Ask a teenager what they do in their spare time, and they will often say, “listen to music”. Ask an adult what they do to relax, and they will often say, “listen to music”. Music is so pervasive that it is hard to think of any situation where you would not come across it. From …
Read more “Early Years Music Education Training: Do We Need It? Part 1”
February is the month of love, so this month, we’re talking about music and relationships. Many songs are written on the topic of love, especially within adult contemporary music. Is it because love, like music, is a universal way of communication? We may never know, but music certainly has a way of evoking memories of …
Read more “Loving Early Years Music: How Music Impacts Early Relationships”
Literacy skills are fundamental to higher level skills like planning, critical thinking, problem solving and socio-emotional development. It all begins with fine motor skills like holding a pencil effectively, listening to stories and being able to retell them while anticipating events and consequences, recognising sounds and word shapes, and finally, forming letters and/or words that …
Read more “Building Successful Literacy Skills In The Early Years Through Music”
Self-regulation is one of the early learning goals under Personal, Social and Emotional Development. The Early Years Foundation Stage suggests that children will show an understanding of their own and others’ feelings; work towards goals; wait for what they want; focus their attention while following instructions. But why is self-regulation so important and what environments …
Listening is a skill that is fundamental to learning. It is necessary to develop listening before speaking, writing and reading skills can be introduced, so this is especially important in the preschool years. The ability to listen covers a variety of skills beyond hearing, including the ability to pay attention and understand. These skills all …
Read more “Using Music to Develop Listening, Attention and Understanding As An ELG”
Children are fascinated with the natural world and gladly spend hours watching (and trying to play with) the creatures and environments around them – usually when we least have time! By creating opportunities for children to explore insects, plants and animals around them, we allow them to discover their own hidden interests and abilities. The …
Read more “Music and Understanding the World in the Early Years: The Natural World”
This area of the early years curriculum involves children describing their environment using stories, non-fiction books and maps. Most religious and cultural celebrations can be introduced and shared at the appropriate time of year, like Chinese New Year in January/February, Passover in March/April and Diwali in October/November. This article considers the ways that children are …
Read more “Music and Understanding the World in the Early Years: People, Cultures and Communities”
Raising children involves sharing our everyday experiences with them. We gradually introduce them to situations which they may face one day, providing them with skills for independent, successful lives. By relating to children’s everyday experiences, it is possible to broadly cover the goals of history, geography and science, even in the early years. Howard Gardner’s …
Read more “Music and Understanding the World in the Early Years: Past and Present”
As society progresses, more activities are moving online. As a result, physical activity is becoming a hot topic for all ages, and even more so during times of restriction like lockdown. Long gone are the days for most families where children were turfed out of the house in the morning, only to be seen again …
Maths can be tricky in the early years because working with numbers is such a conceptual topic – there is no object that is a “four”, for example. You cannot pick up a “four”. You cannot smell a “four”. And the younger the child, the more literal they are. However, once children have been introduced …
Read more “Meeting Maths Early Learning Goals with Musical Songs and Games “
