Music Monday - What I am learning from my 3 year- old grandson

Our son, daughter-in-law and grandson have moved to Perth and are living with us for a month or so until they find a house. Suddenly we have gone from a quiet household of two sixty-something adults to a busy, cluttered, slightly crazy environment with a 3 year-old who springs into each day curious, questioning and eager to play, play, play. I find myself wondering and marvelling that we ever got anything done back in our day as parents of pre-schoolers at the same time working full-time as teachers. Of course, across Australia and the world, this generation of working parents are doing the same.

I find myself observing William’s play and reflecting yet again on the research into musical beat and its connection to reading readiness. I also find myself rethinking the whole idea of using only gross motor skills when making music with this age group – something which was emphasized to us in music education classes. Yes, children under 5 years are still learning to catch a ball, balance on one leg, jump etc. But in another sense they have greater fine motor skills than previous generations, developed through what seems like a universal use of screens these days.

William loves to sing and make up songs. Of course, he is somewhat influenced by parents who are also musical. But his inclination, whether singing his own invented songs or those learned from family and various television programs, is to move to the beat. Today we played with various beat movement combinations – clapping, patschen and so on. He could maintain a steady beat with a recurring 2-action beat but found more than 2 physical actions a challenge to maintain steadily. So a recurring pattern of slapping knees then clapping was easy to maintain while singing the Sesame Street alphabet song. Slapping knees then clapping 2 beats was also a success while singing his current favourite – the refrain from The First “Nowell”. But a 4-beat action pattern of slapping knees, clapping, slapping a partner’s hands then clapping again, while doable, was less successful as a steady beat while singing.

Where am I going with this? Well, music as an art form aside, should we not as a society be maximising the benefits to child development from engaging with beat and rhythm as early as possible? Perhaps childcare centres – especially as their staff are required to do some level of early childhood education training - could be the entry point for children in this work. That would surely have a levelling effect for children before they enter formal schooling.