Teaching Music to the Young Child - an approach

From time to time it is essential that I stop and look at my own teaching and assess what works, where I could have done better and what makes children smile.  Actually it is difficult to stop children smiling, so if they are not smiling something is wrong.  I have noted some of my thoughts here to start parents off, thinking about the best way they can help their child learn. Parents are their children's first teachers and will also be their last.

I am passionately interested in how and why kids learn or don’t learn, so I’m ever mindful of this underlying scaffolding:

1. Children have an infinite capacity to learn.  If we unlock the door by capturing their interest at just the right moment, enormous things can be achieved effortlessly.   It feels like riding a huge wave of enthusiasm as large pieces of life’s jigsaw fall into place.   But how to open that door…. Trying to push knowledge though the keyhole of a locked door is very difficult as all parents and teachers know!  Hmmm…

2. I review how I can unlock the door by presentation and generating excitement, not dumbing down learning in the vain hope that children might swallow smaller bites.   How we bore children – they just stop listening! What worked well in my teaching?   What bored me and therefore everyone else?   These activities can be dropped – always another and better way to present.

3. I am lucky to work with quite young children who by their transparency give me instant feed- back of my success.  It is easy to teach through fun and laughter and watching the doors fly open as we all move forward together.  I review the moods and quirks of the children and how much there reactions reflect their own age and home life.  How can I encourage each child to be open and relaxed so learning can take place?

4. I regard the building of confidence to be the key to all learning.   A confident child will take up ideas and run with them; a confident child will be willing to try new things and take risks; a confident child will be willing to make mistakes, learn from them and keep trying; a confident child will be willing to laugh at themselves and encourage others.   A confident child is a future leader.   How can I encourage this growth?

5. And I look at myself and my own attitude.  Do I make the children feel happy and secure?   Are they drawn to me by my warmth and understanding?   Are they happy to follow my leads and add their own ideas?   In these days of pedophilia we tend to keep children at a distance.  This is understandable, but children need to feel that you care about them as an important person in order to listen to what you have to say.  It can be so easy to unintentionally antagonize a child with an unguarded look, a harsh word.  So important to respect the dignity of each person.  Who will need some special help next year?

Wishing you all the best for the great moments and troubled moments that each year brings. We can only do our best for our children.  After that it is up to them.