From Wikipedia:
A pattern, from the French patron, is a theme of reoccurring events or objects, sometimes referred to as elements of a set. These elements repeat in a predictable manner. It can be a template or model which can be used to generate things or parts of a thing, especially if the things that are created have enough in common for the underlying pattern to be inferred, in which case the things are said to exhibit the pattern. Pattern matching is the act of checking for the presence of the constituents of a pattern, whereas the detecting for underlying patterns is referred to as pattern recognition. The question of how a pattern emerges is accomplished through the work of the scientific field of pattern formation. Patterns are also related to repeated shapes or objects, sometimes referred to as elements of the series. Some patterns (for example, many visual patterns) may be directly observable, such as simple decorative patterns (stripes, zigzags, and polka-dots). Others can be more complicated, such as the regular tiling of a plane, echos, and balanced binary branching.
The most basic patterns are based on repetition and periodicity. A single template, or cell, is combined with duplicates without change or modification. For example, in aviation, a "holding pattern" is a flight path which can be repeated until the aircraft has been granted clearance for landing.
Pattern recognition is more complex when templates are used to generate variants. For example, in English, sentences often follow the "N-VP" (noun - verb phrase) pattern, but some knowledge of the English language is required to detect the pattern. Computer science, ethology, and psychology are fields which study patterns.
In addition to static patterns, Simple Harmonic Oscillators produce repeated patterns of movement.
In Kindermusik "Imagine That!" we are pretending, playing, twirling....looks like just plain old good fun. Deeper down we are becoming intentional listeners and intelligent thinkers! This week we are listening for patters of words in songs. For instance how many times do you hear a repeated word in "Row, Row, Row Your Boat?" I believe this kind of work creates places in your brain for math.
I'll often stop a circle dance to point out how the song has a pattern of "aural stripes" for the ear. Last semester singing "Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me" (thin stripe, thin stripe, thick stripe....) and the rondo activity we did with our "Drum Walk" (walk, run, walk, run, walk) where we illustrated the different movement with different color scarves on the floor.
A couple weeks after this particular activity Grace's mom tells me her story about how Grace is processing patterns in her mind:
Grace (3 1/2 yo) asked me if she would have a bath tonight. I answered, "No, you had one last night." She said, "That's a pattern, bath/no-bath, bath/no-bath."
Since then she finds patterns everywhere, in the color of cars (grey car, red car, grey car). or in her jewelry box (round earrings, silver earrings, round earrings etc.).
She loves Kindermusik and has learned more than I even imagined she would.
At this age they can't help but be brilliant! I'm so excited to be working with these children and to be nurturing their amazing potential!
Love,
Yvette
PS (also from Wikipedia:)
The golden ratio, (approximately 1.6180339887), occurs frequently in the natural world. Two numbers a and b keep the golden ratio when (a+b)/a = a/b, in this case a/b equals the golden ratio. It has a direct relationship to the Fibonacci numbers. This pattern was exploited by Leonardo da Vinci in his art. The Fibonacci pattern has a closed-form expression. These patterns can be seen in nature, from the spirals of flowers to the symmetry of the human body (as expressed in Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man, one of the most referenced and reproduced works of art today.
