A super boy fighting against ASD & T21: Music enriches language development

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Music enriches language development

I am exploring every possible way to stimulate my son in every aspect of his development. My desire to help him, as much as I can, has brought me to find useful information that is molding the way I teach him, such as: Born to Sing: How Music Enriches Children's Language Development by Ann Gadzikowski, former Grants Coordinator, Chicago Children's Museum. Below is a fragment of the article:

When I was a preschool teacher, I had a child named Lizzy in one of my classes. She rarely spoke. At three years old, Lizzy usually communicated with me by tugging on my sleeve and pointing her finger at what she wanted. Yet I wasnít at all worried about Lizzy. My confidence in her was so strong because I knew there would be at least one time every day when I would be sure to hear her voiceóduring music time. Quiet Lizzy came alive whenever she heard music. She clapped, she danced, she even sang along to class favorites such as "The Wheels on the Bus" and "This Old Man." Her favorite song was "Where is Thumbkin?"

Eventually, Lizzy did begin to speak and soon was able to talk and communicate like other kids her age. She taught me that music is a powerful tool for giving a voice to a quiet child.

All children benefit from experiences with music. Music enhances learning, especially language development. Children's experiences with music build vocabulary, listening skills, and language acquisition.

Parenting is not that easy, but it is fun! Having my child has made part of my childhood comes back. I think I am experiencing a second childhood through my son with the American style. He will go to pre-school next year and I want him to be familiar with the popular American children songs. So, I have to learn the songs to sign to my son because I wasn't born in the USA I am not familiar with popular children's songs.

I got a radio for Tommy a couple of months ago because the ones he had where for babies and they were to basic for him. I started my search and I found The Little Tunes MP3 player by Blue hat Toy Company. The sound quality is good because it is not too loud and even the highest volume decibel. The bottoms are toddler friendly, which make it fun for Tommy because he turns the volume up and down, turns it off and on, and switches the songs. It can be used with headphones and download music to the radio.This is a real radio!

After I got the radio, I didn't know the songs. Then, I began to search for lyrics and I found www.kididdles.com, the best in children's music. In this website, you can find songs to listen to with the lyrics to read. They have a selection of 2,000 of the most popular children's songs, organized by alphabetical and subject order. It also has free download for the song sheets and music sheets.