About the Author
Christopher Okon-Abrahams is a seasoned Educationist, Lecturer, Teacher, Motivational Speaker and Consultant.
He once lectured at the Rivers State College of Education for several years before he resigned to work in a real International school here in Port Harcourt where almost every continent of the world is duly represented in student membership and attendance.
He has a proven track record of working with Children in the autistic spectrum, ADHD e.t.c with amazing results.
Today, he is the C.E.O of R.E.A.D Consortium with offices in Ibadan, Port Harcourt and Accra and he majors in
· Teaching and Learning
· Mentoring Programmes for beginning Teachers
· Instructional Techniques and strategies
· Early Years /Primary Education
· Best Practices in Education
· Special Education Needs
· Memory Techniques and IQ development
He is resourceful, honest, and confident.
He has excellent inter personal and communication skills and quality service oriented; he is also proficient in the use of computers and software applications.
Music
and
Child Development
Christopher Okon-Abrahams
Preface
A child needs the opportunity to participate spontaneously, enthusiastically, and completely in the various aspects of music. No other life experience can bring more thrills and enjoyment, or feelings of individual worth and self completeness, than experiences in some or all areas of music. With the many occasion it provides for self involvement and personally initiated activities, music is an effective way for individuals to become acquainted with their unique music abilities, ways of solving musical problems, and ways of expressing themselves creatively. Self respect, acceptance and respect for peers can result from satisfying music accomplishments.
Seeking and obtaining understanding of how children develop is a pre-requisite to becoming a competent teacher. Children learn in any situation as complete personalities. They are product of everything that has happened to them in the past and of everything that is presently happening to them. When teachers understand how children grow and learn, they find ways to span the gap between the learner and the subject matter of music. The problem of the teacher’s knowing the subject but failing to know the child a very old one. It affects all levels of learning.
When I teach I strive first to know the child and then possibly find the best way to impart the child with knowledge of the subject matter better still, I prefer to use the phrase ‘help the child unfold’ in a proper way, that is when true learning and development takes place.
Christopher Okon-Abrahams
January 2011
Chapter One
Music: A Natural Connection to Children's Growth and Development.
What do grocery stores, hotels, restaurants, places of worship, shopping malls, and automated phone systems have in common? It's music. When you're out and about, almost wherever you go, you will hear some sort of music. It affects how you feel, helps you to relax, or makes you want to move and dance.
Music is a part of life in every country and every culture. Music is used as part of our celebrations, holidays, religious or worship experiences, as well as for pure entertainment. Although no one can quite explain the reason why music has such an important role in our everyday lives, it does. I once heard a man say repeatedly that “music is more spiritual than physical”. Music inspires, soothes, excites, and bonds people of all ages and from all walks of life.
When a baby is born, somehow we know how to cradle and sing to him or simply hum a melody while rocking him to sleep. It is a natural instinct for parents to surround their new infant with music and song; it’s also a natural way to start building the brain's connections to growth and learning. Music affects and works on all levels of development: social, emotional, physical, and cognitive growth.
Music and Social Interaction
Music is a natural connection tool. It brings people together and helps them interact with one another. It is part of many social events. How many parties, weddings, or receptions have you attended that didn't have music?
The same sort of connection can happen between you and your child. Play music and you'll see children respond. Children will sway, swing, move, bang out a rhythm on a table, and bob their heads. Music is an easy way for parents to relate to their children. When an infant hears you sing to them, you are connecting with them, and they are connecting to you. It doesn't matter what the song is, just sing. It is making a difference.
Music and Emotional Development
Music is associated with our earliest memories, and experiences throughout our lives. It definitely has an emotional impact. Think of a song or piece of music that stirs up strong emotions every time you hear it. Almost no one is unaffected by its power on our moods.
Music has the ability to comfort and soothe children. Children will often sing to themselves as a way to self-soothe. You can use music to help calm your baby, or get your toddler to relax for naptime. If your preschooler is sleepy in the morning or sad, you can sing a song or play music that is cheery and makes them want to jump around and get moving.
Music and Physical Development
You can't dance without music, right? Well, you can, but music makes it much more fun. Music and movement naturally go together. Children most naturally respond to music by moving and being active with it. Music helps children learn about rhythm, timing, orientation, and coordination. According to Dr. Emmanuel Ogedegbe “The melody in music gets straight to the human spirit while the rhythmic beats affects the animistic which animates and moves the physical body”. You can use music to get children marching, jumping, and hopping, or during any kind of physical activity.
In addition to being fun for children, The "Hokey Pokey" dance, line dancing, square dancing and all group dances help children learn: their body parts (put your right foot in, raise your hands), sense of direction (turning around, going left and right, moving back and forth), or rhythm patterns (tapping to the beat).
Music and Cognitive Development
Toddlers and preschoolers love rhymes and songs. Not only do they enjoy them, but they help children learn about numbers, letters, and sounds ("ABC song", "This Old Man"). As children's brains are developing at their fastest when they are very young, with 80 percent of brain development occurring by age 3, and 90 percent by age 5, music helps with making connections in the brain.
Although there is some controversy on exactly how much music affects children's learning abilities, it is known that music is linked to improved math, memory and reading skills. When children are creative and make up their own rhymes and songs, they are also building their knowledge of words and sounds. They are building the connections in the brain.
Incorporate Music into Learning Activities
When you are interested, you will learn. Children enjoy music. Incorporating music into activities at home, school and in child care can help make learning enjoyable and therefore easier for children.
