Previously, I posted about using songs to signal transitions in the classroom. Today, however, I’d like to focus on using songs as teaching devices. Singing makes everything more fun (at least in our house) and it really aids with memory work. Children really seem to love using their voices to sing tunes and if you can sneak some facts in there, all the better! Here are some songs that we sing almost daily around here.

The Continents Song

We learned this song at the Montessori preschool where I taught for a while. There are lots of different continent songs out there, but I like this one because it’s simple and focuses on the names of the continents. Some of the other versions add in a lot of other words and concepts. The simplicity of this version makes it easy to remember and effectively teaches the concept.

If I was really cool, we’d have a puzzle map like this:

The classic Montessori world puzzle map.

Budget confined us to a simple printed world map that I had laminated and that is up on permanent display right under our big calendar. Whenever we sing this song, one of us gets to be the pointer who, you guessed it, points to the continents as we sing. Pearl knows them all perfectly. Monkey has fun pointing, even if he’s not always 100% correct. Here are the lyrics:

North America, South America,

Africa, Europe, and Asia.

Don’t forget Australia.

Don’t forget Antarctica.

North America, South America,

Africa, Europe, and Asia.

Here’s a little video showing a teacher singing the song with her class. When I searched for “continent song” on YouTube, I wasn’t sure what I would get. I was thrilled to open this link and see a beautifully appointed Montessori classroom. This was the closest melody I could find to the version we sing. Watch out–it’s one of those songs that gets stuck in your head. We get a kick out of watching Pearl mouth the words to the song when we ask her to point to a specific continent on the map. I still think “Never Eat Salty Waffles” to myself whenever I’m trying to figure out what direction I’m driving–but, hey, it worked! And it works for kids, too.

Days of the Week

Another favorite in our house is “Days of the Week.” I’m sure lots of you have heard this version, sung to what seems to be the theme from The Addams Family.

There’s Sunday and there’s Monday,

there’s Tuesday and there’s Wednesday,

there’s Thursday and there’s Friday,

and then there’s Saturday.

Days of the week (clap, clap),

days of the week (clap, clap),

days of the week, days of the week, days of the week (clap, clap).

I guess you could substitute snapping for clapping if you were feeling especially Addams-ish. Here’s a link to a (slightly lame, but useful) video.

Sing through the Year

Finally, there’s “Sing through the Year”, another classroom favorite. The melody for this one is a bit more complicated, but Pearl and Monkey love it. Lyrics:

Sing through the year, sing through the year,

I can sing all the months of the year.

Sing through the year, sing through the year,

I can sing all the months of the year.

January, February, March, and April,

May, June, and July.

August, September, October, November, December.

These are the months of the year.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find a video of this one. Here’s a link to Amazon.com where you can purchase the MP3. You can listen to a little sample of that song (you can probably piece together the whole melody line from that sample).

Don’t be surprised if you find yourself humming these tunes to yourself throughout the day.

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