For us this turned out to be the easiest and the most fun so far. And the fact that the last time I’ve heard of music notation was singing “Do-Re-Mi” in kindergarden, didn’t stop me. To aid our studies, I use the following site to get familiar with music reading myself: Introduction To Music Reading . Again, for the litte ones there are myriad of methods:

• Glen Doman method
• Power Point presentations
• Suzuki
• Teaching little babies music: wonderful recommendations from a professional. The most updated version of Tamsyn’s advice is available now at her own site: Professional Mothering.
  Part 1
  Part 2.
  Thanks to Tamsyn for sharing this!
• Other Materials (Toys, CDs, Books, etc.)

Other materials:

• Musical Toys Recommendations
• Classics for Kids: Lots of materials and audio programs about classical composers, their works, and kid oriented interviews with the experts. Can be loaded to iPod. The ones I’ve listened to were really nice.

  Read more…

Another wonderful free resource for baby’s development in music: Montessori Bells online. This is a free internet based program for discrimination of musical sounds by pairing and ordering, developing pitch identification. Presented in a form of fun and interactive game, this program mimics extremely expensive, but absolutely ingenious Montessory bell material: children manipulate “virtual” bells, ordering them, matching, having fun while their ear gets finer attuned to various musical sequences and notes. Very beneficial regardless of weather your are upbringing a professional musician, or just would like to expand your child’s horizons and developmental possibilities.

My little one, Smiles, is growing and I am anxious to introduce more music into his life. Our stereo got broken, and while we are working on a fix, I decided to join a mommy and me music class. Besides, Smiles tends to feel really excited in the most bizarre and overcrowded situations, so a few friends for a playdate just don’t cut it.

First of all, some links:
Music For Aardvarks official site.
Music Together official site.

Some YouTube videos:

Thanks to Tamsyn for sharing this!

Babies and Music? Some wonderful suggestions. Part 1.
Babies and Music? Some wonderful suggestions. Part 2.

Part 3

My best advice is to follow your child’s lead, and if he doesn’t seem ready don’t push it. I do know that in Suzuki they start kids as young as two, and one of the biggest ways they motivate their children is to play the piano yourself. If you play already, great, do it! If you don’t,

Read more…

Thanks to Tamsyn for sharing this!
Babies and Music? Some wonderful suggestions. Part 1.
Babies and Music? Some wonderful suggestions. Part 3.

With my son we mostly listen to a lot of music. I emphasize ideas like high and low, loud and soft, and fast and slow. I have some scarves that we dance with and he likes to mimic me, so when the music is slow we do large slower movements, and when it’s fast, we move quickly. He loves this. I have a few child-friendly percussion instruments I got at the local music/toy store, and we play with them too. At this age, it’s hard to get small children to tap the beat, but one thing we can do is teach them to respond to musical cues.

Read more…

     Thanks to Tamsyn for sharing this!
Babies and Music? Some wonderful suggestions. Part 2.
Babies and Music? Some wonderful suggestions. Part 3.

Speaking of music, I have to really recommend the Kodaly method. I actually got my degree in music and have had a lot of experience with children, and have been really impressed with it. It starts out for toddlers using authentic singing games and nursery songs. It teaches music reading through solfeggio (Do Re Mi, etc) before pitch names so the children can sight-sing music. It teaches in the sequence that is easiest for children to sing, beginning with Sol and Mi, gradually adding notes until they know the whole scale. They also teach rhythm using french rhythm solfege, which I have found to be particularly effective with my piano students. If anyone is intrested, I highly recommend the book “The Kodaly Method” by Lois Choksy. It is full of great ideas for teaching music to children, including several songs great for teaching in the back. I use a lot of Kodaly in my studio.

“Einstein has never used flashcards.” Haven’t you heard that one before? If you like to introduce your children into the wonderful world of knowledge and skills early, then I am sure you you’ve heard it.

While Einstein never used flashcards, it looks like most of our geniuses had some kind “early learning” experience. Take Mozart: he started composing/playing the piano when he was just two. Well, it sounds like his parents ALLOWED him to play with the piano (and actually encouraged!) at that young age – at the age, when most of the parents actually encourage their kids to stay away from the valuable objects in their home. Mozart’s father was a musician and devoted his life to developing his talent.

 
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English PowerPoint Presentations
Russian PowerPoint Presentations
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Presentations in other languages*/ ?>
Other methods/materials for teaching music

Note: files marked with ^M include Magnitudes of data – fact listing about each Intelligence Bit. Files marked with ^V include links to videos. Files marked with include sound effects.

Music Presentations in English

Classical Pieces 1 (enhanced Classical Pieces 1 by A.P.P. Thanks for sharing!)V

Classical Pieces 2 (enhanced Classical Pieces 2 by A.P.P. Thanks for sharing!)V

Classical Pieces 3 (enhanced Classical Pieces 3 by A.P.P. Thanks for sharing!)V

Classical Pieces 4 (Thanks to A.P.P. for a fantastic work!)V

As far as I remember, American Academy of Pediatrics recommends the parents to avoid showing TV to their kids until two years old. As for educational videos, there are a lot more videos that just claim to be educational, like Baby Einsteins: Baby Einstein videos harmful for kids?

There is even an article in Time magazine that links early TV watching to autism: Does Watching TV Cause Autism?

I don’t know how much this particular research can be trusted, since my friend with a PHD in psychology just has been attending a seminar on autism, which stated that the scientific community believes that autism is a purely genetic disease, and all other “findings” are just scandalous ways to get public attention.