Many child care programs already know that music is a great way to help children prepare for transitions from one activity to another. For example, there's the "Clean Up" song that can be sung to tell children to clean up behind themselves, put their toys away. You can have a song for brushing your teeth or taking a bath that children will associate with that activity. Children love routine and making songs or music part of routines makes activities and learning fun.
Child care programs can ask children to bring in and share their favorite instruments and let the entire group play as a 'band'. Homemade instruments can be made as well, using pots, pans, lids, maracas made out of cups and beans.
For older children, you might consider letting them learn to play a musical instrument. Playing in a band or orchestra helps children with social and emotional development. Learning an instrument like the recorder or violin helps with hand-eye coordination. Reading music helps children think differently. Some schools already have programs where children can experiment with different instruments for a low cost.
Children love to hear themselves. Record your child singing and play it back for her. Or with a group of children, record each child singing a part of a song and play it back and have the children figure out who is singing which part. This will help improve their listening skills.
Music is an important part of the human experience. It is also a very creative medium. It allows for children to be able to express themselves in their own unique ways as well as contribute to their overall development. Find ways to expand how you use music with your children at home and in child care. There is no better way to learn and have fun at the same time.
Chapter Two
An inspiring story: Child development pioneer - Colwyn Trevarthen
Colwyn Trevarthen is Professor (Emeritus) of Child Psychology and Psychobiology in the Department of Psychology at the University of Edinburgh, where he has taught since 1971. His professional generosity, enthusiasm and scholarship have been recognised internationally. In Bosnia Herzegovina, Trevarthen collaborated in founding a centre for music therapy. His findings are widely quoted around the world.
For the past 30 years, Professor Trevarthen's research with infants and toddlers has focused on communication. He studied the rhythms and expressions of children's play and fantasy, and how musical games, songs, stories and acts of discourse with real or imaginary companions support the development of skills during infancy and the pre-school years.
As a consequence, he became interested in the interpersonal foundations of language and meaning, and on developmental problems such as autism that affect communication and thinking. With musician and acoustic expert Stephen Malloch, and others, he developed a theory of 'communicative musicality'.
Professor Trevarthen insists that observation is the main key to our understanding and, through this type of research technique, he has gathered information about infants' expressive skills and the adoption of nonverbal therapies, especially music therapy.
Building on work concerning parent-baby interactions and 'motherese' (the sing-song speech pattern used by mothers) and analysing adults' speech to young children, he has revealed similar rhythms and tone in teachers' expression, which he calls 'teacherese'. He has demonstrated its importance to 'collaborative learning' and to children's confidence in expressing their understanding.
We all know that babies and toddlers make a lot of noise. They may cry and scream to draw attention to themselves, and they also gurgle, babble and laugh and give us a great deal of pleasure when they try to imitate the words and language we use. They also enjoy banging objects together and throwing toys around as they play. Many early years practitioners try to discourage young children from being noisy. However, this may limit their curiosity and inhibit their learning.
Knowledge of the Birth To Three Matters framework will help practitioners encourage babies and toddlers to develop positive attitudes and skills through investigating the nature of materials and testing the power of their own voices.
To become competent learners, children should be exploring the environment and be supported sensitively by adults to name objects and materials. They also need to be able to make connections, by understanding the sequence of events that their actions have caused.
To develop self-assurance and confidence, children need to engage in creative experiences that challenge them to make choices and use imaginative skills. Practitioners can help children learn to listen for the sounds that different materials make and present them with music and musical instruments that stimulate physical movement.
A happy baby is a busy baby. Finding enjoyment in making noise is one of the most exciting early experiences that babies and toddlers have. And one of the most important aspects of this enjoyment comes from sharing the excitement with other children and adults.
Bells and chimes
In the first few months, babies show interest in all sorts of noises. However, their hearing is geared in particular to listen for more high-frequency sounds, such as the modulated and high-pitched voice of their mothers' speech. To stimulate their experience of similarly high-pitched noises, make available bells and wind chimes.
In the first few months, babies show interest in all sorts of noises. However, their hearing is geared in particular to listen for more high-frequency sounds, such as the modulated and high-pitched voice of their mothers' speech. To stimulate their experience of similarly high-pitched noises, make available bells and wind chimes.
- Attach small bells to a mobile to encourage babies to stretch, reach and hit with their hands or feet. They will begin to learn that they are responsible for making the bells ring.
- Hang wind chimes from a low tree branch so that they can watch them knock and tinkle as they lie in a cot or on a blanket on the grass below.
- Attach bells to your ankle or wrist so that babies can hear you approaching. They will learn to listen out for you as you move around the room and greet you with pleasure as you reach them.
- Give babies toys and rattles that have bells inside or attached to them.
Sign and clap
Children learn about language and communication long before they begin to speak, so it is essential that practitioners provide an environment that is rich in language and sound. Signing and clapping, methods of communication that all babies and toddlers instinctively enjoy are two ways of supporting early language development.
Children learn about language and communication long before they begin to speak, so it is essential that practitioners provide an environment that is rich in language and sound. Signing and clapping, methods of communication that all babies and toddlers instinctively enjoy are two ways of supporting early language development.
Clapping is an excellent physical activity for babies and one that is always accompanied by big smiles of contentment and excitement. Adults, too, feel an immediate sense of achievement when babies respond with enthusiasm and close attention.
- Sing a welcome song to babies and toddlers when they arrive and leave the nursery. Or you may choose to play an easy flowing classical piece in the background.
- Sing along to daily routines such as setting the table or walking to the park.
