18th April 2011
The many possibilities that music has…
Today we had a very busy ‘music day’ where we devoted the whole day on music. Before getting to this day myself and other teachers have noticed that we were in need of more musical instruments and that a lot of children were having conversations about the wiggles, hi5 and other favourite children songs, so after having discussions at mat times about our ‘up and coming music day’ we discussed that there would be 4 children bringing in music and dance DVDs from home, and 6 other children that would bring in their favourite CD’s to sing and dance too, and all children to bring in some sort of resource/material to help make a musical instrument.
Research demonstrates that involvement in music and movement activities from an early age helps children develop good social and emotional skills. Research also links social and emotional development with school-readiness and even with higher academic testing scores. It's no surprise. After all, the same skills that foster emotional security and social success - skills like confidence, curiosity, cooperation, self-regulation, and good listening - predict cognitive achievement and academic success as well.
The day of our ‘music day’: Our ‘mat times’ we watched, danced, and sung along to various DVDs that children had brought in from home.
Te Whariki states that “children experience an environment where they discover and develop different ways to be creative and expressive” (MOE, 1996, p. 80).
At our ‘art time’ we used many ‘technologies’ to help create our own music such as paper, cello tape, crayons, rubber bands, boxes, scissors, etc to make musical instruments, there was a table set up for the hot glue gun where a teacher was their to help guide children with this.
And throughout the day we played various CDs that the children had brought in from home, where we danced around (Mamma Mia – was the best CD of the day!)
Wright stats that; “through dance, children learn to be aware of and responsive to the nonverbal communication of others. They develop observation skills, which in turn lead to personal and interactive physical-emotional responses” (Wright, 2003, p. 235).
I believe that music is primal; and perhaps it is the one worldly thing that can take us through our emotional world to touch the sublime. Our children not only deserve music, it is an essential ingredient in being human.
After this ‘music day’, myself, teachers and the children had the chance to sit down together and reflect on the previous days event, and from what the children loved about the day was that the children loved going home and choosing their favorite music DVDs and CDs and bringing them to the centre to share with everyone. Another great thing that kept coming up was all the musical instruments that the children had a chance 
to make and play around with – they all enjoyed having turns using the hot glue gun.
to make and play around with – they all enjoyed having turns using the hot glue gun.Our next big project that seems to be where we are going to head to is, creating dress ups/costumes to dance in and the children have already started to design what they want.
Bring on the sewing machine!
References
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whariki: He wariki matauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa/ Early childhood curriculum. Wellington , New Zealand
Wright, S. (2003). Children, meaning-making and the arts. Frenchs Forest
I enjoyed reading your blog Lisa. What a great way to intertwine technology within the curriculum of music and art! First of all, you fostered children's interest in music by allowing them to choose the CDs that they wanted to bring. This freedom of choice is a step towards autonomy and realising that their decisions matter. Ultimately, this leads to competent individuals (Ministry of Education, 1996). I agree that such experiences lead to emotional security and social success as well. This is because children have the opportunity to express themselves through dance, art and socialising with their peers. Music is an element that touches the hearts of all individuals in different ways. This must have helped the children design their own musical instruments and make their own music during the day. I like how you have instigated the extension of this experience by getting the children to design their own clothes for future dancing opportunities. The task of designing and creating is in itself a part of technology too (Smorti, 1999). Therefore, it can be said that technology is present throughout the everyday experiences within a centre. It is just that we, as educators, need to recognise and use it as a medium to extend children's learning.
ReplyDeleteReferences
Ministry of Education.(1996). Te whāriki: he whāriki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o
Aotearoa. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
Smorti, S.(1999). Technology in early childhood. Early Education, Autumn (19), 5-10.