Music and Movement

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!! Today has been filled with the sounds of my little Sunshyne singing and enjoying music. She loves to sing and learn new songs. She even asked for new batteries for her old toy microphone to put on a pretend concert. I love to hear the sound of her little voice belting out tunes of old. Some of my childhood favorites that are now hers ~You are my Sunshine ~Twinkle, Twinkle little star ~If You're Happy and You Know It ...Just to name a few. Ironically, one of my colleagues asked me to assist him in teaching a music and movement class next week and I thought how interesting a topic that would be to start out the new year here with you. While I was sitting here deciding which angle I would take for the training, I came up with more than a few interesting tidbits to share with you. Of course, I realize that this is blog and not one of those 1200 word articles that I love to read, but never seem to find the time to do... much more than look at the pictures and skim the first two sentences of each paragraph. I decided to write as much as I could and I promise not to get offended if you only skim the first few sentences...I'm an adult, I can take it. I decided to talk about the importance of music in the lives of preschoolers and any age really, but this age is one of the most fun to watch. Music is truly universal! Have you ever noticed that children, both young and old, can learn the words to a song with very little effort? With that in mind, I believe that you can teach a child just about anything if it is put to music. When words, rhythm and repetition are all combined together, you have the recipe for learning! The following are some suggestions for you to make the most of your musical experience with your toddler or preschooler.

• Play music that is appropriate for the mood you are trying to set
• Encourage your child to get up or move her body parts while listening to music
• Make up songs to replace the words for added language skills building
• Purchase or make instruments to use along with the music
• Sing a special song together that includes your child's name
• Record your child's musical experience either by video or audio recorder
• Use finger plays, and encourage your child to follow the directions of the song and get a bonus practice on sequencing. (eg. Give a Dog a Bone, and Head and Shoulders)

Well, that's it for today, I am going to leave you with the words to one of my new favorite songs...

Five Little Monkeys

Five little monkeys sitting in a tree,

Teasing Mr. Alligator

You Can't catch me!

Along came Mr. Alligator

As quiet as can be

And he snapped that monkey right out of that tree!

Count down till there aren't anymore monkeys left or you can say that the last monkey says "you missed me!"

Feel free to share your comments on music and movement or anything that you've read here.