- Make up songs introducing characters and names that babies and toddlers recognise and which are likely to make them giggle.
- Sing traditional nursery rhymes that support the acquisition of a rich vocabulary.
- Encourage young children to clap along to songs, copying you so that they learn to clap to the beat of the rhythm.
- Clap to praise children's achievements and encourage them to clap each other's success.
- Try clapping with different parts of your body, such as clapping your feet together, clapping hands on your head, your forearms, your legs, your cheeks and your bottom. These physical movements will enchant children as well as challenge them to stretch and balance.
- Clap on other surfaces such as the floor and objects around you.
Rattle and bang
once babies can sit without support, they will enjoy examining objects and learning what they can do with them. Older babies and toddlers also love investigating objects and playing with them. Treasure baskets are excellent vehicles to extend knowledge of objects. You can stock treasure baskets with contents to suit the developing needs and interests of these children. Use baskets in particular to encourage them to pick up objects, rattle and bang them together and listen to the sounds they can make.
once babies can sit without support, they will enjoy examining objects and learning what they can do with them. Older babies and toddlers also love investigating objects and playing with them. Treasure baskets are excellent vehicles to extend knowledge of objects. You can stock treasure baskets with contents to suit the developing needs and interests of these children. Use baskets in particular to encourage them to pick up objects, rattle and bang them together and listen to the sounds they can make.
- A basketful of household equipment such as pans, lids, mixing bowls and wooden spoons make excellent play tools to explore making noise. Let children bang lids together like cymbals and tap with the spoons on the sides of the pans.
- Use recycled plastic drink bottles to create rattles and shakers. Fill them with beads, gravel, rice, dry pulses or pasta.
- Make a collection of objects that ring and jangle, such as anklet bells, cowbells, tambourines, and balls with bells inside.
- Hang low washing lines outdoors between or against fences so that children can explore making noise in the open air. Attach pan lids, triangles, tambourines or coconut shells to the line, and give children drum beaters and wooden spoons with which to create their own effects.
Listen and dance
Babies and toddlers gain knowledge of all sorts of music if it is offered to them regularly, and practitioners should ensure that the variety of music reflects the diversity of cultures in our society.
Babies and toddlers gain knowledge of all sorts of music if it is offered to them regularly, and practitioners should ensure that the variety of music reflects the diversity of cultures in our society.
- Play games that encourage toddlers to dance, such as musical statues, musical bumps and musical chairs. Never mind if they ignore the rules of the game - two-year-old children just love to take part.
- Listen to peaceful classical music when you want to create a relaxed atmosphere, and to vibrant classical music to encourage children to march around the room or garden.
- Ask members of staff or parents who play instruments to perform for the children. Listening to live music will have a real impact on concentration and behaviour, and children will be entranced by the experience.
- Use contemporary mood music to inspire dancing and encourage children to move rhythmically while waving chiffon scarves in each hand.
- Play lively music to inspire action and commitment at tidy-up time.
- Play follow-my-leader games in which children each carry a musical instrument and parade around the nursery and garden.
- Give children musical instruments to play accompaniments to nursery rhymes and songs.
- Make collections of natural objects that can be used as musical instruments, such as large African seed-pods, coconut shells and gourds filled with dried seeds.
Adults can help children learn that music is not just background entertainment. Music should be appreciated for the mood it creates and the experiences, feelings and sensations that it promotes. Early efforts to make noise will create the idea that children are budding musicians and that it is good for them to practice new skills of listening to and playing instruments.
Does playing classical music to babies make a difference? Opinion is divided; but many experts think that it may stimulate the brain in a way that helps educational and emotional development. It's known as the Mozart Effect, a theory which is credited with boosting IQ, improving health, strengthening family ties and even producing the occasional child prodigy.
Numerous studies conclude that playing music to babies in the womb and in the early years helps build the neural bridges along which thoughts and information travel. And research suggests it can stimulate the brain's alpha waves, creating a feeling of calm; a recent study of premature infants found that they were soothed by the music.
In Florida, all state-funded pre-schools are required to play classical music by law, and many US hospitals give classical CDs to new mums. In the UK, many parents have also embraced the theory, with Classic FM's Music for Babies CD enjoying several weeks at the top of the classical charts earlier this year.
Babies are very, and innately, musical. Research has found that they are highly perceptive listeners and quickly absorb an understanding of how music from their culture sounds. And research has shown that babies absorb music even before they are born.
Adults instinctively 'converse' with babies using a kind of baby 'dialect', a sing-song style known as 'parentese' with short, repetitive phrases and long pauses for the baby to respond. And the baby responds with eye contact, movements and facial expressions.
To describe this 'dialect' as musical is a good way to explain its characteristics of rhythm, timing and rising and falling pitch. Indeed, if you strip music down to bare basics, these are its main elements. That the qualities for relating well to babies and toddlers should also be the basis of music surely makes sense - fundamentally music is a means for bringing people together.
Relating well to babies by interacting in well-tuned and well-timed ways is important to their all-round development and well-being. We know, for example, that mothers who are depressed or having difficulty relating to their babies can be helped if encouraged to sing and play musical games with their children. The singing somehow provides a framework to support how they interact with their baby.
Starting points
See and value what parents and carers are already doing musically with their babies and move on from there. Take the example of Jo, a key-worker who takes eight-month-old Sam from his mother and holds him on her hip while his mother gets ready to leave. Sam stiffens and fusses a little and so Jo rocks gently side to side and quietly hums a phrase over and over to him. Sam calms, looks up at her face and Jo talks reassuringly to him.
