Oh, those blest baby siblings of Kindermusik families!

I've been thinking about the pregnant mommies in my Kindermusik classes! I often will ask the "big" brother or sister if they think their baby can hear the egg shaker or jingle bells. I know they can hear it all and are familiar with the voices of mom (especially) and dad and siblings.

I know, moms, that talking to your unborn baby is really important for language development and emotional well being. And I've heard of people taking classes in music before the baby is born or putting earphones on their belly so the fetus can hear music. Sorry, I thought that was a bit much! Well, maybe not!!! And why am I not really surprised?

In the past, women all over the world have sung lullabies to their babies.
These were very important because as we now know the fetus is having first language lessons in the womb. The inflections of the mother tongue are conveyed not only through speech but most importantly through song. The singing voice has a richer frequency range than speech. In fact, studies in other disciplines such as linguistics and musicology (e.g., David Whitwell, 1993) point out that there was a time when speech was song and therefore singing is the older of the two.

Here's more.

So blest are those families who bring thier first to Kindermusik while expecting #2! That new baby really is getting the royal treatment. AND those songs will be your new baby's favorites! The auditory system of the fetus is fully functioal about twenty weeks after conception. Researcher Alexandra Lamont of Keele University in the UK shows that they are developing memory for those sounds they hear. One year old children recgonized and prefered music they were exposed to in the womb even when they had not heard it during their first year.

That information I found in Daniel Levitin's book: This Is Your Brain On Music. (I am looking forward to hearing him speak at the Kindermusik Conference in October!)

Shin'ichi Suzuki the founder of the Suzuki Method of private lessons for violin, piano etc. knew this first hand from observing the baby who reacted joyfully on hearing the familiar music of the sibling playing on the violin.

So, before birth the babies are working on their brain: language development, memory, pleasure in music, .......

Don't stop there. At Kindermusik of Holland babies under 5 months old will receive 5 classes free (materials not included). Let's keep up the great momentum.

Yvette

How do we listen?

Stir it up, stir it up, just like so! Stir it up, stir it up....Around we go!!!!!

You've surely heard your Kindermusik teacher mention the importance stimulating the Vestubular System. They've even tried to explain it but it's a little foggy because at that moment the children begin running around (hmmm, stimulating their own vestibular systems!!!!)

When I first started teaching the newer Kindermusik curriculum I came across the information about the vestibular system and thought "What in the world is THAT?" And "How do I explain what I don't really understand?" So with a little bit of research leading to a passion of collecting information...I discovered that this is a fascinating part of our ear that really governs everything about us from balance to emotional well being to reading skills to.....

Hearing, which is a very very complex sense is the first to develop in the fetus (functioning at 23 days gestation!!!!Before most women even know they are pregnant ) and is the very last sense to leave us when we die. Really, you can't begin to imagine the importance of your vestibular system. Please read the great informative article at this link: http://www.tomatis.com/English/Articles/how_we_listen.html

Now go sing and listen!

Bells are ringing, listen to them ringing!

Bells are ringing, listen to them ringing!

Bells are ringing, listen to them ringing, all through the day.

Yvette

ps the diagram of the ear is from: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/bigear.html

Musician uses her ear to translate baby's cries

Yesterday I was telling the parents in my classes about early music education being a strong connection in the processing of language in adults. "Listen" to THIS:

Priscilla Dunstan was recently featured on the Oprah Winfrey show and talked about the language babies use to let you know they're hungry, uncomfortable, have lower gas, need to burp, or simply, are sleepy.You can watch the video here.

The musical connection: (via http://www.dunstanbaby.com/)"Already an exceptional violinist by the age five, [Priscilla] could hear a piece by Mozart once, then play it back in its entirety, note for note. Her father, Director of the Educational Testing Centre at the University of New South Wales, found that his young daughter had an eidetic memory - a rare photographic memory for sound."During her teenage years Priscilla toured throughout Europe and Australia as an accomplished concert violinist. Priscilla then spent more than 10 years exploring the world of opera, where her talent as a mezzo-soprano deepened her understanding of sound produced by the human voice."When Priscilla gave birth to her son Tomas, her instincts as a mother and musician led her to believe that a baby’s cries had to be something more than just random sounds. Noting combinations of sounds in a journal, Priscilla explored various settling techniques and observed Tom’s reactions. Eventually she was able to recognize patterns, and identify how specific cries had a distinct need attached to them."

Once you watch the video you will see that you too can tell the differences easily! Priscilla has taught us to listen on purpose! Don't we do that in every Kindermusik class from newborns to the Young Child classes!?

Thanks Molly McGinn! You are the very spirit of Kindermusik.

"http://www2.oprah.com/tows/slide/200611/20061113/slide_20061113_350_101.jhtml