Today kicks off the Week of the Young Child! Every year the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) hosts this week to celebrate early learning, young children, their families, and their teachers. Each day has a special theme, and today is Music Monday!
Music is an important tool to help young children learn. It supports language acquisition, math skills, physical development, social and emotional development, and so much more! There are so many ways to add music into your child’s life. Incorporate music in your daily routines by assigning a special song for certain activities, such as singing the ABC Song while washing hands. You can make instruments out of recycled materials, or play music from the radio and practice stomping or clapping to the beat. You can also take your children to see musical performances, such as the Broadway musical Peter Pan, which will be showing April 26—May 1 at the Alaska Center for Performing Arts. Peter Pan is presented by the Anchorage Concert Association.
Also, don’t miss NAEYC’s selection of songs for Music Monday: http://families.naeyc.org/songs. This year’s song is “One Love,” as performed by Aaron Nigel Smith and the One World Chorus. You can record the song with the official lyrics, or make up your own unique version and share it on Facebook or Twitter using the hashtag #woyc16. Happy Music Monday!