Sing It! The Music Issue
The Editor's Letter
by Jennifer Cooper, posted on January 29th, 2010 in The Music Issue
‹ Previous Feature | The Music Issue | Next Feature ›
Last summer my daughter (five-years old at the time) approached me with a plan: “Mommy, I have a great idea. I’m going to go out and play my accordion for the neighbors. Then I’ll have this picture (holds up picture of über generous neighbors handing over their hard-earned cash) to let them know they have to put money in my cup. Isn’t that great?!”
I’m not sure what I was impressed with more—her ingenuity and moxie or her ability to actually play something that sounded a lot like music on the little accordion we gave her for her birthday that year. It was a memory that I’ll never forget and served as the inspiration for this issue of Classic Play.
My kids are surrounded by music. My husband and I aren’t musicians—though I bet he’d take issue with me saying that. It’s more that we share a love of the stuff and want to pass that on to our kids.
Some of my favorite memories are of watching musicals with my mom. She introduced me to The Music Man, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Singing in the Rain and Annie. Oh Annie, belting out “Tomorrow” really does chase away all the cobwebs and the sorrows.
Our kids started down their own musical path when they were born. Every night for three years, Ellie and Jonah listened to the same CD as they drifted off to dreamland. While the original intention was to settle our wee ones and develop a routine for bedtime, we discovered there were other added benefits.
One of those benefits was being able to travel with our children. When people ask us how we traveled successfully with young children (by the time our daughter turned 5 she had been to Jamaica, Belgium, France, New York City and Florida twice) I say one of our secrets is music. See, we bring along that same CD that the kids listened to every night. So when things get crazy, or it’s time to settle down for the night, we pop in the music and they calm down. It’s become a sort of Pavlovian response.
That of course is the most practical way in which we incorporate music into the kids’ lives. Perhaps more to the point—and the crux of this issue—is that through music children learn about culture, develop a means of self-expression, build their confidence and are allowed to experience the joy of sharing one’s gifts with others.
I hope you enjoy this issue. From exploring ways to incorporate music and movement into your child’s play to reading two moms’ stories about how music plays a role in their children’s lives, we hope you are inspired to add a little music to your lives. Rock on.
Jen
