Can your child sit still in class? Should he?

Can and should your child sit still in Music Together class? Not necessarily and not necessarily.

In each new enrollment season, at least one parent who is interested in enrolling in Music Together will express concerns about bringing her busy busy child to a class environment. I always try to reassure these parents and encourage them to bring their little movers to class.
It's understandably difficult for parents of "busy kids" to see other children just sitting quietly and "politely" in the circle watching the teacher. These parents wonder if their own child (who's turning somersaults in the corner) is getting anything out of music class...or they worry that their child is distracting others.

Worry no more! Of course it's very age-appropriate for children to be on the move...all the time! Movement and learning go together--it's been shown in neurological research, and more and more schools and businesses are acknowledging this fact and honoring it by incorporating physical activity into their curricula and programs. The Music Together program makes it possible for all types of learners to participate in or at least observe a variety of types of physical activity during each class--large gross motor movements and small fine motor movements, fast and slow, quiet and loud. Children are welcome to wander about and freely choose when to actively participate or passively participate through watching and/or listening. Children who sit quietly in the circle simply tend to be more visual and/or aural learners, while the movers tend to be kinesthetic learners.

Sometimes a child will seem totally disengaged from the class activity...sitting in the corner, looking out the window, playing with an unrelated object in the room, etc. But a child under the age of 5 is not capable of completely separating his attention from his environment. Even if his active attention is on a chair in the corner, the child's brain is noticing his parent's voice and actions, as well as the sounds and activity of the rest of the class. If you get close, you'll often hear the child in the corner humming or singing to himself. And parents often report that these seemingly disengaged kids will sing just as beautifully as you please...in the car on the way home from Music Together class!

What to do if you have a "busy kid?" Continue to participate in the Music Together activity! Kids under 5 are tuned into their parents' voices and actions more than those of any other person. Your child knows what you're doing even if she seems not to be watching. Alternatively, engage your child in whatever part of the room he chooses to be and in whatever way is appropriate to his current stage of development. If your child grabbed an egg shaker and headed for the hills, go to him and sit and shake your eggs together. If your child headed off to turn somersaults, go sing to him, turn some somersaults yourself (or just watch), and tap his back to the beat.

To balance this info, let me say that safety is a priority in Music Together. While hopping, dancing, waddling, crawling, walking, and most other forms of movement are fine, there is no *running* in class. Generally, children are able to moderate their activity when given an alternative. "You may not run in class. Would you like to bunny-hop or waddle like a penguin?"