See and value what parents and carers are already doing musically with their babies and move on from there. Take the example of Jo, a key-worker who takes eight-month-old Sam from his mother and holds him on her hip while his mother gets ready to leave. Sam stiffens and fusses a little and so Jo rocks gently side to side and quietly hums a phrase over and over to him. Sam calms, looks up at her face and Jo talks reassuringly to him.
Such a little incident is over in a moment, yet here is singing and movement to calm, reassure and distract woven into the ordinary, everyday fabric of looking after babies sensitively. Most carers do these small things intuitively. Developing music with babies and toddlers isn't about providing elaborate equipment, or leading singing circle times in complex ways or bringing in outside musicians to give special sessions, but about developing and building on these small-scale, ordinary moments. So what might everyday music look like?
Everyday music
The following singing and rhythmic movements are the easiest and most appropriate musical activities to develop with babies who are up to 18 months old.
The following singing and rhythmic movements are the easiest and most appropriate musical activities to develop with babies who are up to 18 months old.
- Lullabies - lulling a baby to sleep or soothing a fretful toddler with singing is an age-old part of childcare in all cultures. What song is sung matters less than how it is sung - gently, slowly, quietly, often with a line or two repeated over and over and with rocking or stroking movements. Carers have told us that they feel the singing is good for them too - looking after babies is demanding, and a relaxing 'time-out' to sit quietly and sing can have benefits for both carer and baby.
- One-to-one songs - in contrast to lullabies, play-songs entertain and delight and are more appropriate for older babies and toddlers. They are sung and played on laps - and often include actions such as tweaking, tickling, knee-joggling and surprise dips and spills. They are rich mini-dramas, full of excitement, anticipation, language, drama and rhythmic movement. And they require no equipment except an adult who is ready to play and a firm knee.
- Songs for outdoor play - songs go well with outdoor play - either made-up songs or songs for circle-games and more active movement games.
- Songs as part of care routines - songs can usefully support regular task and routines - such as washing hands, changing clothes and mealtime routines. Perhaps in a setting, Maureen knows that 14-month-old Ben finds it stressful having his nappy changed - and that he likes football - so she sings a football song she knows he enjoys to entertain and relax him.
- Songs to have fun, create pleasure and closeness - singing to create a relaxed atmosphere, a strong sense of the group and to bring everyone together is usually an important reason for including singing in circle times, but this can spill over into everyday activity. As an example, it is free-play time. Sophie enjoys a song about going out to play which Maureen often sings to her - and she likes to sit and bounce on a soft cushion as Maureen sings for her. Today Maureen links in Sophie's name, her own and Sophie's family members into the song words.
Song-rich environment
Most of us pick up songs to use from one another, or incorporate pop songs or old childhood songs we remember. But if your song collection is getting a bit tired or is limited, refresh it, perhaps by:
Most of us pick up songs to use from one another, or incorporate pop songs or old childhood songs we remember. But if your song collection is getting a bit tired or is limited, refresh it, perhaps by:
- collecting a repertoire of songs from staff members
- inviting parents to contribute songs
- researching and collecting songs from the local community
- making up new songs from things the children say or sing - or converting known songs into versions for this setting
- inviting someone with expertise to suggest and teach some new songs
- learning new children's songs from commercial CDs
Chapter Three
Movement Rhythm and Dance
In any discussion of rhythm, the name Emile Jaques-Dalcrose (1865-1951) appears as a pioneer of musical learning by means of body movements. Dacrose found that unless the learner experiences aspects of music by body movement, the music that individual performs will be mechanical, without feeling, and the expressive responsiveness to general musicianship may never develop.
Today every teacher of the early childhood education know that children learn first by using their muscles. From experience, I have confirmed that Dalcroze’s Eurhythmics developed the whole child, meaning good physical development, and muscular control, mental awareness, social consciousness, and emotional health as well as appreciating music. The body and mind are to respond to what the individual hears and feels. The method stresses
1. Rhythmic movement (eurhythmics)
2. Ear training, and
3. Improvisation.
Rhythmic responses to music are commonly performed in today’s schools, but usually in an insufficient amount that lacks organisation. The familiar body responses to quarter notes (walking) and eight notes (running) form part of the Dacroze approach. Students are to respond to the Teacher’s palting of drum or piano patterns by movement of feet, arms and body. A rhythmic game results when the Teacher alters the patterns, perhaps by reversing them. Simple tunes such as “Hot Cross Buns” can be acted out with ‘walk, walk, ste-bend for quarter quarter and half note. “Silent Night” can be felt rhythmically with
Step-spring run walk step-bend-bend
In today’s classrooms, with motions developed by children. Simple movements, well learned become units for performing more complex responses. Children who perform music with their muscles and bodies are believed to become more musical than those who just sit quietly and are thought to be learning music. Rhythm and dynamics are logical concepts to be learned through physical responses.
Children with Dalcroze training will refine their movements into those that express dynamics, pitch, phrasing, form and style. For example clapping can become a graceful, shapely gesture that expresses a particular piece of music. Emotion and feeling are translated into music.
There are also extension of Dalcroze method in to dance, physical education and therapy. I write this chapter with passion and utmost conviction because I had the opportunity to use these methods in an International school I once taught. We had children of expatriates from all over the world except the Antartica!
Some of these children couldn’t speak a word of English, but I was able to teach them songs from other cultures, enrich their vocabulary through the songs, I taught them wonderful songs that emphasize Movement, rhythm and dance and some of them now teenagers still talk about those wonderful kindergarten and primary music experience they had with Mr. Chris!
