- Use your home materials; use your family activity book in Our Time for activities to do at home; do the "bring to class" projects in Imagine That and the at-home activities in Young Child; practice with your child so he can feel successful playing in class. Let your child teach you how to play a song she is learning to play. Sometimes it's rewarding for your child when you let her start from the beginning, remind you how to hold your mallets, point out the notes you miss and so on. This also helps her to lern they don't need to be perfect when even grown-ups forget things and make mistakes.
- Sing, dance, and play music at home -- OFTEN-- Kindermusik CDs, other good children's music, your own favorite "family appropriate" singers and musicians. Make it a fun part of your family's day as often as possible. Remind children that the music we make by singing and playing instruments is also "real music" - not just what comes out of the CD player!
- Listen to a wide variety of music - classical, folk, country, jazz, a bit of rock and pop, music from other countries. Borrow some CDs from the library with out-of -the-ordinary music o find out what you and your family like.
- Create a "music basket" for your family, and put in your egg shakers, zig zag blocks, fiddlesticks, resonator bars, slide whistles, drums, tambourines, and any other music-making objects you can find. Even make a few of your own! Put it in the same room with a CD player so it's easy to put on some music and march, dance, and play often. Try to avoid the temptation to ask your children to "not make so much noise" :-) Of course, some instruments, like slide whistles and loud drums, make great basement and outdoor "parade" instruments!
- When you get to Imagine That and Young Child, keep your child's current instrument and bag very handy for them to get out. Yes, sometimes that means you'll get to class without your slide whistle, drum, book, folder, or glockenspiel, but it's so much better to actually use them during the week and your child can share with a friend or use a spare from his teacher in class.
- If your - Mom or Dad - play an instrument, play it for and with your child. It doesn't matter if you last played it in school and it's been in the attic since then. Children enjoy hearing it because: A) It's a real instrument, not just the sound of one on CD, and B) it's Mom or Dad playing it. Ask other family members to share whatever they may play - maybe Grandpa plays a bit of piano, Grandma plays the accordion, or Uncle Joe plays the balalaika (or whatever :-) ). It's a great way to share your family's culture and history as well as music, and often others will not think anyone would want to hear them unless they're asked.
- If you have older children, or older cousins, have a family music night where everbody plays something - whatever instrument they're learning to play, or sing a song. Have everybody join in for a sing-a-long and/or "family jam" with all those instruments from the music basket.
- Look for family concerts and events in your area. Orchestras, bands, choirs, parades, theater, ballet, puppet shows, children's performers, summer concerts in the park .. the list is almost endless. ------ By the way - next week-end is the "Karneval der Kulturen"!
- If you're not ready to invest in a piano, look for an electronic keyboard - one that is more than a kids#+ toy without being a huge investment. Put it in a place where your child can easily play it (not "play with it") and explore it - simply expect them to treat it kindly and gently - playing with fingers, not fists or feet, not putting food or drinks near it, and so on. Your could even consider looking for a used child-size violin or guitar - not to start lessons on it, just to explore and play.
- Try to avoid the temptation to rush into formal lessons - there is plenty of time for this when children are ready. This is a wonderful reason to continue in Imagine That and Young Child classes even when children are in school. We continue to keep the focus on process, not on performance, while we build our singing skills, instrument playing, ensemble playing, and even music reading and composing. We also weave in lots of movement, story-telling, and imagination to keep it age- and developmentally appropriate.
Happy music-making - and may your home be littered with music!
Thank you Amy Brewer for those thoughts.