Play is the WORK of the CHILD
During our music classes children and parents are often entertained and there is a set agenda that we teachers create but at home it is much different! Â Home time is where much of your child’s musical exploration occurs. Home time is a much more important time for development because it’s where your child freely plays and explores through imagination and experimentation. Â “Play is the Work of the Child” (Maria Montessori) Â This is where their imagination takes hold and they create a world to work through the thinking and emotions they’re developing.
SUPPORT THROUGH MUSICAL PLAY
One of the strongest ways to support early musical sounds is by directly participating with your child. With older toddlers this might be singing parts of the song with them. With smaller toddlers and infants this looks a little more like a conversation of babble. The way you speak to your baby and respond in a singsongy voice when they make babble sounds, you can sing a short musical phrase back to them. Â Have you noticed that some of our songs begin with little musical jokes? Your child may or may not be able to sing the entire songs yet but these little phrases are much more simple to grab on to. These phrases have tone and rhythm and in that silly interaction there’s a great chance for your child to experiment with sound and rhythm!
The most recent issue of Young Child from NAEYC is devoted to understanding PLAY! Be sure to check it out from our Learning-Wrold Lending Library!