I don't ever remember a time when I wasn't around music. In fact, my first word was "row" as in "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." (I'd say that I was sorry for my parents that my first words weren't "Mama" and "Dada", but it was their fault for singing to me. :D ) I always played around on whatever instruments I could find, whether it was my toy drums and xylophones or my grandmother's piano, and I started formal lessons (on the violin) at age 5. Music is such a part of me, that I pretty much constantly have one song or another running through my head at all times. It tends to help me focus, which is a good thing for someone with ADD!
As a preschool teacher, I've also seen the power of music working through children. Often kids who lack language skills (because they are speech delayed, autistic, whatever) will respond to music and be able to follow along with the hand motions or sing the lyrics, even if they don't talk much otherwise. Also, music is such a communal experience. It could be the kids joining hands and spontaneously performing "Ring Around the Rosie". It could be drawing the kids in with a song that involves their names. (They particularly love "A Ram Sam Sam" at the moment in my class.) It could be all the kids stopping what they are doing to dance when a particular favorite song starts playing on the radio. Or it could be at formal circle time, when kids who generally won't listen to a book for more than a couple of minutes at a time will perform along to a myriad of songs together, often laughing the whole time.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2012-04-27 02:14 am (UTC)As a preschool teacher, I've also seen the power of music working through children. Often kids who lack language skills (because they are speech delayed, autistic, whatever) will respond to music and be able to follow along with the hand motions or sing the lyrics, even if they don't talk much otherwise. Also, music is such a communal experience. It could be the kids joining hands and spontaneously performing "Ring Around the Rosie". It could be drawing the kids in with a song that involves their names. (They particularly love "A Ram Sam Sam" at the moment in my class.) It could be all the kids stopping what they are doing to dance when a particular favorite song starts playing on the radio. Or it could be at formal circle time, when kids who generally won't listen to a book for more than a couple of minutes at a time will perform along to a myriad of songs together, often laughing the whole time.
I just can't imagine my life without music!
Meredith // Hufflepuff