Babies noisily make their grand entrances into this world. At first, all of those cries might not sound like music, but they’re really the first signs of a baby’s innate musicality. Just as they have to babble to develop language, babies have to “babble” in music to learn to sing. Little ones are born with a natural capacity to make music, whether they’re cooing, squealing, crying, or, eventually, giggling and babbling. Read More…
Today is Special Education Day, commemorating the 1975 passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). At Music Together, we celebrate this landmark legislation, the first U.S. federal law ensuring that all children, including those with disabilities, have access to public education. Read More…
We’ve all seen even the youngest children respond positively to music. As soon as they hear the first few notes, they’re bobbing up and down, swaying side-to-side, smiles taking over their little faces. This is the power of music: It’s a universal language that all of us are born ready to enjoy. Read More…
I’d like to talk to you about the idea that is fundamental to the Music Together approach—that parents and caregivers are a child’s most important teachers. Children learn music by seeing people they love model how to be active music-makers. And, in turn, the adults become more and more adept at interacting with their kids… Read more »
(some excerpts from Music and Your Child: A Guide for Parents and Caregivers) For a child “play begins in delight and ends in wisdom.” Children are born experts at it, and this magical process is absolutely necessary for them to teach themselves what they need to know about their world. There are several important characteristics… Read more »
As a new faculty member at Iowa State University in the ‘80s, Sister Lorna Zemke was an important influence for me. Sister taught at Silver Lake College and was a pioneer in prenatal music development. I was fascinated by her program, which involved singing to babies in utero. She observed that newborns recognized their parents’… Read more »
In a previous entry, Dr. Ransom shared how she uses music to have beautiful days with her grandson. Now she’s back with some ideas for how you might decipher and support the musical sounds that your baby makes every day. What is vocal development for an infant? What does vocal development look like? We all… Read more »
Babies: so adored, so cherished, and so mysterious! Parents often stare at their newborns, wondering, “What is going on inside that little, tiny mind?” The curiosity is even more intense when that little baby is all curled up inside its mother’s womb, before birth. Did you know that the baby’s most developed sense, before birth,… Read more »
When I first started teaching Music Together nearly twenty years ago, I remember trying to explain to my grandmother what my new job was. She seemed to grasp the general concept of a parent-child class that encourages family music-making, where participants learn new songs, play with percussion instruments, and carry on the music at home. But… Read more »
When my daughter (a recent University of Pennsylvania graduate!) was born, one of my greatest pleasures in being a new mother was singing to her. I sang often: to amuse her, to distract her, to comfort her, and, frankly, to keep my own spirits up as I went about caring for this mysterious, wonderful, yet… Read more »
