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!