Anyone around young children long enough soon realizes that a bulk of the time is spent getting them ready for something….ready for bed, ready for preschool, ready for a playdate/library/park, ready for bath, etc. But getting children ready for Kindergarten means more than just making sure they have everything on the school supply list. So what can early childhood educators and families do now to make sure kids are ready for one of the first major transitions in their lives?
You can find the solution in a music class! Educators (and researchers!) agree that young children who start Kindergarten equipped with certain skills from day one tend to excel. When young children are actively engaged in music making with a group, they are also learning foundational school readiness skills. In fact, here at Kindermusik we call early childhood music and movement classes the ultimate playlist for school readiness. Here are just a few of the reasons why we can make that claim.
Self-regulation – This vital skill has to do with the ability to control one’s own behavior, emotions, thoughts, and impulses.
Children who are given lots of practice with moving – and then stopping and re-starting their movement – are learning to control their bodies which in turn, leads to learning to control behavior and emotions.
Watch this delightful stop-and-go dance from the Kindermusik classroom at Kindermusik of Cleveland.
Listening – Not just hearing, but listening is a skill that must be learned and includes the ability to focus, discern, and distinguish sounds and meaning.
Children learn to listen, an intentional act, over time with lots of practice. In Kindermusik, we include Focused Listening (or active listening) in nearly every class.
Enjoy a little listening practice with this free Kindermusik Listening Game.
Social-Emotional Skills – These include the ability to share, take turns, be a helper, make friends, and wait patiently, just to name a few.
This list could describe much of what goes on in a group music class where we share instruments, wait for our turn to share an idea, help clean up our instruments, or make room on the Story Blanket for our classmate.
Watch what happens as this Kindermusik educator conducts an instrument demonstration of the slide whistle.
Early Literacy Skills – Early literacy depends greatly on phonological awareness, auditory discrimination, auditory sequencing, and vocabulary development.
A music class is a rich sound environment that develops the listening skills and vocabulary skills so critical to literacy success.
Listen for all of the descriptive vocabulary words that are used in this Kindermusik video from Kathy’s Music.
Early Math Skills – Success with math begins with developing an understanding of concepts like spatial awareness, counting by rote, and pattern recognition.
It might be surprising to discover all of the different ways that these concepts are explored and practiced in an early childhood music and movement class through hoop play, songs and finger plays, and all kinds of dances.
Watch how these children in Catherine Huang’s Kindermusik class are developing spatial awareness as they explore many different ways to play with the hoops.
Want to see for yourself how to use music to teach vital school readiness skills? Try these five musical learning activities with the children in your life. Or, learn more at www.kindermusik.com/schools and request a free demonstration at your school.
I should mention that our Kindermusik Educator, Jane Hendrix, took my Ellery in stride. Every week Jane would try a new tactic to encourage participation while also fully accepting Ellery’s form of engagement. In fact, we would often “sleep hello to Ellery” at the start of each class or sing “Resting in the Green Grass.” Eventually, Jane uncovered the one thing that finally coaxed Ellery’s eyes open for longer and longer moments—a dog puppet. Little by little Ellery began to participate with her eyes open, as long as the dog puppet watched. She danced with the dog. Played instruments with the dog and even got to take the dog home one week to play Kindermusik at home. She took that dog everywhere, which meant we played Kindermusik everywhere! We even sang hello–well, barked hello–to the peonies at the grocery store.
As parents, it takes years to see the fruits of our labor. Are we making the right choices for our kids? Is this worth the time, the money, the struggle? Well, today Ellery is halfway through first grade. And guess what? She participates with her eyes wide open! Kindermusik helped set the foundation for her love of learning—and her confidence to be herself. She loves to read, excels at math, and easily creates a network of close friends who accept her for her. Is she musical? Yes…but we plan to hold off on the drum lessons for now.
Try this at home – Rainy Day Playground
With increasingly more sophisticated technological advances, researchers are learning more and more about the powerful effects of music on the brain and the cognitive advantages of learning to play an instrument.
children in the air, swing them in a blanket, or even roll around on the floor. Your child will love every minute of it—and so will you—but admittedly at times it might feel like a workout.
Put these tips into action. Find your local Educator at