Since it's Monday, it's a fine day to start something new, don't you think?
Today I want you to choose a song. Any song that has a simple melody (songs like "Mary Had A Little Lamb" which uses only 4 notes are a good first choice) and easy to remember lyrics. At my house, we are singing "The Green Grass Grew All Around". I chose this song because the melody is catchy but easy and we are working on the letter G here.
Once you choose a song, start singing it.
Yes, it's really that easy. Make sure you sing carefully and pay attention to your own pitch. Your children are learning how to find the right pitch from your example, so the better an example you give, the better ear for pitch they will have later.
Sing the song at varying points in your day. Sing it while you are cooking breakfast or folding laundry. Sing it while you give them a bath or drive to the grocery store. It usually only takes about a day of you singing before your children start joining in the fun. They will be eager to enjoy the song with you and you'll be amazed at how quickly even the youngest little singer will learn the song.
Don't like to sing or don't sing well? Grab any of the hundreds of children's music CD's that are out there. Your local library can help you there. Before you play it for your children, though, you need to listen to it and make sure that the artist singing is actually singing in tune. Do not use a collection sung by other children, unless it is a professional children's choir. You want to present only the finest example of musicianship to your child.
Play a song from this CD several times each day. Or you can choose to play the CD in it's entirety during some free play time. But it needs to be repeated through the whole week. You'll need to sing or at least hum along with the music so your child learns that it's not only okay to sing along, it's expected and natural.
I'd love to hear what song you pick to sing this week. I'll try to give you a great song for kids each week that you can use to develop your child's musical ear.
Good luck and happy singing!
3 comments:
So, two days before David came home from Iraq last tour, I was making pancakes for breakfast and thinking about all the things I had to do to prepare for his arrival. I was a little hyper, excited, overwhelmed...in short, I had all the ingredients for an impromtu rock song. "Daddy's comin' home the day after tomorrow" is still one of the most requested songs around here. :-) I'm sure there's some sort of musical benefit to rockin' out the to-do list.
I can't imagine NOT singing with Angie on a daily basis. When she was very little, it's how I passed the time on a walk or in the park swings or in the car. I remember singing (to the tune of "Oh my darling") "There's a baby, there's a baby, there's a baby in my car. She's not crying, she's not crying, little baby in my car." This because I'd grown tired of the other songs I used to constantly sing to keep her calm on drives to grandma's house. Now I get daily requests, and she happily sings along. Often, she even makes up her own songs, sometimes to the tune of aan old familiar and sometimes just notes strung together with lyrics describing her activity.
I love to sing to Evelyn and do it often. We cosleep, and I love being able to sing "Good Mornin'" from Singing in the Rain to her every day followed by "Rise and Shine and Give God the Glory."
I will take up your suggestion and try to stick to other songs for a week too instead of my sporadic choices!
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