Singing to infants and toddlers instead of using a tape or CD player

Singing to infants and toddlers instead of using a tape or CD playerThe truest expression of a people is in its dance and music.  Anges de MileThe history of a people is found in its songs . ------ George JellinekThe quote by Anges de Mile is relevant because of the diversity that teachers encounter in classrooms today. Teachers not only expected to amend their lesson plans to include different learning styles and (difference in) ethnicity and family make up. Music in our opinion is a platform that can be used to bridge the differences and ensure that children participate in this activity.Singing songs focuses a child’s attention to participate in an activity while enhancing their ability to sound out words. During our interaction with infants and toddlers we observed that some children imitate the lip movement without a conscious awareness. We believe this is one aspect that teachers should be aware of when introducing songs. If a teacher chooses to play a tape or CD over physically singing a song, he or she may be sacrificing an opportunity to aid in the child's speech development. Song choice is also a critical component to involve children in the singing process. The value of choosing appropriate songs is critical because according to England, Angela, harsh music weakens brain connection in young infants. Duncan, Bruce recommends that it is critical that children develop the capabilities to read their bodies signal. The benefits of music are several and singing is a tool to ensure that children are engaged in the learning process. For children having difficulty staying focused giving them an instrument to play along helps calm them and feel engaged.….Perhaps most exciting was that he was able to relate to those musical emotions to visual images  Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars – teaching children the concepts of up and down and the hand eye coordination can be integrated through songs.Even infants who cannot walk, are able to respond with their feet or hands when you sing the song – When your happy and you know it, clap your hands, stamp your feet..Observations of children ages 6 months - 2 years.March 9th, 2009When I began circle time in the classroom, I started by showing them a drum. I spoke with them about the drum head and all the different ways to play it. We talked about the designs on the drum and then I gave them each an opportunity to play the drum. One child, would hit the drum and look at me and then smile. Then hit it again and bounced along with the beat she was playing. Another child, who is only about eight months, will sometimes cry in the morning. One day I walked in and he was crying. One of the teachers was holding him and showing him toys and he continued to cry. I put my drum on the rug and began circle time. When I began to beat the drum, he stopped crying and he looked around the room. His eyes eventually found the drum and he watched it for a few minutes. The teacher brought him over and put his hand on the drum. I played the drum loudly and softly. He kept his hand on the drum and just stared at it while I played.March 16th, 2009I brought in a cd with a few up-tempo children's songs and played it for circle time. At first I gave them instruments and told them to play along with the cd. Two of the children in the classroom, played with the instruments for about 15 seconds and then went on to find new toys to play with. After a few minutes, the rest of the caterpillars dropped their instruments and began to look for new toys to play with. I decided to have the kids march around the room in a parade-like fashion with their instruments to engage their bodies more. I began to march and encourage them to follow me and march to the "heartbeat" of the song. Most of the children looked up and saw the new activity and joined in. Some of them got up, began to march, and then began to bounce their knees and bang their instruments on the shelves.March 23rd, 2009For circle time I brought in a yellow umbrella. I told all of the children that it was raining inside the caterpillar room and in order to stay dry they needed to come under the yellow umbrella. I opened the umbrella and they looked up at it. I encouraged them to join me under the bright yellow umbrella and slowly but surely they all inched closer to "stay dry." Then I said I was going to sing a song to bring the sun back out from the rain clouds. I began to sing "You Are My Sunshine" while spinning the umbrella. I then asked what the song was about and a child answered "sun!" I sang the song again and then the kids watched me sing and spin the umbrella.March 30th, 2009Today for circle I sang a song called "Grizzly Bear."Here are the lyrics and actions:Grizzly Bear oh Grizzly Bear is sleeping in a cave (all the children sleep on the floor)Please be very quiet, very, very quiet (close eyes or put pointer finger to mouth as if to imply the sound "shhhh")If you wake him, if you shake him, (start to wake up and sit up)He'll be very mad (ROAR as loud as you can).The children followed my lead and laid down on the ground. They watched me act it out and copied what I did. Then I stopped doing the motions and sang the song and most of them were able to remember which motions went with which lyrics. Some of the younger ones just listened and watched the older kids pretend to sleep on the ground.Suggestions for teachers based on our observations and interactions.:•    The children focus for longer periods of time and are more engaged when you are using your own voice the teach songs. •    A cd is played in the background during various periods in the day such as snack, inside free play, and lunch. It is possible when the cd is played, the children are not fully focusing on it because they are used to listening to the cd and doing other activities simultaneously.•    Singing a song with your own voice can also be beneficial because of the movement of your mouth. Children at this age do a lot of observing of your mouth when you speak to them.•    Same idea with body movements (motor skills) such as marching or dancing; they observe your body and copy what you do.•    You are helping to open their ears and build a physical relationship to singing; where in the body it comes from and how to do it.The same strategies would apply to dancing/expression in movement