World Citizen Blog

Language Development and Singing

2012-02-11T15:32:00.000-08:00

This is a great article about the relationship between singing and language development. Enjoy!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/may/08/singing-children-development-language-skills?fb=optOut

What will my three month old get out of class?

2012-01-19T17:31:00.000-08:00

I get a lot of interesting looks and questions when I tell people I teach music to infants and toddlers. When I tell them some of my students start as young as 8 weeks old, people looked shocked. "What can an 8 week old do? What instruments do you teach them? Do they just sit there?" These questions stem from a culture that thinks of music as a performance medium, not knowing all of the neurological development that is associated with music at a very young age. True most students don't start at 8 weeks (but they could!), but many students start at 3 or 4 months, and the benefits are immense as is the progress that I see over the course of an 8 or 10 week session.

As far as motor skills are concerned, yes a 3 month old is limited, however cognitively, the possibilities are endless. Their brains are amazing little sponges, just waiting to absorb everything they can. The roots of language development are already forming, and they are ready to hear and recreate the phonemes from every language on the planet. The language ability in infants during the first year is incredible. Every sound that is possible by humans is in their brains, just waiting for exposure so they can practice it. If you want your baby to speak several languages fluently and without accent later in life, expose them to those languages during the first three years, but most especially during the first year. That is when their ability to learn and recreate the widest variety of phonemes is the most vibrant and active. And no, you won't confuse your baby by speaking more than one language to them. They have the natural ability to figure out what language to speak to different adults based on what language is spoken to them. The first three years is the best time to speak a second, third or fourth language with your child. They can handle it! You are doing them a huge favor!

I digress, but not too far. Music and language learning is very intertwined. Learning music and having a variety of live music exposure will help your child not only develop their innate musical ability but also language, math, reasoning, etc.

What does this mean for your three month old in class? This means that although they have limited motor skills, the information is being absorbed, processed and digested during this time, creating neural pathways, stimulating communication and patterning centers in the brain. As they develop motor abilities, the information is there and all that is left is to apply what they have instinctively learned. Like speaking, they will just know how to communicate through rhythm and melody and all it takes is practice to get their arms, legs, hands and feet working together to express the musical ideas in their head. This intense motivation to express the rhythm will in turn help them to develop their fine and gross motor skills while learning to grab, shake, and strike instruments, not to mention coordinate their body to express music in dance or practice jumping, standing on one foot, kicking, swinging arms, all of which we do in class as part of musical expression.

To express melody, babies begin to coo in the key of the music. Often this comes as soon as we end a song; they will begin cooing (usually on the base note or 5th) in an effort to extend the musical experience. Or while we are singing they will follow the basic melody line with coos and squeals of delight. This first singing starts at a very young age. I've seen it as young as three or four months and if we have a class of 7 or 8 months, we can have a full on baby choir in class!

Another great benefit of starting at three months is giving your baby the opportunity to interact with other babies and for you to be with other parents who are going through all of the tremendous life changes that happen during the first year of your baby's life. The community for babies and parents is invaluable. Babies learn how to safely reach out to and play with other babies and parents get to compare notes about what's going on with them, how to deal with concerns about teething, sleeping, breast feeding, bottle feeding and baby proofing to name a few.

Of course, we can't forget the wonderful bonding that happens with your baby as you engage in musical play with them. Through engaging them in very age specific ways, we explore new ways to play, to stimulate them, to let them experience music in as many ways as possible. Taking the time to have this focused musical play is so precious. They are depending on you for most of the input they get in the class. My job is to lead, to set the example for you to follow with your baby. I give you the ideas for you to follow in class so you can take it home and do them throughout the week. No matter what you may or may not think about your voice, to your baby, it is the sweetest voice in the world. Sing! Your touch is the best in the world. Your energy focused on them is the greatest gift. The first year goes so fast. Before you know it they are crawling, walking and running and a brand new level of development and different kind of play is appropriate. Take advantage of those precious early months; the connection will last a lifetime.

Ultimately its up to you when you start the class, but I have seen first hand how amazing the development is when the babies start as young at three months old. The changes that happen during the session are astronomical; they are capable of so much growth! The final advantage (but this one lasts for a while) is a really good nap after class. All that stimulation usually makes babies knock out to process it all. Many parents have told me that the best nap all week is the one that happens right after class, and I'm sure you know by now that a good nap is priceless!

Cockles and Mussels...What the heck is a Cockle?

2011-06-08T16:52:00.000-07:00

I was asked last week, "What is a cockle?"

My answer was, "I don't really know. Its probably some kind of shellfish seafood." But my World Citizen Families deserve more of an answer than that so I did a little research.

Cockle is the name given to a group of small, edible salt water clams. They live in sandy, sheltered beaches throughout the world and have heart shaped shells. Technically to be a true cockle, the little buggers have to belong the the bivalve family Cardiidae, though bivalves from the Veneridae (Venus clams) and the Arcidae (ark clams) families are oftenly mistakingly called cockles.

