Teaching through Music

Both of my girls love love love music (in fact, as I write this Miss M is in her crib singing "Hey Diddle Diddle" instead of napping).  I'll never forget taking Miss M to the library to see Santa at 12 months old and watching her rock out to the music from the Zumba class.  Actually, the first time I really felt her move a lot when I was pregnant was when I went to see "Rock of Ages" (she has good taste in music, too).  Littlest has developed a cute little foot tap and head bob whenever she hears a song she likes.  They both adore the Dance N Beats DVDs, as I've shared in previous posts.  Miss M will ask for her dance class several times as week and it's a great way to get her wiggles out when the weather isn't conducive to playing outside.

Music is a great way to teach academic and social concepts as well as rhythm and coordination.  Miss M has great memory and will sing whole songs to us.  We love "Daniel Tiger" in our house and the little song snippets that they use to teach various social skills.  Miss M isn't potty trained yet but she will sing the whole potty song to you, listing the appropriate steps.  We also use the "Use your words" and "When You're Feeling Frustrated" tunes a lot and they really do help her calm down and let us know what she needs so we can avoid or short circuit many tantrums.

The rhythm of music and the rhyme of the words makes it fun and easy for children to learn not only the song but the concepts behind the words.  We've been singing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" to Miss M since she was littler than Littlest and she has known these body parts for a very long time (and face parts) as a result, giving her an awareness of her body and an understanding of how she is like us (since we all have the same body parts).  Later we used it as an opportunity to compare and contrast her body to our cats, another important language skill.  She also knows several alphabet songs (thanks to Little Baby Bum on YouTube) and will always stop on C, J and M to tell us which member of the family's name starts with that letter.  She can count to 20 because of music as well and is learning about rhyming words, which will be very helpful later when we start working on phonics more directly.

For Circle Time, Mother Goose Time has taken familiar nursery rhyme tunes and re-written words to them that help teach a concept for each unit.  I like that the tunes are familiar because 1. it makes it easy for her to learn something when she's only learning different words and not words and music and 2. it shows her that she can play with words herself.  She made up new words for "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" last week and it was fabulous (at least, I thought so).

So far, Miss M's favorite Mother Goose Time Circle Time songs are "Big, Big, Big Blue Whale" from last month (she likes to do it in the bathtub) and "Roots Bring Food to Plants".  Both of them include actions and I think that is why they appeal a little more to her than other songs.  She is very physical and likes to move (as attested by the fact that I can't get her to sit for more than 10 seconds most of the time during class).  If your child likes to move, I'd recommend teaching him or her finger plays or whole movement songs.  YouTube is a great resource for this (although make sure you preview the songs first, I've had a few close calls...).

This is preschool, not prep school.  I want my girls to develop a love of learning, not just be able to recite lists of facts back to me at an early age so I can impress my friends on Facebook.  I am also exploring the possibility of homeschooling for future grades so it is important that I learn the ways that help my children learn best.  Music has shown to be an early and effective favorite so it is one we will continue to use, with our Mother Goose Time materials and many others available to us on the internet and through the library.

What are some of your favorite musical collections for preschool age children?