Glen Education Professional Development

Music Matters

By Charli King, Trainee Certificate III Educator, Glen Edithvale Kindergarten

On the 26th August I attended the Music Matters online professional development session alongside my colleague San-Nan Chen.

The PD for me was really informative and gave me lots of new ideas and things to incorporate in the Kindergarten and for the children we have here at Glen Edithvale!

I found out lots of interesting facts about the way music can help children. Some of my learnings include:

With music children learn sounds, language and even physical movement. 

Music supports communication and the whole well-being of a child. It creates neural connections while increasing the brain development and connection by cross patterning and stimulating the brains development. 

Music supports social and emotional regulation and can relax children that in some circumstances could be the ones who are overstimulated and need a break. “Through music children explore joy, sadness, excitement and calm-essential emotional literacy skills.”

Music builds bonds, fosters a sense of belonging and routine and encourages children for taking turns and expressing and dealing with emotions. It’s a whole body learning experience allowing for energy release for those who need it. This is why music can also be an assistance for children who struggle to sit still. 

Humming games can really encourage children to engage and listen. It’s a great way to gain focus while a group time is happening. 

Your voice is an instrument, differentiate the two. Singing voice and talking voice.  

“We live in a visual world, children need sound to tune into the auditory world” 

We can use spontaneous singing such as pack up time or in response to weather. Gaining focus on group times such as getting the children to sit in a circle we can sing a song 

“let’s make a circle circle circle let’s make a circle on the mat, let’s make a circle circle circle and put your hands in your lap!”

Introducing new songs can be challenging as children enjoy visuals as well as auditory. So by knowing this, we can extend or alter the length of the time depending on the attention span of the children. 

Children also love the repetition of songs so adapting the different props (bubbles, parachute, scarves, hand gestures, cue cards) and things such as instruments. Depending on the group you have we can use drums, tone drums, xylophones, bells, shakers, you name it! Incorporating instruments that the children can use to create immersive play (not forgetting that their voice and hands are instruments too!).

For the children who need support transitioning in the morning saying goodbye to their family, simple songs and music can create a sense of calm.

Thank you for the opportunity to learn more!