In recent days, I have been much reminded of the lovely woman who taught the Children's Church class I attended from age 4 to age 9 or so. Claudia was a wonder! It only recently occurred to me what a feat it was that she and one helper (and sometimes a parent or two) successfully held the attention of *most* of a group of about 50 elementary school children for 30 minutes each Sunday morning while our parents were in "Big Church." I think a lot of Claudia's success can be attributed to the dynamic music-making we enjoyed. We sang a lot! Each week, we used 6 or 7 songs from a "collection" of about 20 or 25 total songs in Claudia's repertoire. I still remember many of them. Nearly every song had some kind of physical movement to accompany it, and the multi-age dynamic was certainly there, as we ranged in age from 4 to 10 years old. In fact, some of us enjoyed Claudia's "church" so much that we hung around after we "aged out" to continue to enjoy the music and stories under the guise of helping with the younger kids. Looking back, I've realized that Claudia's church, particularly the music, had a strong influence on my career trajectory and my whole outlook on life. My mom recalls that my sisters and I used to regale the shopping public at any store we visited with our childish voices piping out "Jesus Loves Me," "Deep and Wide," "B-I-B-L-E." From a more music-teacher-y perspective, I know that the basic music competence that I attained through the weekly ritual of singing the same songs made learning to read notated music and play the piano at age 7 seem natural and easy for me. The songs we learned still have spiritual significance for me and give me emotional support, even as an adult.
Regarding that comment about music competence...
The Music Together research folks in N.J. define basic music competence in two parts, 1. being able to sing a whole song in key, 2. being able to keep an accurate steady beat with the body (by clapping, tapping, stomping, etc.) for the duration of a song. Basic Music Competence thusly defined is a requirement to being able to successfully achieve more specialized musical learning, and that's all there is to it. You can't keep a steady beat in your head while accurately playing a piano piece if you can't keep a steady beat just patting your leg. Because a child's work is her play, and most children LOVE to play with music, most children who are exposed to a consistently rich musical environment, will achieve Basic Music Competence on their own by about age 4 or 5.
Though most of my peers in Claudia's class didn't go on to become music teachers, I know that most of them enjoyed singing and clapping and jumping in Children's Church, and I'm sure the music-making experience enriched the lives of all Claudia's students, some of whom are now accountants and doctors and convenience store clerks and teachers. I don't necessarily hope that all my wee students become Music Together teachers someday, but I do hope that making music in Music Together class and at home will result in the same life-enrichment for them, the same ease in later musical learning, and the same wonderful memories!
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Babies Too Young for Music Class
I recently received an e-mail from a mom who is interested in attending Music Together classes at some point. She mentioned that at 5 months of age, her child was obviously too young to attend a class, but she wanted to go ahead and find out more information to be used in the future.
It is common for parents to think that there's really no point in a child attending music class until they are old enough to at least hold the instruments and props and toddle around in the classroom. However, my sincere belief is that the children who get the most out of Music Together class are the tiny babies! Usually these wee ones are tagging along with a sibling who is enrolled in the class. Babies often need to nurse and/or sleep and/or get diapers changed during class. They obviously can't participate in the way that most of think of as "musical." However, there is evidence that music class IS good for infants, and here is how I replied to the mom with the 5-month-old.
"At 5 months old, your child is too young to actively participate in many of the activities we use in class. Singing words, clapping hands, dancing, holding and using percussion instruments in the way the manufacturers intend, etc. will be beyond her ability for a little while longer. However, babies are extremely inclined toward music from before they're even born. Early childhood research has show measurable responses to musical stimuli from infants in utero, as well as babies who are not yet walking or speaking. Babies exhibit behaviors called "characteristic responses," which include certain gross motor movements associated primarily with musical stimulus and cooing on tones related to the tones being sung by the parent.
Of course, you aren't waiting until your daughter is 9 or 10 months old to begin walking around her or holding her up on her feet, and you wouldn't wait until she's near 2 years old to begin speaking to her. Your daughter is carefully watching the beloved adults in her life as they walk around, and she's carefully watching and listening when you speak to her. She will be motivated to learn to walk and speak English, because the grown-ups in her life do it and seem to enjoy it! It follows then that there's no need to wait until your daughter is physically able to sing and dance to do these things with her. She will love the musical attention, and she will already be learning from these musical experiences, at the level her brain is currently primed to take in and process them."
I have one more thing to add for those of you reading this blog post:
Just think of the beauty of having live musical accompaniment during YOUR meals or naptime. I rarely experience those luxury experiences! In all seriousness, infant siblings who attend Music Together class get a weekly reinforcement of the simple concept that music is part of life. Part of the every day experience. It's not something that requires a stage, a microphone, a CD player, or any special setting. Particularly if parents and older siblings go home and sing after class, these babies grow and develop with an ingrained understanding that music is for all of us during any occasion.
I do feel it's important that parents not feel pressured to enroll in a class before they're ready. But it's important for parents to understand that children benefit from musical experiences right from birth, and Music Together classes serve as a safe community setting where families will learn more about how to share music with their children and support their musical growth. Plus, the focus in class is hugely on fun--especially for the adults!
It is common for parents to think that there's really no point in a child attending music class until they are old enough to at least hold the instruments and props and toddle around in the classroom. However, my sincere belief is that the children who get the most out of Music Together class are the tiny babies! Usually these wee ones are tagging along with a sibling who is enrolled in the class. Babies often need to nurse and/or sleep and/or get diapers changed during class. They obviously can't participate in the way that most of think of as "musical." However, there is evidence that music class IS good for infants, and here is how I replied to the mom with the 5-month-old.
"At 5 months old, your child is too young to actively participate in many of the activities we use in class. Singing words, clapping hands, dancing, holding and using percussion instruments in the way the manufacturers intend, etc. will be beyond her ability for a little while longer. However, babies are extremely inclined toward music from before they're even born. Early childhood research has show measurable responses to musical stimuli from infants in utero, as well as babies who are not yet walking or speaking. Babies exhibit behaviors called "characteristic responses," which include certain gross motor movements associated primarily with musical stimulus and cooing on tones related to the tones being sung by the parent.
Of course, you aren't waiting until your daughter is 9 or 10 months old to begin walking around her or holding her up on her feet, and you wouldn't wait until she's near 2 years old to begin speaking to her. Your daughter is carefully watching the beloved adults in her life as they walk around, and she's carefully watching and listening when you speak to her. She will be motivated to learn to walk and speak English, because the grown-ups in her life do it and seem to enjoy it! It follows then that there's no need to wait until your daughter is physically able to sing and dance to do these things with her. She will love the musical attention, and she will already be learning from these musical experiences, at the level her brain is currently primed to take in and process them."
I have one more thing to add for those of you reading this blog post:
Just think of the beauty of having live musical accompaniment during YOUR meals or naptime. I rarely experience those luxury experiences! In all seriousness, infant siblings who attend Music Together class get a weekly reinforcement of the simple concept that music is part of life. Part of the every day experience. It's not something that requires a stage, a microphone, a CD player, or any special setting. Particularly if parents and older siblings go home and sing after class, these babies grow and develop with an ingrained understanding that music is for all of us during any occasion.
I do feel it's important that parents not feel pressured to enroll in a class before they're ready. But it's important for parents to understand that children benefit from musical experiences right from birth, and Music Together classes serve as a safe community setting where families will learn more about how to share music with their children and support their musical growth. Plus, the focus in class is hugely on fun--especially for the adults!
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