Incidentally, there is also a Scottish candy called the Berwick Cockle, so named for its cockle like shape. However, since she's a fishmonger from Dublin, I think its safe to assume that Molly Malone was selling mussels and small salt water crabs, not candy.

The Importance of Lullabies

2011-05-10T01:28:00.000-07:00

Sometimes in our hectic LA lives, its hard to remember to slow down and connect with ourselves and with our children. The lullaby is the perfect time to take that moment and just be with your child. We have just gone through a very exciting class, finished drumming, which is always everyone's favorite part, and its time to take some deep breaths and just be present and connect. Sometimes this is really hard to do. Since its at the end of class, you might start thinking about where you're going next, what you are going to make for lunch, where you left your shoes, or maybe you just want to chat with another mom who you've been waiting all week to see in class again. I encourage you to stay present and take the opportunity to really enjoy the quiet, still time with your baby.

Its not about me giving a little concert so everyone can pay attention to me and how nicely I play and sing the lullaby; its about you singing to your child and taking the time to nurse, cuddle or bond in whatever way is best for you and your child. I'm simply the guide on the journey. I've had people say to me countless times how nice my voice is or how much nicer it sounds when I sing than when they sing, and they are worried that their voice is in some way not good enough for their child, but believe me, to your child, your voice is golden. It is the sweetest, most soothing voice on the planet. So, if you don't know the words, just hum along or sing on "ooh" or "la" or another simple sound and let that sweet sound wash over your child.

If your child is at an age where he or she wants to crawl around or prefers bonding with movement, thats fine. You can let them crawl and explore while you are still quietly sitting and singing along or you can stand and gently sway with your baby if that is the kind of soothing that works best.

I encourage you to embrace this quiet time for what it is. It is a very intentional, very valuable part of the class, but too often it becomes a time to chat with neighbors, to start gathering stuff to go or any number of busy activities our lives in LA are full of. If you sing only one song in class (I hope you sing them all!), let this be the one.

Peace and blessings.

Guitar Chords: Dona Nobis Pacem

2011-05-09T17:04:00.000-07:00

Dona Nobis Pacem

”Grant us peace”

C G C G

Dona nobis pacem, pacem

F C G C

Dona nobis pa-cem.

C G C G

Do----na nobis pacem

F C G C

Dona nobis pa-cem.

C G C G

Do----na nobis pacem

F C G C

Dona nobis pa-cem.

**All three melody lines have the same chord progression, but the rhythm of the words is slightly different. You can pick up the variations by listening to the cd**

No Mercado Modelo, Tem Acarajé!

2011-03-04T21:54:00.000-08:00

So what is this acarajé that we're singing about? It is a very popular dish in Bahia made from black eyed peas in which we can see the deep African connections present in Bahian culture and cuisine, in particular to a Nigerian bean cake called Akara.

In Nigeria Akara are sold at road side stands, and the sellers call out "Akara je!", meaning "Come and eat Akara!" in Yoruba. Overtime, these two words were likely merged into one, and Acarajé was born. Acarajé can be hard to find outside Bahia, but if you feel adventurous in the kitchen, you can bring flavor of Bahia to your home. Give it a try!

Here's a recipe from Cozihna Regional Brazileira by Abril Editora.

RECIPE - Acarajé

1 kg. of dried black-eyed peas
2 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp. salt
1 litre dendê oil (for frying)
-----------------------------------------------------------------

In a very large bowl, cover the peas with water and let soak for at least 24 hours to soften the peas and to facilitate the removal of their skins.
Drain water, re-fill the basin several times, stirring the peas to remove as many skins as possible. Rubbing handfuls of beans vigorously between the hands assists in this process. After several changes of water, drain, and individually remove the skins from any peas that still have them. (Allow plenty of time for this.)

In batches, blend the skinless peas, the onion, the garlic and the salt in a blender or food processor until you have a light batter. Pour the batter into a large, dry bowl, and beat with a wooden spoon, lifting the mass from bottom to top until you have a airy mass that has doubled in volume.

Heat the oil in a large pan, or deep-fryer. Meanwhile, soak two very large wooden spoons in water, then use them to form fist-sized balls of batter. Drop them one by one into the hot oil to fry until they are bright orange and crispy, turning them over halfway through the frying process.

Remove from the oil, and let cool for a few minutes. Serve the acarajé with vatapá, hot pepper sauce, fried dried shrimps, and finely chopped green tomatoes.

I've seen another recipe that calls for adding dried shrimps to the dough before frying. Enjoy!

Welcome to the blog!

2011-03-04T20:56:00.000-08:00

Welcome everyone!

I'm very excited to be getting this part of World Citizen Baby off the ground at long last. My vision for this blog is to go deeper into the cultural elements of WCB as well as have some language tips and information around early childhood development, specifically with music and language acquisition.

I hope to share some of my favorite bits of the world, discovered through travel and my beautiful, diverse community, and the cultures that have inspired WCB. Historical and cultural notes on songs, recipes and photos from around the globe will find there way here.

Thank you for exploring our world's wonderful and diverse cultures with me. I look forward to a long and interesting journey!