Learning to sing, singing to learn

It's no secret, especially to those in the music education world, that using music to teach concepts is one of the best memory aids for young kids. This is why we teach our kids the ABC's to a tune, and why kids can memorize lyrics to any given song much faster than adults. This week, we have had an excellent demonstration of how to teach activities and concepts with a simple tune.

Exhibit A: whenever we put lotion on Aria, we sing the "Dove song" (for lack of a better title) which is really just "Dry Bones" with doo's and dah's. Aria has always thought it's hilarious and giggles her way through it, but just recently she started singing with us. After a while, we noticed she would ask for "doo-be-dah" whenever we changed her diaper. We didn't really put the two together until one day, when I was putting lotion on my legs after a shower. Aria walked up to me, started rubbing my legs and saying in a sing-song voice, "doo-be-dah, doo-be-dah." Now, it's one of her favorite things to get her nightly lotion on while we sing to her, and it's one of my favorite things to hear her say.

This is just one of many potential everyday examples about how putting words (unfortunately, "doo-be-dah" is not an actual word) or concepts into music can imprint ideas into even a young child's head. This is why it's so important that you know what your kids are listening to, not just on the radio in the car, but even on TV. A commercial ditty can stay with a kid for YEARS. I still remember ditties for random toys or theme songs from shows I only saw a few times as a child to this day.

Adults have a habit of mindlessly singing through songs they've heard a thousand times, but to a kid, that may be the time he learns the words and tries to figure out the concepts behind those new words. (This is another excellent, important reason for churches to take a good look at the theology behind their favorite hymns, but that's another rant for another day.) With a young child, the words aren't the only things that will get stuck in their heads. The words they learn and philosophies they are subconsciously being taught frequently start out with the music that is in your home. What are you listening to?

(Stock Photo)

It's all about the dance moves

As I've mentioned many times, Aria loves to dance with music. Any music. It could be the music she accidentally started while pushing buttons on our keyboard, or the 30-second clips of commercial music or even her Baby Einstein toy that plays Mozart; she doesn't care, she'll dance to it. Here's a video of her dancing with the theme music of one of our favorite shows - Gilmore Girls :) 

PS - Dancing is also a great way to start little kids into music - they learn a lot about rhythm and pulse when they're dancing! It's a great way to teach beginners or even to just do at home while you're waiting for them to become old enough for lessons. Dancing is usually one of the first signs of a musical child :) 

New Discoveries

well, this week was the first time aria crawled all by herself and in a straight line. she's been "scooching" since she was born (seriously, 3 days old) and in the past month, she's been moving a lot around the living room, but always in circles, never actually in a straight line. this past saturday, she crawled. in a straight line. right to my feet, which she's currently fascinated with. she's also incredibly proud of herself upon this new accomplishment, and always makes sure we're watching her when she decides to go mobile. attention addict.

she's also sitting up completely on her own now, until she gets so happy, waves her arms and throws herself off balance.

she's falling in love with music even more now - which is all right by me! mimi and grandpa got her a stereo system for valentine's day, and we've been playing music for her, and she's absolutely fascinated by it. she loves the blue glow of the stereo and the pretty music that comes from it. she's starting to dance to music on a regular basis, and also does a little dance whenever she gets excited - pretty adorable, i'm not gonna lie.

she's still  infatuated with "adult food" even now that she can eat real food - pizza esp. is far more interesting than pureed carrots, apparently. i can't even drink a pepsi in front of her, because she sees the blue can and knows it's something she wants and can't have and squeals at the top of her lungs lol. we've been keeping her distracted by giving her a stick of celery to chew on while we're eating dinner, but her occasional inability to actually get it in her mouth, while hilariously funny to watch, is frustrating enough that she can chuck it across the room....and then get sad that it's not in her hand anymore lol.

so many different little things that show how big she's getting...makes me sad, yet tickles me at the same time. she does the most adorable things (ie - climbing over josh's shoulder to get to his cell phone sitting behind him) but it just shows me how big she's getting. in a few days, she'll be 7 months. crazy. seems just like last week when we were bringing her home from the hospital. on the other hand, it seems like she's always been here...

tempus fugit. diligo vita.