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in 'Gateways',
Spring/Summer 2004 no. 46
Here is a book and CD combination
that will be a fine resource for early years teachers. Candy
Verney is a mother, music teacher at Steiner schools, kindergartens,
and mainstream schools. She has had much experience with adults
who are not comfortable with singing, and this book offers encouragement
toward singing for even the most musically shy adults.
The
Singing Day includes discussion about the importance of music,
the kinds of music that meet developmental needs, and how to
go about it all. All of that is briefly, yet deeply looked at
in the first twenty pages. The remainder of the book is filled
with songs, poems, and suggestions for accompanying movement
for young children, from babies up to kindergarten age, and there
is a CD included to give the adult's ear a sense for most of
the tunes Cindy included in the text. The songs and poems are
divided into sections such as 'Baking Songs,' 'Graces', 'Faces,'
'Changing Nappies,' and 'Counting Songs.'
There is a wealth of material in
this book, from traditional origins, to songs penned by Cindy
herself. Something is to be found between these covers for both
the experienced early child educator and the beginner, and for
any parents interested in singing with their children.
in 'Education
Otherwise', December 2003
This is another lovely book from
the 'Festivals' series. Even a non-singer would find this an
easy book to follow. The words are accompanied by the music should
you want to play an instrument too, but can be sung on their
own. the accompanying CD helps you learn the tunes -- all the
songs (over 100) are included on the CD. As the title suggests,
it provides songs to sing for getting up, washing, cleaning and
how this can help with a particular activity.
The author has taught in Steiner
schools where they use singing to create repetition and rhythm
for the day. There are dancing songs, songs from around the world,
lullabies, old songs and new ones and some prayers. This is also
an interesting book to look through and has beautiful illustrations.
Hilary Woolf
in 'New View',
Winter 2003
This book is specifically produced
for use with young children up to around four years of age and
one which parents and anyone who has to care for young children
will find most useful. Not only does it contain a number of traditional
nursery rhymes and action songs to sing and use with the pre-school
child, it also has many songs written for specific occasions.
Nearly all the songs are very simple,
easy to sing and easy to remember. They are arranged in two sections,
one connected with the daily routine the other designed for special
occasions. For the parent or carer who is not very musical, may
not play or possess an instrument, the learning of the new material
is facilitated by a CD included with the book on which all the
songs are to be found. In addition to the collection of songs
and verses, the book also has a very useful and informative introductory
chapter in which the value of such material when used with children
is explained, and hints are given on how to sing the songs.
In her foreword, Caroline Price compares
children's experiences of today with those of her generation
and earlier, when everyone seemed to sing! In the introductory
chapter Candy Verney refers to the effect that the disappearance
of music from the primary school curriculum can have on pupils.
Anyone buying the book would do well to read the foreword and
the introduction carefully, they will find it very rewarding.
Parents who are reluctant to sing with their children will be
encouraged to try and do so by what is written therein.
The importance for healthy child
development of parent-child interaction, as in the singing together
of action rhymes, cannot be too strongly emphasised. We all know
of instances where young children are left constantly sitting
passively before the TV or video, or listening to a cassette
because the parents have other things to do - and the ill effect
this can have.
The fact that children enjoy repetition
is mentioned and the various songs included in this collection
will meet this need of the child very adequately.
Through the parent or carer singing
and acting these songs with their children, the child is enabled
to develop physical coordination, a feeling for rhythm, an appreciation
of melody and the ability to recognise tune. As the introduction
points out, through the medium of the song the child can be 'charmed'
into cooperating, for example: getting ready for bed or carrying
out various daily routines. It becomes fun rather than providing
opportunities for expressing opposition. This is also a way of
developing a feeling for rhyming verse, for the enjoyment of
playing with words, and, incidentally, for developing vocabulary.
My own experience of making music
with children has been confined to doing it with children of
school age, that is from five years of age upwards, but my experience
confirms that children naturally enjoy singing and they also
enjoy movement. Children who in their earliest years can grow
up singing and experiencing the songs and verses in this collection
will undoubtedly have a feeling for music and music-making thereafter
and not have to be coaxed to sing when they get to school.
Candy Verney and her collaborators,
together with the Hawthorn Press are to be congratulated on making
this collection available. For those parents and others who wish
to know more of the therapeutic value this sort of music-making
brings - and the pedagogical importance of the activity as such
- a useful source of further references is given at the end of
the book.
Peter Heathfield
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