Music 'n' Moves

At Ladybird children are taught to love a blend of music, movement, rhythm and dance. Our Music ‘n’ Moves curriculum provides benefits to the mental and physical development of the children whilst encouraging language growth and social interaction.

For children to fully benefit from their sensitive period for music, we give them opportunities to actively experience music and movement. The focus shifts from asking children to sit still and listen to encouraging them to move and to play or make music.

Teaching music in the Montessori early childhood environment is not just about singing songs. While that is fun, there is more to presenting music to preschool-age children. We choose a variety of songs to offer children additional learning opportunities:

• Songs that focus on rhyming sounds, but not necessarily words, increase language development.
• Singing songs in unusual tonalities improves pitch and pitch recognition.
• Songs and chants with unusual meters not only help rhythm but also improve reading fluency.
• Songs with movement improve motor skills, concentration, and balance.
• Songs in other languages promote Montessori’s idea of cosmic education and broaden cultural awareness.
• Song-based storybooks promote and encourage literacy.
• Ritual songs strengthen the bond between caregiver and child and build community.

To help young children fully benefit from their sensitive period for music, we give them numerous and repeated opportunities to practice music in developmentally appropriate ways. We must make the learning developmentally appropriate, model music elements in our daily life and encourage families to support and include music at home.