Anyone
familiar with BabySongs videos, and those who
have not had the pleasure, will enjoy this expanded CD,
first released in 1996. Can a Cockatoo Count by Twos?
is jam-packed with 18 fun and wholesome teaching tunes.
Hap Palmer has a talent
for marrying calming vocals with songs that invite
movement! If this doesn't make much sense, pick up a BabySongs
video or one of his recordings, and it will. His vocals
wrap kids up like a blanket, make them feel cozy and
secure, yet still encourage them to move and sing right
along. The end result is active - and actively learning -
children without the atmosphere ever bordering on
frenetic.
The chubby CD insert is
filled with suggestions, lyrics, and follow-up activity
ideas. Truth is, this CD works just as well in a preschool
setting as it does at home. Teachers will love the
sensible, well put-together extension activities, and
parents will appreciate suggestions for movement and the
read-along, sing-along lyrics.
Some early learning
concepts that are incorporated into the songs include
counting by twos, of course, as well as colors (including
color mixing), months of the year, rhyming, and spatial
relations, to name a few. Besides these, creative
expression and imagination are givens.
Always balanced, warm,
and sensible, Hap Palmer's songs are the stuff wonderful
childhood memories are made of. With titles like Jumping
to Add and Subtract and Months on the Move, you know
your kids will be learning a few things along the way.
Still, Palmer manages to weave just the right amount of
imaginative imagery into his work to capture young
children's spirits.
