Musical Medicine: A Dream To Communicate

Singing in childhood is something that most of us take for granted in our early years. It reaches children by soothing, relaxing, inspiring and bonding children in ways that few other activities can. But could it perhaps improve children’s life opportunities, proving to be more valuable than previously thought?

Child health is of increasing concern to the government. A wide range of organisations regularly report on statistics like the number of child deaths and hospitalisations, challenging the government to improve standards of living, educational achievement and economic prosperity for all citizens.

Many organisations have identified an attainment gap between the advantaged and disadvantaged. Clear developmental differences can be seen between those who will comfortably continue to develop their education, and those who will fall further behind. This gap is evident by the age of 3.

The Office of National Statistics reports that 92.5% of 2-2 ½ year olds receive a review on their development. This is based on the ASQ3 questionnaire: sets of interview questions that identify developmental milestones. The key indicators include Communication, Gross Motor Movement, Fine Motor Movement, Problem Solvingand Personal Social Skills. This article focusses on way that music can support the development of Communication for all children.

One organisation actively investigating this gap is the Education Endowment Foundation. Their 2020 report indicates that they have found:

1. Early years education can prevent the gap by developing communication and language, self-regulation and parental involvement
2. Improving teacher qualifications makes the biggest difference
3. Targeted small group and one-to-one interventions are more effective than whole-class / school-wide
4. Transitions from nursery to primary, primary to secondary, pose the greatest risks to vulnerable learners – early support can prevent falling behind
5. Improving post-16 attainment is most difficult for children from disadvantaged backgrounds
6. Better outcomes for schools have been identified when Pupil Premium funding supports senior leaders in improving teaching
7. Most educators are eager to find and use evidence
8. Programmes used must have good evidence or be discarded
9. Key teaching areas, e.g. literacy interventions, can be implemented immediately
10. Teaching assistants must be well-trained in small groups and structured interventions or they can have a negative impact on disadvantaged children
11. Projects must be clearly structured, focussed and targeted to be effective
12. Most school approaches are equal to or better than specialist programmes
13. No catch-up programme has successfully closed the attainment gap, specifically in reading
14. Essential life skills (”character”) determine life chances, and are measurable, but there is no evidence yet that this impacts academic attainment
15. Sharing best practice between schools and teachers is key to closing the gap

Here are a few ways that music can support the development of Communication:

Wee Willie Winkie

Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town
Upstairs and downstairs in his nightgown
Tapping on the windows, rapping on the locks
Are the children in their beds for it’s past 8 o’clock.

This lovely old song evokes fantastical imaginative scenes! It is also written in very clear musical phrasing, which makes it a wonderful song to play in groups using instruments, taking it in turns. Dividing the children into 4 groups, the first could tap plastic cups together, like horses running through a town. The second group could use instruments like ukuleles or chimes, mimicking the gentle movement of the fabric of a nightgown. The third group could tap or shake metal instruments like tambourines or chime bars, to represent metal locks. The last group could tap claves or drums, to “tick-tock” like a clock. This activity develops the conversational skills of taking turns, listening to others, timing your response, and knowing that the sounds you make and what you have to say is needed, like everyone else.