We even had children that had need of therapy and through this method I was able to reach them and help them unfold at least to an extent before they left.
Below is a list of references about the Dalcroze method.
WALKING
Children may develop different types of walking styles by pretending they are different characters or animals.
Grieg: “In the Hall of the Mountain king” from Peer Gynt Suite.
Herbert: “Dagger Dance” from Natoma
Kabalevsky: “Pantomime” from The Comedians (big steps)
MARCHING
While the interest of young children in marches focuses on body responses, the older children may be interested in comparing and analyzing different march styles. Military band marches can be compared with favourite marches of the young children – those having to do with toys, dwarfs and such. Older children could add to these march movements of Beethoven’s Third Symphony and Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony as well as the “March and Cortege” from Ground’s Opera, The Queen of Sheba.
Coates: “Knightsbridge March” from London Suite
Grieg: Norwegian Rustic March from Lyric Suite
Vaughan-Williams: “March Past of the Kitchen Utensils from The Wasps.
RUNNING
Running is on tiptoe is commonly stressed; the movement should be kept light.
Gluck: “Air Gai” from Iphigenie in Aulis
Bizet: “The Ball” from Children’s Games
HOPPING
Hopping is done on one foot.
Bizet: “Leap Frog” from Children’s Games
Bach: ‘Gigue” from Suite.
Jumping is to be done with both feet together, overly heavy movements should be avoided.
Chapter Four
Language Development and Music
Music Can Help Children Learn to Talk and Communicate. There is growing awareness amongst health and educational professionals regarding the benefits that music has on children's development, including language skills.
Speech-language pathologists and music therapists worldwide are identifying and harnessing the connection between music and language skills. By utilizing music it’s recognised that language development can be supported and improved.
Why is Music Effective for Assisting Language Development?
- Music has structure and rules (as does language)
- Music ensures that the words are sequenced in a predictable order
- Music offers a fun opportunity to learn new words and concepts through repetition (an important factor when helping to improve a child’s language skills)
- Music encourages turn-taking behaviours (just like in conversation)
- Music has rhythm (enabling actions to be combined with words to reinforce word meanings
- Music has rhyme (encouraging children to become aware of words and their sounds, which also assists with developing their literacy skills)
- Music assists children to remember new words (particularly once the child has learnt the tune)
- Music helps attention and listening skills
- Music and movement assists physical development and coordination skills
- Music motivates children to socialise, assisting emotional development
- Musical involvement is known to enhance self-esteem and confidence
Who Can Benefit?
All children benefit from using music to aid language development. Nursery rhymes, singing and dancing are an essential part of childhood learning, as Ros Bayley, a BBC Educational Consultant, Trainer and Storyteller explains in her article on music and language. For children who have difficulty communicating, whether due to a language delay, a language disorder, a syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, brain injury, trauma or bereavement, the benefits of music can be profound.
Who Uses Music to Assist Language Development?
The best results are achieved when speech-language pathologists and music therapists are able to work together with clients, however, due to both professions being highly sort-after specialists, this may not always be possible. An alternative is when speech-language pathologists possess suitable musical skills (a rare but unique combination) or music therapists are able to offer specialist skills in speech/language development (such as Sound affects Music Therapy). Therapists encourage the involvement of teachers and families in sessions.
How is Music Used to Assist Language Development?
Therapists may work one-on-one with a child, in small groups or larger classes. Children aren’t required to have any musical abilities (that’s the role of the creative therapist). Goals are tailored to suit the individual or group and activities are fun and flexible. Music can allow therapists (and family and teachers) to engage or communicate with a child when words alone will not.
As therapists become more aware of the benefits of music in improving language skills, and research continues to highlight this, they are seeking out partnerships with other professionals whose skills complement their own. This will ultimately ensure that children have the best chance of developing good language and communication skills.
The copyright of the article Language Development and Music in Early Childhood Development is owned by Claire Bolton. Permission to republish Language Development and Music in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
N.B to moi- Now educate parents how they in turn can take the place of speech therapists and help their children develop or unfold.
Language Development and Music
The Benefits of Educational Music for Kids
It is interesting to observe how fast children learn when they are young! Research supports our observations that learning experiences must begin in the early years from birth to age five. This is a critical time in a child's musical and cognitive development. The benefits of music and movement in the preschool years have been well documented. Research studies show that music enhances brain development and academic learning. Music affects many areas of brain function and neurological development. Many levels of neurological readiness exist in children, and music is a powerful enhancer at each stage of neurological development. The earlier a child is exposed to music and movement, the better. Research findings include:
-Children who receive early music training score higher on standardized tests.
-The use of music during learning can increase a child's IQ.
-Young children who take music lessons show different brain development and improved memory over the course of a year compared to children who do not receive musical training.
-There is a link between spatial reasoning and participation in music and movement activities.
Preschool children are at the beginning of the learning spectrum. Parents and teachers set learning patterns and attitudes and introduce children to learning by providing the first exposures. These exposures should encourage the joy of participating in music and making music. Joyful experimentation will result in the growth of musical skills and lay the foundation for future music learning as well as for future academic success.
As a music educator for 40 years, I have seen the positive results of music education for children. At Silly Bus performances, I enjoy seeing the positive reactions of the children to the songs and interactive presentations as they learn a variety of educational skills and concepts. The music and shows have great appeal for children.
