Musical Play: A Case Study of Preschool Children and Parents

The overall purpose of this study is to discover the ways in which children engage in free musical play alone and with others. I really liked the idea of "free musical play", as there should not always be a method to the play activity of children. Throughout the study, "process over product" was emphasized. I feel that this is especially important for many parents to keep in mind today. It seems as if parents want every action to yield a clear learning result. I definitely think that it would be interesting to add a component of free play to our CMS class. I think it would be helpful to provide students with props and materials that would help them to engage in play. Then, all of the teachers could step back and just observe the natural process of play.

Singing Practices in 10 Families with Young Children

The goal of this study is to describe participation in singing in 10 families with young children. Because singing communication between parents and children can provide a basis for a child's healthy development, I am interested to see the format and results of the study. One statement that immediately drew my attention, discussed book-reading replacing singing in toddlers. I feel that this is very true among members of my own family and friends. Later, the study examined the three main vehicles or methods through which singing was implemented in the participating families' homes. I was in strong agreement with all three: routines, tradition, and play being true. However, one question that this study brought about was whether or not these singing practices should be used for extra-musical purposes. On one hand, I think it is helpful that parents were engaging in musical activities with their children. Even if there are other goals at hand, the child will still receive some benefit. On the other hand, I now feel a strong desire to advocate to parents that singing practices and music education in the home should take place only for the pure sake of music. In effect, I feel as if music in the home as part of a routine is not necessarily a good thing if it is not practiced in the right way. For instance, if music is included only to calm a child down, it will not be beneficial. If music is incorporated in a routine way but strictly for the child's development, it will be much more effective.I was impressed with the case study-like nature of aspects of the experiment. For instance, three different families, each displaying one of the methods of implementing music in the home, took part in intensive interview sessions. It was interesting to note that parents participation in singing with their children was often directly related to the parent's past experiences. In closing, I agree that a parent is the child's first teacher. However, the study suggests that parents must undergo some sort of formal music training in order to provide meaningful musical experiences for their children. I do not feel that this is the case. Parents often know and are capable of more than they believe. The combination of communication and interaction between the parent and the school/community music educator should be sufficient for the parent to learn, ask questions, and receive ideas.

Music at home with the under fives: what is happening?

The purpose of the study is to discover parents' musical practices with children in the environment of the home. After reading this study, I was immediately left with the feeling of wanting more information. The article provides a decent general body of knowledge about reasons parents may not engage in enough music play with their children. I am in strong agreement with these reasons. An underlying facet to each of these reasons, is the mere fact of parents being uninformed when it comes to their children's music education. Many parents believed that their children received enough music instruction in school, and that they could rely on DVDs and CDs. In part, maybe some school music educators are to blame for not emphasizing that musical instruction must also occur in the home. The study continued on to discuss in fair detail the reasons why the majority of parents are not engaging in enough music play. If I were an uninformed parent reading this article, instead of a music education student, I would definitely want to learn some techniques and tips after reading this. The main problem here, is that the article is stating the problem but not really giving the parent the tools to solve it. In addition, because the study only consists of parents from three Australian pre-schools, it is obviously not a wide enough sample of the population. Overall, I found the information interesting and helpful to know as a future educator, but not very suitable for parents who are having difficulties with incorporating music activities and education into the home environment.