There is nothing quite like the glee that comes to a child’s face when musical instruments are passed out during music time. Drums, bells, tambourines, rhythm sticks, all excite children and help them participate in the activity. The experiences children have with music in the classroom stay with them forever.
Music is a basic medium of communication and self-expression for the young child. Even before children speak they are deeply responsive to songs and music in their environment. Research suggests, music helps develop reasoning skills, spatial reasoning, cause and effect, sequence and balance. Music is multimodal in nature; it involves auditory, visual, memory, emotion, and motor skills. Because music involves all of these brain functions, it helps engage both hemispheres of the brain, thus aiding in the child’s neurological development.
The following four modules will help you build skills for teaching music to young children. The lessons are:
Even if you know little about incorporating music into your classroom, these lessons will help you structure them into a productive music time. This class will change your music time! You will also learn and practice basic music skills like keeping a steady beat and singing in the appropriate range for young children, and you will learn lots of activities you can do with your group of children.
Approximate Length: 2 hours
Author: Jentry Barrett
Ph.D. student in Child Development and Early Childhood Education
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Instructor at Harris Music Studio
The following resources helps to expand your knowledge and understanding of Music Instruction for Young Children.
About the Expert: Dr. Robert Woody is a professor of music education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he teaches Music Learning and Development courses, psychology and sociology of music classes and Popular Musicianship. He also is the chair of Undergraduate Music Education and the Director of the Orff-Schulwerk Teacher Education Course.