As children make music, listen to music, and move to music through a variety of experiences, they develop creative abilities, attention spans, motor and rhythmic coordination, socialization skills, mental agility, and the ability to process aural information. It is very important for parents to expose their children to music and to encourage participation in music and movement activities informally at home and in more organized music education settings.
Movement is innate in children and provides the basis of everything young children learn. It contributes to the growth and coordination of the large and small body muscles. In addition, movement is an important nonverbal learning tool. Preschoolers understand much that they cannot yet put into words. They demonstrate their understandings through gestures and other movements. As we observe the child's movement, we gain insight into what the child is thinking and understanding.
Songs help us to learn as well as express ourselves in a musical manner. Appropriate songs for preschool children include nursery rhymes, finger plays, educational songs that incorporate counting, letters of the alphabet, animals and animal sounds, colors, etc. Songs and recorded music should promote activities such as walking, jumping, dancing, and marching. Clapping or patting the steady pulse or beat of rhymes, songs, chants, and recorded music is a valuable activity and preparation for future music ensemble participation. The ability to perform a steady beat while singing, speaking, or listening to music aids the child's success in reading and other academic areas. Music education is an important aspect for a child's learning process in life. From simple beginning experiences the child is guided to more sophisticated musical and creative activities.
While music is a viable stand alone educational program, music also reinforces and enhances the learning of other skills and benefits learning in many ways. This is especially true for reading and language arts. Music helps children focus on the structure of sounds which is an important aspect in language development and literacy skills. Having a musical vocabulary of melodic patterns and phrases directly transfers to the ability to develop a spoken vocabulary of patterns and sounds-thereby aiding the child's success in reading and communicating.
It has long been believed that brains change as a result of music learning. Researchers in neuroscience, utilizing recent advances in MRI technology, are actually studying the human brain in the act of creating or listening to music. And what they are finding is remarkable.
Perhaps the most exciting news is the evidence that music can actually change the physical structure of the brain - a fact that has critical implications for both education and medicine. Music may even be a major key to unlocking the mystery of how the brain actually learns.
Activities for Gross Motor Skills
Since gross motor skills can be learnt and improved with practice, children need plenty of opportunities to exercise these skills.
Gross motor control refers to the movements of the large muscles of the body.
A baby starts developing gross motor control from birth, beginning with the control of her head and torso, continuing until she has mastered sitting, crawling, standing and eventually walking, running, jumping and the range of activities that an adult can do.
Children learn new gross motor skills by practicing until a particular skill is mastered.
Gross motor skills include:
balance – the ability to maintain equilibrium
body awareness – for improved posture and control
crossing of the mid-line
laterality – awareness of the left and right sides of the body
major muscle co-ordination
spatial orientation – awareness of the body position in space and in relation to other objects or people
As a child develops increasingly better control of the arms and legs, she begins to develop fine motor skills, such as grasping, touching, feeding herself etc.
Without reasonable gross motor skills, children often struggle with the fine motor skills that are required for formal school work.
There are other added benefits derived from the physical exercise that practicing gross motor skills provides:
Randy Moore in his book Homegrown Kids says “At this age a child needs several hours of physical activity a day. This helps to build the body, purify the blood, promote good digestion and calm the nerves.”
According to Charlotte Mason in Home Education Volume 1, “For we are an over wrought generation, running to nerves as a cabbage runs to seed; and every hour spent in the open is clear gain, tending to the increase of brain power and bodily vigour, and to the lengthening of life itself. They who know what it is to have fevered skin and throbbing brain deliciously soothed by the cool touch of air are inclined to make a new rule in life: Never be within doors when you can rightly be without.”
Make sure your child has plenty of time to run around, climb, play and even do some work, such as gardening or helping with other chores out of doors.
Even if you are a city dweller, find a park, a vacant lot or other suitable place where you can go and get enjoy some physical exercise. Even in cold weather, dress up warmly, go out and develop your child's gross motor skills, while enjoying the outdoors.
“In this time of extraordinary pressure, educational and social, perhaps a mother’s first duty to her children is to secure for them a quiet and growing time, a full six years of passive receptive life, the waking part of it for the most part spent out in the fresh air.” (Charlotte Mason, Home Education, Volume 1)
Besides the physical benefits of being outdoors, for the purpose of physical activity, other valuable learning opportunities may also arise as your children encounter objects in nature or other subjects that captivate their attention.
From about three years of age, your child will be ready to make good use of playground equipment that is designed to use her large muscles vigorously and develop gross motor skills. Don’t deprive her of climbing – just help her to do it safely and within limits. Climbing is particularly good for stimulating a child’s sense of laterality.
Country living usually provides small trees and fences for this activity, but city parks or playgrounds with a jungle gym or slide will also achieve the same. Encourage your child to use and many of the apparatus at a play park as possible.
Developing Gross Motor Skills
No matter how proficient your child is at any given skill, always encourage and motivate her with plenty of positive reinforcement for her efforts.
Remember, that each individual has their own unique strengths and weaknesses. I believe that in life, we all need to learn to improve our weak areas to an acceptable standard, compensate for them where necessary while focusing on, developing and enjoying our strengths and talents.
No one is good at everything. The object of these stimulating activities, is to help your child develop each area to her unique potential, not to over-stimulate or try and develop super-babies!
The following are suggestions of activities you can do with your child to develop gross motor skills. They are aimed at 3-5 year olds, but since this is a wide range, you should adapt them according to your child's proficiency.
1. Play with a large ball. Encourage your child to kick the ball, using one foot and then the other. Then throw and catch it too.
