Ever experience hearing a song on the radio that
you despise only to find yourself singing and humming it all day? No matter
what you do, you cannot get the song out of your head? Like or not, this is the
power of music. When teaching your child the days of the week, the alphabet,
the months that have 31 days, and nursery rhymes, she can recall the facts and
lyrics quickly, thus beginning the learning process. After all, reciting the alphabet and
identifying them are separate skills; music helps the harder task less
difficult. Therefore, it’s to parents and caregivers’ advantage to use music to
help children learn.
Music naturally gets our bodies moving. Want to
use music in fun and innovative ways? Think of the skills required to do the
latest dance craze. Take for example the Cha Cha Slide. The song helps teach
directions (move to the left, move the right), and helps children learn to
follow directions (jump, do the cha cha now), and helps them improve
coordination. Most importantly, such songs and dances help children recognize
that letters and words correspond to sounds and speech. Words mean something.
This is an important step in language development.
Activity
For
Infants up to 12 months, to improve language and literacy, sing simple songs to
babies, including some with corresponding hand gestures, such as “The Wheels on
the Bus” and “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”
Babies can control their hands and fingers earlier (beginning around 9 months) than
they can sing or speak (usually beginning around 10 to 12 months).
For
young toddlers 12 to 24 months, to improve language and literacy, Use songs to
stretch vocabularies. Songs and rhymes
help toddlers learn how to put words and phrases together. Pausing and letting
the children fill in the word blanks when singing well-known songs (“Row, row,
row your _____”) also encourages growing language skills. Expose young toddlers
to music from other cultures. Rhythm often makes it easier for children to pick
up new words and phrases—even in languages that are not their own. Introduce hand
gestures that accompany the lyrics to enhance children’s comprehension.
Consider options like “Los Pollitos Dicen” [The Little Chicks Say] (Costa Rica)
or “Muti Muhande” [A Tree Planted] (Kenya). Families are rich resources in
identifying children’s music from other cultures. Internet based sources, such
as www.mamalisa.com, also provide lyrics for children’s songs worldwide in
both English and original languages. Many of the songs have accompanying MP3 files
so teachers can hear the melody and pronunciations.
Resources
Old Macdonald Sing and Play: Kids can sing-along with one of their favorite songs while they play around on the farm too. Whether it’s tipping a cow, watching a cat drink milk, or causing bees to buzz around their hive, there’s plenty to discover within this app. Kids will get to interact with a pig, a horse, a cow, a duck, and a cat, along with all of the other objects and animals found within their individual scenes.
To read more about music’s impact on babies, infants, and toddlers, click here https://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/201003/ParlakianWeb0310.pdf to read “Beyond Twinkle, Twinkle: Using Music with Infants and Toddlers”
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