Music for littles

[4KookieKids]

My 2.5 yo seems to connect with music and associated motions/movements in a special way. She loves (understatement!) to hear it, sing it, and dance to it, and would choose that over any other activity hands-down if given the choice. On Sunday mornings, she'd rather be in the sanctuary dancing to the worship team practice than in the play rooms with all the other little kids who are playing. I enjoy singing, but have no idea how to teach my kids to sing -- even though we do it regularly, my 4.5 yo still can't carry a tune to save his life!

 

I don't want anything hard-core or formal at this point (I generally prefer to postpone most things rigorous or academic until later), but would like to get some ideas about how to feed and foster such a natural inclination towards music. I know that singing with her is special, but I feel like there's something more there that I'm just not tapping-- like I'm missing out on connecting with her on some deep level because I don't really know what to do other than sing with her. I hope that doesn't sound silly, but I really feel like we're *both* missing out on something special because of my ignorance.

 

We have a music instrument set from Melissa and Doug (recorder, triangle, tamborine, etc.), a nice harmonica, and several electric toys like keyboards, guitars, etc. that she plays with a lot.

 

I don't know much about Kindermusic classes, but I do know that we're really strapped for money right now, so I'd like to avoid outsourcing.

[Staceyshoe]

This reminds me of my youngest at that age.  Even as an infant, it was obvious to me that he *craved* music.  We didn't do much other than listening--especially to classical pieces of music with harmony.  He learned the names and sounds of musical instruments, etc.  There are probably other things I could have done to feed his interest/ability, but I had no idea what.  (I'm sure others will have some ideas.) 

After he turned 5, I bought him some beginner piano books.  He took off with them and has taught himself to play.  He plays at least an hour every day.  (And this is my rough-and-tumble, impulsive, active kiddo.)  It's been *amazing* for him.  Perhaps I could have introduced it sooner, especially if I was actively involved in teaching him.  But I feel like he's getting that need fed at last.  So even if there's a delay before starting more music, it doesn't mean that her need won't be met down the road.  One thing about having a child with high ability is that their learning and development is often asynchronous, so there may be some lags where they just need more maturity/fine motor skills/etc to move on to the next step even though their little brains are ready right now.

[Syllieann]

If you are open to Catholic resources, making music praying twice is really great. This is our 2nd yr using it. It is very much like kindermusik at home with religious content. Lesson plans give ideas but lots of flexibility and offer pointers for incorporating the songs into your daily routines. It should be usable without tweaking for Orthodox, but Protestant would require a little tweaking. The instruments you already have would be enough to get you started. The song booklets are not necessary. You just need the cd's and the parent manual.

http://www.makingmusicprayingtwice.com

[Kerileanne99]

Whist probably not über popular on this board, you might take a look at Brillkids Little Musician. It is a cute program that teaches music theory, music appreciation, note recognition. Specific composers, and all sorts of things like rhythm, nursery rhymes in Solfege or letter names, really a lot of info.

When my kiddo started piano she was able to skip almost 9 mo of material (she just turned 4) because of exposure, and her teacher is now looking at the program to teach classes to her youngest students.

[4KookieKids]

Thanks for the recommendations. I'll mark those two programs to look into more down the road, but we'll probably have to wait on anything that would require a purchase, unfortunately, and need to go with free methods for now. I hadn't thought to try to expose her to classics with lots of harmonies, so I'll definitely do that! Any other free ideas?

[Teneo]

The "First Steps in Music" curriculum is wonderful! Or I also recommend Wee Sing. "First Steps" though also shows you how to arrange your music time with several lessons given as examples. Each level covers three years worth of music. Level one is for 0-3, and level two for 3+..

They contain simply finger plays, echo songs, story songs, clapping, lullabies, and other such music.

 

http://www.giamusic.com/products/P-4974.cfm

^toddlers

 

http://www.giamusic.com/search_details.cfm?title_id=5281

^preschool

[bakpak]

My DD has been obsessed with music for a long time as well. It transitioned into dance as soon as she saw her first Nutcracker ballet, but they're really separate/related loves. I think the best thing I did for her was to let her have access to the CD player with tons of CDs. We mostly listen to folk children's music, and not synthesized music. Thus, real instruments. She listens to tons of classical music by choice. Our favorites at your DD's age:

 

1. LOVES the Beethoven's Wig CDs (1 is best, but we enjoy all 4)

2. Ella Jenkins (You Sing a Song ....)

3. Elizabeth Mitchell (love!!!)

4. Smithsonian Folkways Children's Music Collection CD

5. Pete Seeger (any of his kid stuff....he's funny and very engaging with children)

6. Ballet music

7. Sarah Lee Guthrie (Go Wagaloo)

8. Wee Sing Silly Songs (I love their international one, but the 1st one was a huge hit with my child)

9. Peter and the Wolf was a huge hit. Anything with a story plus music is good.

10. Kids music from other countries (we study Spanish & a little French, so we have CDs in those languages as well. Great for kids!!)

 

If you don't want to mess up the original CD, just make a copy for your child to use.

 

We also have lots of instruments lying around for her to mess around with. We let her take lessons early (violin, and now piano with me). We take her to lots of music festivals or concerts. Free music at the weekly farmer's market is a huge plus!!

 

To put it in perspective, my DD has been listening to HOURS of music every day for as long as I can remember. Pretty much every waking hour, she would chose to have music or a story on, unless we ask her to turn it off. Enjoy your young music lover!

 

ETA:

And for free, if you like the sound of the folky children's music, then a lot of those artists are included in Pandora's Children's Folk station. You'll just get a commercial every once in awhile unless you subscribe. Or just put in "Elizabeth Mitchell" and the rest will come up.