2. Encourage your child to ride a bike, a push bike or pedal bike with or without side-wheels, according to your child’s ability.
3. Play “Simon says - do this.” Say those words and do an action that your child must copy. When you say “Simon says do that” she must NOT do the action.
4. To teach your child spatial relations. Ask her to stand in front of a chair, behind a chair, next to the chair, on top of the chair and crouch under the chair.
5. To develop her sense of laterality, let your child kneel on the floor, then instruct her in turn to lift her left hand, lift her right leg etc.
6. Tell your child that she must be your shadow and mimic all your actions as your walk about and perform simple actions.
7. Learn action songs and perform the actions as you sing them.
8. Ask your child to imitate the movement of different animals: creep like a snake, waddle like a duck, hop like a rabbit etc.
9. Encourage her to balance first on one leg, then on the other for as long as possible.
10. Ask your child to gallop like a horse.
Fine Motor Skills
Good auditory skills enable children to distinguish between different pitches, volumes, rhythms and sources of sounds and words, which has amongst others, significant benefits for learning reading.
Auditory perception includes:
auditory closure -the ability to complete indistinct or inaudible words to create a clear auditory image
auditory conceptualising - the ability to interpret and form a clear impression of a sound or combination of sounds
auditory discrimination – the ability to interpret information relating to the differences between sounds, which facilitates understanding spoken words and spelling skills
auditory localization – the ability to determine the source of a sound using only the sense of hearing
Auditory memory – the ability to store and later recall the impression perceived by the ears
auditory sequential memory – the ability to store a series of information in the order it was heard and later recall it, to facilitate following instructions and memorization of rhymes, songs etc.
Developing Auditory Perception
Remember, that each individual has their own unique strengths and weaknesses. I believe that in life, we all need to learn to improve our weak areas to an acceptable standard, compensate for them where necessary while focusing on, developing and enjoying our strengths and talents.
No one is good at everything. The object of these auditory perception activities, is to help your child develop each area to her unique potential, not to over-stimulate or try and develop super-babies!
The following are suggestions of activities you can do with your child to develop auditory perception. They are aimed at 3-5 year olds, but since this is a wide range, you should adapt them according to your child's proficiency.
1. Let your children listen to a wide range of different types of music and develop music appreciation.
2. Play and sing action songs and rhymes.
3. Talk to your child and let her talk back to you in different intensities of voice: softer, louder and with different intonations
4. Teach your child the sounds associated with familiar animals and objects e.g. a clock ticks, a sheep says b-a-a etc
5. Blindfold your child outside. Then call to her from different positions nearby and let her turn towards you.
6. Read or tell your child a story and ask afterwards ask her a few pertinent questions about the story.
7. Speak or sing in a high pitched voice and then a low pitched voice and ask your child to imitate you.
8. Play musical statues with your children. Play music and dance. When you stop the music they must stand dead still.
9. Clap a rhythm and ask your child to imitate it. Repeat with your backs to each other so that she cannot see you clap.
Activities for Fine Motor Skills
Fine motor skills that are automatic to adults, like manipulating the fingers accurately, require concentrated effort by young children, especially as they are still developing related skills such as hand stability, muscle tone, strength and balance.
Fine motor skills require movement of small muscles, usually in co-ordination with the eyes, but also include movements of the tongue and lips, wriggling of the toes and foot-eye co-ordination.
They are often for communication purposes, functional and expressive, e.g. writing or typing text, manipulating tools or creating works of art.
Between the ages of three and five children usually make rapid progress in developing fine motor skills and manual dexterity. However, these skills still require time, patience and plenty of practice. Fine motor skills include:
Ocular motor control – the ability of the eyes to follow and focus on an object in the field of vision as required.
Hand-eye co-ordination – the ability to execute activities with the hands, guided by the eyes requiring accuracy in placement, direction, and spatial awareness.
Foot-eye co-ordination – the ability to execute actions with the feet, guided by the eyes.
Manual dexterity –the ability to accurately manipulate the hands and fingers for neat handwriting, drawing, typing skills etc.
Stereo gnosis – the ability to recognise unseen objects using the sense of touch.
Tactile perception – the interpretation of information transmitted via the fingertips to the brain.
In order for children to develop good fine motor skills, there are also other supporting skills that need to be well-developed. For instance children need to have strength and dexterity in their hands and fingers before being required to hold a pencil correctly and begin writing activities. This can help avoid incorrect pencil grips.
Developing Fine Motor Skills
No matter how proficient your child is at any given skill, always encourage and motivate her with plenty of positive reinforcement for her efforts.
Remember, that each individual has their own unique strengths and weaknesses. I believe that in life, we all need to learn to improve our weak areas to an acceptable standard, compensate for them where necessary while focusing on, developing and enjoying our strengths and talents.
No one is good at everything. The object of these stimulating activities, is to help your child develop each area to her unique potential, not to over-stimulate or try and develop super-babies!
The following are suggestions of activities you can do with your child to develop fine motor skills. They are aimed at 3-5 year olds, but since this is a wide range, you should adapt them according to your child's proficiency.
