Far from being a ‘nice to have’, Claudia Robin Gunn - 2024 Aotearoa Award Winner for Best Children’s Album - believes music is key to helping kids find their balance in the classroom and at home.
Her 7th album ‘Little Wild Learning’ is out today, putting her philosophy into action, with a short but oh so sweet set of useful songs created to help kids who are starting kindy and starting school set off on the right foot. These will be helpful soundtracks for transitions, car rides, brain breaks, after school and more.
From a practical guide on ’How to Make a Friend' and finding a way to harness those first day ‘butterflies’ to finding familiarity in routine building as a ‘Kindy Kid' - this is all about emotional literacy as well connecting the dots with reading and writing, through music.
There is evidence of her own bookworm childhood in the song I Love Books - Claudia is excited to highlight in this song how being read to and reading together at a young age pave the way for later mastery of language. This song celebrates the wisdom and treasures to be found in school libraries and local bookshops, as she catalogues different kinds of books kids can discover and fall in love with.
Emotional literacy is also woven into Claudia’s innovative alphabet phonics song - her ABC of Awesome, helping work through the sounds of letters along with affirmations that match the whole alphabet.
Fun is on the menu too in ‘Music Train’ which takes a rollicking railway station journey, weaving a simple yet powerful tale of music making and memory building throughout our lives. Animal Sounds builds both listening and laughing skills, as we discover which animals DON’T make sounds! Curiosity, wonder and understanding how we all learn differently is the theme for Curious Mind, while “I Got This’ closes out the project with a reassuring and calming mantra about embracing new experiences.
Find Little Wild Learning on all platforms