  The Elephant Song was one of the first, if not the first, great children's music web videos I ever saw.  It's not always easy to find songs that speak to young children, rather speak with young children the way this one does.  Put it together with an adorable and extremely clever video...magic.  Here's what I had to say about Eric and his great tune last year.

Eric has just posted a new version of the Elephant Song with subtitles...great for the hearing impaired and ESL/EFL teachers, and young readers!

Check Eric's website for details on youTube promotional discounts.   Also, it looks like there will be an updated version of The Elephant Song with both of Eric's daughters helping out on the new album...check it out! 

The Alphabet Song

There are a lot of great ways to teach the Alphabet.  Our favorite way is to use our magic magnetic letters.  Just add a little water and they come alive!  Highly recommended!

In the Garden

Anny is a regular reader of this blog and a kindergarten teacher trainer in China.  Here's her first entry on her new vblog, a cool idea for a simple, fun kids' book.  I'll definitely be trying this idea out.

I'll be looking forward to more videos, Anny!

And here's another garden-themed video for young ones from Debbie at Hands-On English in Japan.  Debbie has a ton of videos at youTube ideal for anyone teaching English to young learners, and even some Spanish material. 

Tree-hugger

Friday was Greenery Day in Japan and I had the chance to visit Kamakura with some friends.  Long ago, Kamakura was the political center of Japan and is home to really amazing temples and shrines, and one very large Buddha.

More impressive to me though is the greenery in the area.  I've allowed myself to get cooped up with work, getting over a cold, and a million other excuses, so when we got down there and I saw the wonderful trees, I was moved, and ended up hugging a couple.  It was a weird thing...maybe I just felt disconnected from nature, but it felt great to touch and smell those trees. 

Throughout the day, I couldn't one song out of my head...Mr. Rogers' Tree, Tree, Tree. Such a cool song.

Here's a slideshow of some of the amazing trees of Kamakura.

A belated happy Greenery Day to you all!

added 5/20/07:

Tree, Tree, Tree