A way to encourage children to get their bodies moving is to play music. My learning story took place in December. I wanted to implement music into children’s learning so I decided to create an activity that encouraged children to listen and dance along to the music. Rather than using the albums that my placement had in the classroom. I decided to explore many different genres of music that were appropriate for school-age children. I was able to find an album that I really liked and it was by Kidz Bop Kids. I continued to explore and see what albums or songs I wanted to save in my playlist and I discovered an album that had Christmas songs.
When I listened to it, I knew this was it. Since we were close to Christmas, I believed it was a great opportunity to introduce children to Christmas songs that were engaging for them. When it was time to do my activity, I brought my Bluetooth speakers into the classroom. I introduced the children to what we were going to do. They were really excited and started jumping up and down. When I connected my phone to the speakers and played the songs. Some children were singing along to the lyrics while others were holding hands and spinning around.
“You’re A Mean One, Mr.Grinch” and “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” were the top 2 songs that everyone enjoyed listening and singing along to.
The educators really liked how the activity created a positive experience for the children so they wanted me to continue to bring my speakers in for the next few weeks until it was my last day. Educators should encourage themselves to engage with the children by dancing along with them. They can also provide children instruments or materials that will allow them to move along with the music.
I learned that children will dance to songs that are engaging for them whether it is it Christmas or Halloween themed songs, Disney, JPOP or KPOP songs. I believe if I had another opportunity to implement music into children’s learning, I would have created a playlist that introduced cultural music. It will allow children to explore different types of genres and listen to different languages. Educators can use songs such as
La Copa de la Vida by Ricky Martin
These songs provide opportunities for children to explore a variety of languages that will allow them to expand their awareness of the different cultures through music. Educators can also search up playlists that are calm and soothing in different languages during their sleep time.
I discovered the songs in the playlist is relaxing and they can put children to sleep since they almost put me to sleep also!
Another way educator can expand the different languages through music by encouraging parents to bring in albums or recommend songs that are kids age appropriate. Educators should continue to research and explore more about how they can introduce diversity into children’s learning and into the classroom. As some educators have different cultural materials displayed in the classroom, I believe children aren’t really exploring or learning about it. Educators are using it for a display to promote diversity rather than implementing into the children’s learning and activity. If an educator doesn’t want to play music through speakers, they can use Just Dance videos which will encourage children to be engaged into the activity as they follow along with the music and the movements.
As an early childhood educator, I believe when I am implementing music into children’s learning, we can find different ways to encourage children to be engaged in the activity. For instance, children can improve their gross and fine motor skills by using instruments and they can interact with their peers. They can also listen to music while they eat during snack and lunch time because it can encourage them to communicate with their peers about the song. As mentioned above, the songs provide opportunities for children to explore a variety of languages. We can teach children about diversity in other ways that do not involve music. We can also read books that explains about different cultures. Moreover, I want to explore more ways to promote diversity in the classroom by implementing music into children’s learning.
