LeAnn Haggard's CD Feel the Beat is full of fun music and exercise movements to give children, ages 5 and older, an aerobic fitness workout. According to Ms. Haggard as written in her CD instructional manual, "movement helps children learn. It is the cooperative effort between the body and the brain that sparks the child's mental development. Specific and directed movement encourages good connections, and therefore better thinking." The CD has a booklet attached with lyrics and directions to the routines to preview before presenting the songs to the children.
This CD has both voiced instructional choreography as well as plain instrumental music to get creative and do "your own thing." The songs and movements are theme-based, including such topics as spaceships, Latin, African, classical, jazz, and techno trek. Movements progress from warm-ups, isolations (moving from head to toe), circle locomotor (circle clockwise and counterclockwise), cardio-rhythmic routines, wrapping up, and cool down.
Meet LeAnn Haggard
This artist has been in the business routines of dance since age 5, so her philosophy is to get kids moving and dancing at a young age. She holds a bachelor's degree in Physical Education, Health, and Dance from Ball State University in Indiana.
LeAnn has filled many roles as a singer, dancer, actress, choreographer, director, and owner of a successful dance school where 500-plus students danced through the doors of her studio each week to study ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, modern, interpretive, hip-hop and ballroom. Currently she is an adjunct professor of ballroom and social dance at Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), in Indiana and teaches dance and swimming classes at North Central High School in the same city.
An award winning professional as she has many honors including the 2006 National Dance Educator of the Year.
Highlights in this CD
There are three warm-up songs that begin the fitness routine. In Space Rock Warm-up, children will get a verbalize adventure about space travel and how the hands can be like rockets in space with plenty of hand motions and breathing exercises in this song. Going into Break Beat Boogie, the isolation exercises will warm the children's bodies from their heads down to the toes. The last warm-up, Wiggle and Walk, is a circle time routine where children move in locomotor movements around the circle, both clockwise and counterclockwise. There is plenty of clapping of hands, marching and small leg kicks in this song.
The next group of songs are high energy dance routines. The tile song, Feel the Beat, is a type of hip hop dance done today where ethnic movements come from African dancing long ago. Movements use large muscle skills with jumping, running steps, and shaking the entire body. Funky Fitness is done in a Latin style with four dance moves and some vocalization with the music. Children will bounce the knees, use their hands like pretend maracas and shake the hips. There are advanced versions of these dance songs with more challenging routines for older children on later tracks of this CD.
Slowing down and cooling down are very important to any fitness routine. Classical Connection brings down the pace and also introduces children to classical music in a fun way. Experience some jazz in the song Jazzy Jazz where the body cools down with stretching motions.
The final tracks are instrumental versions of the same songs where children can repeat the instructed motions or create their individualized routines.
Visit Kimbo Educational for more information on this CD and purchasing details.
Feel the Beat is a collection of total body, head to toe, fitness fun that children will enjoy doing and their bodies will gain good health through this process. The music is peppy and full of life. Adults may find themselves "feeling the beat" as well.
Source for Review
Kimbo Educational
Tania Cowling - Tania Kourempis Cowling is a former early childhood teacher, a published author of three teacher resource books (Shake, Tap, and Play a ...
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