Diane's most recent post got me thinking about the importance of a variety musical experiences for our young children. It is believed that children begin to form their earliest musical preferences while still in the womb. This will continue through the early childhood years and will form a foundation for their later musical interests and experiences. The greater their exposure to a variety of musical styles and cultures, the greater their love and appreciation for music as a whole. You should think of it as laying a broad musical foundation for them to build on in the future. My concern is that so many parents buy only the Wiggles or other children's CD for their children. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with any of these CDs, but if that is all that you are exposing your children to musically, then their musical foundation will be very narrow. I would encourage you to listen to a wide variety of styles and rhythms with your children, such as classical, world music, and even R&B, country or Rock songs. (with appropriate lyrics of course) The variety of rhythms and pitch contrast will also promote cognitive development in your child. The greater the variety, the broader the musical foundation and development your child will be able to build on throughout their life.
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1 comment:
We certainly get a variety of music at our house. We play the Kindermusik cds of course, and everyone in the household has been known to burst out into a particular song on occassion. Rock, country, classical, show tunes, you name it, we play it. The sound track from "Wicked" is my daughters current favorite.
And yes, we also have the Wiggles!
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