1. Manipulation activities:
1.1 Manipulating play dough: rolling it into small balls, long rolls etc. (Play dough Recipe)
1.2 Tearing paper into fine strips – use them for collage or crumple them into balls.
1.3 Screwing up whole pieces of newspaper in one hand at a time to develop strength.
1.4 Threading beads or macaroni onto string.
1.5 Lacing activities.
1.6 Cutting out with scissors, using the correct grip.
1.7 Manipulating clothes pegs to pick up small objects.
1.8 Performing finger plays.
1.9 Preschool Sewing Activities are an excellent way to develop fine motor skills.
2. Sensory activities
2.1 Finger painting or manipulating other liquids with the fingers and hands e.g. slushy mud, tomato sauce (ketchup) on a plate
2.2 Picking up small objects with the fingers, like pegboard pegs, rice grains etc.
3. Activities to develop stability
3.1 Wheelbarrow walking, crab walking, hanging on playground apparatus to develop strength of the upper body.
3.2 Working on a vertical surface such as a blackboard or easel which requires the wrist to be bent back is good for developing fine motor skills.
An upright surface encourages a stable wrist position to develop good thumb movements, strengthen fine motor muscles and encourages the use of both the arm and shoulder muscles.
If you don’t have a blackboard or easel, tape some newsprint to the wall and have your child draw and scribble on that.
Let her draw large circles, using each hand respectively. Let her draw lines right across the sheet from top to bottom, diagonally and horizontally in both directions, using each hand respectively.
“The idea that parents should hurry reading, spelling, writing, or math ahead of children’s normal development is not supported by a single replicable research study in the world or by any clinical experience in history. All history, research and common sense points in the opposite direction! We repeat: Any who push the three R’s early deny the readiness the Creator built in – reasonably mature vision, hearing, taste, touch, smell, reason, brain growth, coordination – as clearly documented in our books Better Late Than Early and School Can Wait.”
(Raymond Moore, The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook, p46)
Activities for Fine Motor Skills
Fine motor skills that are automatic to adults, like manipulating the fingers accurately, require concentrated effort by young children, especially as they are still developing related skills such as hand stability, muscle tone, strength and balance.
Fine motor skills require movement of small muscles, usually in co-ordination with the eyes, but also include movements of the tongue and lips, wriggling of the toes and foot-eye co-ordination.
They are often for communication purposes, both functional and expressive, e.g. writing or typing text, manipulating tools or creating works of art.
Between the ages of three and five children usually make rapid progress in developing fine motor skills and manual dexterity. However, these skills still require time, patience and plenty of practice. Fine motor skills include:
Ocular motor control – the ability of the eyes to follow and focus on an object in the field of vision as required.
Hand-eye co-ordination – the ability to execute activities with the hands, guided by the eyes requiring accuracy in placement, direction, and spatial awareness.
Foot-eye co-ordination – the ability to execute actions with the feet, guided by the eyes.
Manual dexterity –the ability to accurately manipulate the hands and fingers for neat handwriting, drawing, typing skills etc.
Stereo gnosis – the ability to recognise unseen objects using the sense of touch.
Tactile perception – the interpretation of information transmitted via the fingertips to the brain.
In order for children to develop good fine motor skills, there are also other supporting skills that need to be well-developed. For instance children need to have strength and dexterity in their hands and fingers before being required to hold a pencil correctly and begin writing activities. This can help avoid incorrect pencil grips.
Developing Fine Motor Skills
No matter how proficient your child is at any given skill, always encourage and motivate her with plenty of positive reinforcement for her efforts.
Remember, that each individual has their own unique strengths and weaknesses. I believe that in life, we all need to learn to improve our weak areas to an acceptable standard, compensate for them where necessary while focusing on, developing and enjoying our strengths and talents.
No one is good at everything. The object of these stimulating activities, is to help your child develop each area to her unique potential, not to over-stimulate or try and develop super-babies!
The following are suggestions of activities you can do with your child to develop fine motor skills. They are aimed at 3-5 year olds, but since this is a wide range, you should adapt them according to your child's proficiency.
1. Manipulation activities:
1.1 Manipulating playdough: rolling it into small balls, long rolls etc. (Playdough Recipe)
1.2 Tearing paper into fine strips – use them for collage or crumple them into balls.
1.3 Screwing up whole pieces of newspaper in one hand at a time to develop strength.
1.4 Threading beads or macaroni onto string.
1.5 Lacing activities.
1.6 Cutting out with scissors, using the correct grip.
1.7 Manipulating clothes pegs to pick up small objects.
1.8 Performing fingerplays.
1.9 Preschool Sewing Activities are an excellent way to develop fine motor skills.
2. Sensory activities
2.1 Finger painting or manipulating other liquids with the fingers and hands e.g. slushy mud, tomato sauce (ketchup) on a plate
2.2 Picking up small objects with the fingers, like pegboard pegs, rice grains etc.
3. Activities to develop stability
3.1 Wheelbarrow walking, crab walking, hanging on playground apparatus to develop strength of the upper body.
3.2 Working on a vertical surface such as a blackboard or easel which requires the wrist to be bent back is good for developing fine motor skills.
An upright surface encourages a stable wrist position to develop good thumb movements, strengthen fine motor muscles and encourages the use of both the arm and shoulder muscles.
If you don’t have a blackboard or easel, tape some newsprint to the wall and have your child draw and scribble on that.
Let her draw large circles, using each hand respectively. Let her draw lines right across the sheet from top to bottom, diagonally and horizontally in both directions, using each hand respectively.
REFERENCES
(By Professor Tricia David, Nursery World, 16:06:05)
(Written by Lena Engel for Nursery World, 2 June 2005)
(Denise Winterman, BBC News Magazine, 19.05.05
(Taken from "Hit the right note" by Dr Susan Young, Nursery World, 25.09.03)
(Raymond Moore, Homegrown Kids, p113)
(Charlotte Mason, Home Education, Volume 1)
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