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Foundation Stage music features quite a lot for children during nursery and reception years. There is plenty of opportunity to sing, explore sounds and dance and/or move to music because it is often used as a method for learning about many other things, such as science, numbers and words.
Your child's teacher will also help him or her to understand how sounds can be changed; to sing simple songs from memory; recognise repeated sounds and sound patterns; and match movement to music. Children also have had opportunity to compose using a variety of musical instruments.
Music lesson examples
At nursery school, the children interpret ‘sad' and ‘happy' music using pictures. Lydia chooses a picture of the sun to represent a happy sound. They also practise moving their bodies to describe music that sounds very spooky or scary or changes in pitch.
In reception class children listen to a CD playing music which depicts jungle animals. Children must pick an animal they think the music sounds like and use movement to represent that animal.
Get ahead at home
- Sing songs that invite your child to perform an action, such as a clap, stamp or jump, to help your child develop rhythm. Songs with repetition are particularly good.
- Make your own homemade instruments - it's fun and cheap and you can use any household object that makes a sound. It's a great way to make use of recycled objects! Here are some ideas from youthmusic.org.uk: Fill an empty screw top jar with uncooked beans or rice to make shakers. Make sure the lid is tightly secured before use! Or try empty cartons, pots and pans make great drums when hit with a wooden spoon. You can even create a triangle by suspending a metal object such as a coat hanger with some string, and hitting it with a metal spoon.
- Talk to your child about the different sounds we associate with the weather. What sound do you hear when there is a heavy downpour, thunder, howling wind? Find words and sounds to describe them, such as rumbling thunder in a low voice, howling wind in a howling voice.
- Help your child to discover his or her voice in different ways: singing, whispering, talking, humming. Add some of the musical elements being taught at this stage: such as high, low, loud, quiet, fast, slow, rhythm.
- Expose your child to as wide a range of music as you can.
- This wacky question should invoke some creativity: what might music look like if they were painted picture? Try it out by painting a music picture.
- Play musical games togther.
- Learn to play an instrument.