Mrs. Denise Lawrenson 105 Murray Road Greystones Sheffield S11 7GH 0114 2676418 HOW MUSIC CAN HELP YOUR CHILD’S DEVELOPMENT Development Aims Cognitive Development – Listening skills, attention and concentration are all honed by the need to follow actions, tempo (speed) or dynamics (loud & soft).  Music also provides increased opportunities for speech patterning and extending vocabulary.  Regular participation can also head off some of the more common speech development defects and also be used to help correct those that have already arisen. General Development – Actions, if practiced, develop co-ordination and help children adapt to adult society. Musical Development – Simple children’s songs can help a child develop pitch, rhythm, repertoire, and confidence in their musical ability. Social Development – Turn taking, sharing, putting away (toys or instruments) and simply learning to listen quietly with a potentially noisy instrument in their hand are all major social learning targets. Emotional Development – Music is a socially acceptable way of letting off steam (loud instrument play) or expressing their need to cuddle (lullabies).  When we teach songs that make such emotional expressions possible, we equip children with the means to relax, console, and be stimulated in a way that is unlikely to be censured. Things worth knowing Almost all children can learn to sing tunefully.  The majority of adults who say they can’t sing have simply been prevented from gaining confidence in acquiring difficult skills, by negativity of the adults they encountered as children.  I think it is important that we guard against perpetuating such harmful mistakes. Children learn to imitate pitch by being able to clearly hear the note they need to copy.  Consequently most children progress more quickly when singing without accompaniment.  Background noise, particularly adult conversations, should be eliminated. The ideal length of a singing session is between 15 and 30 minutes, although just an informal song or two to accompany a nappy change or a car journey is great.  The longer the session, the more variety of song type the child will need in order to be kept interested. Children like routine and familiarity, so a regular pattern of songs is helpful.  Even at home try to choose a starting song and a finishing song and for longer sessions have a loose structure (eg. Action, instruments, movement, and end with lullabies).