[lea_lpz]

I did music together classes with my ds when e was 2 1/2 and we absolutely loved it. We still sing the songs. In fact today we saw se crowd in a tree at the dog park and started singing "2 Little Black Birds". It's a bit pricey but I though it was probably our favorite mommy and me type class we did. I'll probably do it again when my daughter (expecting in March) is 2 again.

[AimeeM]

*Love* the program Making Music, Praying Twice (Catholic content, just as an fyi).

[Korrale]

Little Musician.

[Shifra]

Here are some ideas. First of all, do not underestimate the importance of singing! Most of these programs like Kindermusik or Music Together just emphasize learning how to sing in tune and keeping a steady beat (albeit in a group setting to encourage Moms). I recently made a list of familiar children's songs that you could sing with your children. While you sing these, you could use the rhythm instruments that you bought for accompaniment to teach your children about the beat and rhythm of the songs. If you don't know the words or tune to these songs, most of these songs are in the public domain and you could find the words/sheet music/tune online legally.

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star/Baa Baa Black Sheep/Alphabet Song (same tune, different words)
Mary Had a Little Lamb
Frere Jacques/Brother John
Humpty Dumpty
The Muffin Man
This Old Man
Ten Little Indians
Old McDonald Had a Farm
Rain, Rain, Go Away
It’s Raining, It’s Pouring
Sing a Song of Sixpence
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush
She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain
A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea
Supercalifragolisticexpialialodocious
My Favorite Things (from The Sound of Music, now available as a children's book)
Hickory Dickory Dock
Pop Goes the Weasel

Action Rhymes Joanna Cole has a book, The Eentsy, Weentsy Spider: Fingerplays and Action Rhymes, that has instructions of how to do some of these action rhymes:

I’m a Little Teapot   
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
Ring Around the Rosie
The Grand Old Duke of York
Incy Wincy Spider
London Bridge is Falling Down
If You’re Happy and You Know It
The Wheels on the Bus
The Hockey-Pokey

If you want to play an melodic instrument, there's a "lap harp" called the Music Maker for which you can buy song sheets to slip under the strings and play. www.lapharp.com sells both the harp and song sheets. www.worldofharmonymusic.com also makes song sheets for these type of lap harps.

You could also buy a glockenspiel. I got mine from when my son participated in Kindermusik, but they sell them online too: http://store.kindermusik.com/p-302-kindermusik-glockenspiel.aspx  Nancy Poffenberger has several books for glockenspiels with familiar songs: http://www.funpublishing.com/?author=5 These books are with notes written as letters ("A-B-C") as opposed to notes on a staff: Your 4 year old could probably pick up how to play these songs easily!

NURSERY RHYMES WITH BELLS AND XYLOPHONE includes these songs: The Muffin Man; The Bear Went Over the Mountain; Ring a Ring of Roses; Eensie Weensie Spider; I'm a Little Teapot; Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush; Lazy Mary; Oh, Dear, What Can the Matter Be; This Old Man; Down by the Station; Ten in the Bed; A Tisket, A Tasket.

INSTANT FUN WITH BELLS AND XYLOPHONES includes these songs: Mary Had a Little Lamb; Jingle Bells; London Bridge; Farmer in the Dell; For He's a Jolly Good Fellow; Hickory Dickory Dock; Pop Goes the Weasel; Row, Row, Row Your Boat; Ten Little Indians; Baa Baa Black Sheep; Twinkle Twinkle Little Star; Brother John; Hot Cross Buns

[ThatHomeschoolDad]

Beethoven's wig, Gymboree CDs were popular, but for a long time the fav was Pirates of Pensance. Old Broadway stuff is bouncy, orchestral, with lots of possibility for movement.

[4KookieKids]

Thanks for all the extra ideas! We have a xylophone, but it's just a cheap-o from the store and the intervals make me cringe! Maybe I'll look into something a little higher quality. :)

 

First of all, do not underestimate the importance of singing! Most of these programs like Kindermusik or Music Together just emphasize learning how to sing in tune and keeping a steady beat (albeit in a group setting to encourage Moms). 

 

We do sing a lot! But how do you teach a child to sing in tune? I'm trying to teach them to keep a beat by both modeling and also helping by actually holding their hands sometimes to "feel" it. But I've no idea how to teach them to match pitch/sing in tune. My 2 yo has been putting her ear right up to (and even touching!) my mouth when we sing sometimes, and she is then sometimes able to match my pitch, but not very frequently.

[Shifra]

I understand that it is not until about ages 6 or 7 that some children can sing in tune, so if your daughter is not singing in tune at age 2, it is probably that she is still too young. By continuing to sing, your daughter will get better at singing and eventually sing on tune. "Tone Deafness" is extremely rare (like one out of every 10,000 people or so). Most people who were labeled as tone deaf were not given the chance for their singing ability to mature and were labeled too early, thus causing a "self-fulfilling prophecy" and self-consciousness about their singing ability (or so-called lack thereof).

[Sarah0000]

I found some Wee Sing songbooks at the used bookstore. They are simple enough you can play the songs on a toy keyboard. She could probably start learning some of them too. Definitely listen to classical music. My son's favorite is Beethoven's 9th, fourth movement. I only have a two year old, so my experience is limited, but my son enjoys more than just simple kiddy tunes. He likes old American folk songs and patriotic songs. You can watch orchestras on You Tube. Check out your local orchestras for family or kid events. One near us has four free family events a year which include an instrument "petting zoo" where the kids can explore the instruments. Do you have a close friend or family member who has a piano? Netflix has a show streaming called Taratabong. It's animated, but it has different instruments playing music. You can start solfege with her.

[Teneo]

You asked how to teach a child to sing in tune. That's why I like First Steps In Music. It includes call/response songs, echo songs, and pitch exercises to help in that area.