submitted by Heather Muskrat, Music and Movement of Arlington
 I have been a music lover my whole life. As a daughter of two musicians, I cannot remember a time when music was not a part of my life. One of my earliest memories is of my dad putting on one of the tapes from his music class and my siblings and I dancing and singing in the living room to "Peanut Butter and Jelly". In fact, almost all of my early childhood memories involve music. I think that is because when I was making music or singing along to a song, I was perfectly content and happy.
It is because I enjoyed music so much as a child that I now teach early childhood music classes through Music Together here in Arlington. The class is for parents and children ages newborn to 4 yrs. We sing, dance, explore rhythm and movement, and play instruments. The goal of the class is to teach the children to sing in tune and move with an accurate beat in a fun informal environment. I love it because I get to see children enjoying music as I did, and I find that I still enjoy it now just as much as I did then.
Research shows that when a mother sings to her baby, the baby's stress hormone, cortisol, is significantly reduced. I see evidence of this each week in my class. Children who are upset when they come into class immediately calm down once we start singing our customary "Hello" song. We rarely have a crying baby, and most of the children are laughing, dancing, or singing their own version of the song. I hear wonderful stories from parents each week who say that their child requests their Music Together CD every time they are in the car. Children love making music!
Every child is born not only with a natural love of music, but also with an innate ability to make music. There is no such thing as a "non-musical" person. However, this ability must be nurtured in a strong musical environment at an early age in order to grow. Research shows that musical development is much like language development. When children are born, they immediately hear the voice of their mother talking and cooing to them. From that point on they are constantly exposed to language whether they hear people talking around them or talking to them. A baby's brain expands and absorbs knowledge at twice the rate of an adult, so children learn quickly and by the age of 3 or 4 years begin to form sentences of their own. What would happen to a child who was never exposed to language until they were 5 years old? Your child will not learn to speak unless you interact verbally with them. In the same way, you must also interact musically with your child. If a child's musical potential, also known as musical aptitude, is not nourished during that primary development stage (birth to 5 yrs.), then the child will not experience as much musical growth. Research shows that by the age of nine, a child's musical aptitude becomes fixed as the neurological pathways in the brain mature. If you do not interact musically with your child during the primary music development stage, they will never reach their full music potential.
 You as the parent are the key to helping your child achieve "basic music competence", which is the ability to sing in tune and move with accurate rhythm. Your child learns best from you no matter how "non-musical" you consider yourself to be, so you must take an active role in your child's music education. You can start by singing to your child or with your child at home. If you hear your child singing or making sounds on a specific tone, copy him by also singing what he is singing. This will create positive reinforcement and will encourage him to sing again. You can also explore musical sounds by making instruments from common household items such as two wooden spoons tapped together, a plastic container converted into a drum, or coffee beans in a plastic water bottle creating a home-made shaker. Put some music on and use your home-made instruments to play-along to the music! Children must be active participants in music making in order to learn, and the best way to encourage your child to sing or dance is to do it with him. Enrolling in a weekly music program like Music Together will not only create a positive music environment in which your child can grow, but it will also give you as the parent the knowledge and support necessary to help your child achieve Basic Music Competence.
Every child is born with the potential to sing and move accurately to the beat. These basic skills open the door to future successes in music and dance, but it is up to you to give them the environment needed to develop these skills. So sing a lullaby, play with some pots and pans, dance with abandonment with your child today, and you will give them the lifelong gift of music!
Heather Muskrat of Music and Movement of Arlington invites you to contact them and attend a free Music Together class.
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