Why is music so important for your baby’s development?
By Lynne O’Malley of Rhythm Time.
The ear is the first organ to develop in your unborn baby. Babies can hear and recognise sounds after three months in the womb. Therefore it is crucial to sing to your baby during this time and when they are born, as they will pick up on the patterns in your voice and learn to recognise emotions, as they are not yet able to understand words.
It is important to begin your baby’s musical journey from birth, and engage in multi-sensory and musical activities together, promoting the bonding experience. At this stage of their lives babies’ brains and bodies are changing all the time. The first few months of a child’s life are when they learn the most.
In Rhythm Time the babies’ eye muscles are developed through eye-tracking sensory materials such as scarves, feathers, pompoms, balls and bubbles, while their sense of pulse is nurtured through bouncing rhymes and songs, and dancing with mum to music with a strong beat.
Babies love to look at themselves and other babies, and we do this in a fun, musical way involving mirrors and circle dances, as well as action rhymes with partners.
We develop their sense of self and body through lots of body-part songs and rhymes, using repetitive language to connect the visual with the aural, and the kinaesthetic, eg. following a sound going up and down with the movement of up and down.
They are encouraged to learn about the world around them by using tactile experiences as well as sight and sound. We therefore use lots of different textures in the class for the babies to explore.
Unaccompanied singing is an important part of the class, since this will help your baby to recognise your voice and understand the emotions behind what you are singing. Speech is enhanced through singing and music, as we use a lot of repetition together with fun, catchy songs.
Hand-eye coordination is developed through babies learning to grasp instruments and use a different hand to tap, eg. using a beater to tap a drum.
Please feel free to come along to a Rhythm Time class and see for yourselves what fun we have! All of our courses have been written by a qualified music teacher, and delivered by music teachers and early years specialists.
Call Lynne O’Malley on 07789 895894, or book online at www.rhythmtime.net