This recording is just as appropriate for home use as it is for Kindergarten
and first grade environments. Key learning concepts are presented in fun ways.
Most songs are original compositions, and the few cover
songs are redone in fun and educationally valuable ways. For
example, the familiar Apples and Bananas is redone to
include both long and short vowel sounds in Apples, Bananas,
Peaches, and Tomatoes. Hickory Dickory Dock teaches
beginning consonant sounds as a procession of animals join
the mouse in his travels up the clock. Different coin
combinations that add up to 100 pennies are featured in Five
Pennies Make a Nickel, and math word problems are
ingeniously incorporated into the song Tall Tremendous Tens
and Wee Wonderful Ones.
Participation
is encouraged through lyrical prompts and questions. Musical questions are posed in many of the songs,
and are followed by appropriate
pauses so that little listeners get a chance to call out (or think out) answers
before children deliver the "answer" lyrics. Other lyrical prompts encourage
movement and activity. For example, What Are You Wearing? encourages children
to perform specific actions (such as pat their pants if they
are wearing pants) according to what they are wearing, where
the action verb begins with the same sound as the object of
clothing.
The second half of Two Little Sounds features instrumentals of
many of the recording's featured 18 tracks. These instrumental versions allow children to sing along karaoke-style once they are familiar with the songs'
lyrics, or they can be used to encourage creative movement.
The concepts taught on this recording are
slightly more advanced than those featured on One Little Sound. For
example, the dual letter sounds of letters like G and C are explored in The
English Language Gets a Little Kooky (Consonants). While younger children will
surely enjoy the song, it's unlikely they will be able to keep up with the
educational concepts. The liner notes not only include lyrics, they present
detailed suggested
activities that take advantage of, and extend, the song's educational opportunities.
