Music to babies’ ears

I was surprised to read in the newspaper recently that one in five expectant parents is unaware of the need to talk to their baby.

As Chair of the local Pre-School Music Association (PRESMA), I’d argue there’s a strong case that music helps communication from a very early age.

PRESMA has known for more than 30 years that encouraging your child to communicate is a brilliant way of helping develop not only their speech & language skills but also their memory, co-ordination, concentration, not to mention other skills such as social and emotional expression.

Unborn babies demonstrate an innate musical potential due to their ability to comprehend sound. Their auditory pathways are complete by 16-20 weeks gestation so they spend a long time in the early weeks of their life listening to the natural rhythms of a body: heartbeat, breathing and hearing the sound of their mother’s voice. Once born, babies react very specifically to music, they recognise different textures of sound naturally – some react positively to loud, quick music whilst others are clearly more comfortable with quieter songs.

That’s why at PRESMA we have classes for newborn baby’s right up to school age children. What our PRESMA parents and carers gain from the class is the opportunity to share experiences, not only in the class, but later at home and maybe even extend that experience to other family members, creating an atmosphere where learning is fun. At our music classes, it’s not just the children who are learning, but the parents too.

Carers and children are encouraged to make their own suggestions, and to take ownership of activities and songs, using them in a different way, making up new words to a familiar tune or adapting a “goodbye” song to “goodnight.” This is the beginning of learning together, sharing ideas and is the basis for education in later years. The sense of achievement, that the child has introduced the carer to something new that is fun for both of them, makes them feel special, valued and important.

A free taster session is being offered at Recreation Road Infant School on 23rd June at 2pm. For further details call 624232 or email mary@presma.org

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