About This:

This CD adds fun and variety to early childhood reading and math programs with original compositions and unique adaptations of traditional favorites.

Children play with language in ways that nurture phonological awareness. They gain familiarity with the sounds of language and connect these sounds to letter symbols. Recent research shows that children who have a greater degree of phonological awareness are better equipped to learn to read.

As children develop vocabulary and language, they also play with numbers in ways that enhance skills in mathematics. Songs are included that motivate young learners to count, discover number patterns, add, subtract, understand place value, and identify units of money.

The accompanying teaching guide suggests ways to involve children actively with each song. Feel free to vary and adapt the ideas and to create new ways of using the songs to fit your school or home situation.

TWO LITTLE SOUNDS features unique original songs that help children to learn about reading, writing, and mathematics. The title song encourages children to recognize both initial and ending consonant sounds. MY RAMBLIN' CAT weaves words from the 'at' word family into an entertaining story of an independent-minded cat, while MY PLAYFUL PIG celebrates the 'ig' word family through the antics of a jolly pig. TALL TREMENDOUS TENS AND WEE WONDERFUL ONES march out of young Hubert's closet to help him understand addition, and place value.

This CD also presents new lyrics and melodies added to familiar favorites. APPLES, BANANAS, PEACHES AND TOMATOES, adds new melodic and lyrical sections to the traditional favorite "Apples and Bananas" to help learners differentiate between long and short vowel sounds. TEN MONKEYS IN A TREE sets the traditional chant "Five Monkeys in a Tree" to an original melody with expanded lyrics that encourage children to explore number patterns, counting, and subtraction. In HICKORY, DICKORY, DOCK, a menagerie of animals joins the mouse in a run up the clock until a grumpy gorilla puts a stop to the noise. The unfolding story emphasizes skills of changing initial consonant sounds, recognizing numbers 1 -12, and telling time on the hour.

Math and reading skills are often reinforced within the same song. WE DISCOVER NUMBER PATTERNS features counting and number patterns made by a variety of animals and things in the 'ap' 'oo' and 'ump' word families. THE ONE THAT DOESN'T RHYME facilitates understanding of same and different, while stimulating awareness of rhyming words.

Many songs combine phonics and numbers with a wealth of vocabulary. DOWN BY THE BAY, uses word families and playful rhymes to introduce children to all the instruments of the orchestra. FIVE PENNIES MAKE A NICKEL explores ways of getting to 100 with units of money. MEET MY TRAVELIN' FRIENDS, matches initial consonant sounds of cities, states, and countries with children's names, while WHAT ARE YOU WEARING? couples the initial consonant sounds of articles of clothing with words that describe a wide range of large muscle motions.

While learning important academic concepts, children are exposed to a variety of musical styles presented with a wide range of instruments. THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE GETS A LITTLE KOOKY employs a full chamber orchestra, and shows the humorous side of the often-frustrating inconsistencies in spelling. In HOW MANY ARE HERE?, a string quartet accompanies hand and finger motions as children learn about addition and subtraction. Children do the WIGGY WIGGLES FREEZE DANCE with a rock and roll band and up-tempo lyrics that highlight initial consonant sounds, alliteration, and rhyming.

The CD ends with a song to enhance pattern recognition and memory skills as children learn an ever growing sequence and sing, GOODBYE, SO LONG, FAREWELL, TOODLE-OO.