So how do you get 4-year-olds to cooperate? It may be as simple as starting a sing-a-long.

German researchers recently published a study that says singing together may inspire spontaneous cooperation and helpful behavior. And couldn’t all our families use a little more of that?!

In the study, a group of 96 four-year-olds were split into pairs and given toys to play with. Half of the groups were taught a song to sing as they played, and the other half had no musical accompaniment.

After this play time, the kids were all given tubes of marbles, some of which were rigged to immediately spill when they were lifted. The children who had been singing together were far more likely to help their new friends pick up marbles than those who had not.

The children then were given a task which could be solved either individually or through cooperative action. Again, the children who had been in the first musical group were more likely to work together to solve a problem than the ones who had not.

Overall, girls were more likely to be cooperative and helpful than boys, but the levels of both traits were increased in both genders if they had participated in the music making.

In all, the shared act of singing and dancing strengthened the sense of community in children - even more evidence to support the idea that music really does bring people together.

Link to the full story:

http://www.miller-mccune.com/culture/do-re-mi-promotes-a-feeling-of-we-19058

Shared by Miss Cathy who loves to witness the cooperation in her classes as we all sing and giggle together. 

Ever wonder WHY it's a good idea for music to play an integral role in your child's development? A recent article in Nature Reviews Neuroscience offered some fascinating evidence to that very question. 

Researchers say that music training reshapes the brain in ways that pay off in a broader sense, by priming the auditory system for listening challenges - beyond those necessary to simply process music.

Just as physical exercise modifies the body, mental training and learning alters the brain and thus, the way we learn things.

Music lessons have been found to improve a child's IQ because the lessons nourish faculties such as memory, coordination and attentiveness. Music training sharpens our awareness of notions such as rhythm, timing, and timbre ( the distinctive quality of a sound), which also translates into the capacity to discern emotional intonations in speech (which will pay off in relationships down the road), to better master languages, and even help with the learning of statistics. 

Simply put, music makes us better learners. 

Written by Miss Cathy, who had music playing while she spent 2 days organizing her home office. It really did help her stay on task!

As a Kindermusik educator, you might think I have music playing in my house all day. It would be nice to have some happy, toe-tappin’ music playing from my IMac as I trudge through my administrative work – the not so fun part of my job. Well, my husband also has a home office and we happen to share a not so sound-proof wall. So I do listen to his music most of the day, but not always my choice of songs. Oh and now that summer is here, my son is home from college, playing his music from his laptop, at the kitchen table, which happens to be – you guessed it – next to my office. Wait, I’m not finished yet. My 17-year old daughter has her music playing loudly from her room. So as I head upstairs, I am serenaded by her musical choices – some pop, some alternative.

I stop…and think, “what a gift that my family uses music to help them get through their day. I would like to think that all the singing and musical games I played, with my children, to help us get through the days when they were little, had a big impact on why they love music so much. I was always singing to my babies, all day, every day. It fulfilled me and brought such joy to them. These are memories I will always treasure.

I often think about what our Kindermusik kids do at home during the week – the times when I can’t see their little bodies wiggling, dancing, or jumping. Or when I can’t hear their sweet little voices joining in all the fun in class. One of our longtime Kindermusik moms, Lisa, sent me a beautiful note allowing me into the daily routines of her children. All four of her children are Kindermusik students with the oldest, graduating from our Young Child program last year.

Thanks for having such a great Kindermusik program.  I wish that this program existed when I was a child!  Our kids talk about Kindermusik all the time.  We are always singing Kindermusik songs, usually in the car.  There are so many songs, that it is hard to remember them all!  We take turns in the car trying to come up with the different "Hello" songs to sing.  We just sang "When I Get Up In The Morning" in the car this morning.  Laura had sand in her shoes yesterday, and we started singing "Sand in my Sandals, Oh My, Oh My".  We do the "Toast, Toast, I Like It A Lot" song (with the funny interval) in the morning when I am getting toast ready for the kids.  Jennifer (who turns 4 next month) is REALLY into doing things by herself, so we often sing the "I Can Do So Many Things All By Myself" when she is getting dressed or trying to brush her teeth or change the channel on the TV.

   --- Lisa :)

Think about how music helps you and your child get through their day.

From Miss Cathy, who likes to sing, “All the day long, I’m singing this song, la la la la la la la la la!”

“Mommy – don’t forget! Today is Kindermusik!”

Every Friday morning, my 4-year-old daughter hops out of bed, excitedly reminding me of our Kindermusik date for the day. As I wait outside of her Imagine That! class, (a preschool age music class), waiting for family sharing time, I listen to the music and giggles coming from the classroom and think about why Fridays have become so treasured in our family. My daughter goes to preschool Monday-Thursday, so she’s already having time to interact with other children her age throughout the week. Yet Fridays continue to be a special part of her weekly schedule. So what does Kindermusik’s music and movement program do for my daughter that makes her look forward to each class so much?

I think the answer may be in this KINDERMUSIK acrostic:

Kinesthetic - My daughter LOVES to move and dance, especially to music. She’s constantly in motion. Kindermusik supports her need to move and learn kinesthetically through developmentally appropriate music and movement activities.

Individualized - Each child’s unique ideas and contributions are valued. Kindermusik activities easily adapt to meet each child’s learning style, whether kinesthetic, visual, auditory, or a combination of these.

Nurturing – Kindermusik nurtures each child’s individual development in a warm, supportive musical environment. Kindermusik activities create a learning scaffold that supports learning. Process, not product, is the goal.

Dramatic play – In my daughter’s Kindermusik class, children are given opportunities each week to act out stories related to the class theme and expand these stories with their own creative ideas. What a wonderful, fun way to support a child’s “work”!

Exploration – Each Kindermusik class, no matter what age level, encourages and supports exploration of instruments, objects (such as balls and scarves), and musical concepts like stop and go, loud and soft, and fast and slow.

Relationships – I’m constantly amazed at the many different types of relationships that are fostered through Kindermusik: caregiver/child, teacher/child, teacher/family, family/family, and child/child – just to name a few. Kindermusik gives my daughter the opportunity to develop different relationships with peers and teachers outside of her normal classroom environment. Plus it gives me a chance to connect with other moms.

Musical – Of course, this is what comes to mind when I hear the name “Kindermusik.” Kindermusik supports exploration and development of all sorts of musical concepts, instrument play, singing and vocal play, movement to music, and musical language (including reading simple notation and musical symbols). Each child’s innate musical ability is developed through developmentally appropriate musical activities.

Unique – Kindermusik uniquely integrates developmentally appropriate activities in a multi-sensory, explorative manner. Often 3-4 developmental domains (such as cognitive, motor, language, and social/emotional) are supported in a blend of musical activities that stimulate and engage the senses.

Sensory – Many different sensory systems (such as tactile, visual, auditory, and vestibular) are frequently activated simultaneously in Kindermusik. This leads to greater neural connectivity, which in turn advances learning. How cool!

Inventive – Kindermusik supports the inner inventor in each child…how many different ways can you play the bells? How about the drums? How many different ways can you move to the music?

Kids – That’s what it’s all about, after all. There would be no Kindermusik without kids.

Deborah Layman, MM, NMT, MT-BC
Board Certified Music Therapist
Owner, Creating Connections Company, LLC