Music is the universal language of the world. It allows us to appreciate and understand emotions regardless of the languages we speak and is often used in the early stages of education to encourage speech and language development. Music also supports cultural and religious exploration; listening to songs from around the world and different religions, allows us to not only understand others better but enriches our cultural capital and awareness of others. Music can enhance all areas of development when given the opportunity to. Music can influence our friendships and our ability to express our emotions through different genres and artists.
At Willows Pre-School, we use music in every aspect of our learning. We use songs and nursery rhymes to teach different topics such as Easter or Transport. We also use songs relating to mathematics to encourage counting and quantifying, and literacy songs to enhance their understanding of the phonetic alphabet Music can be used to strengthen physical development. Through gross motor movements when dancing to fine motor movements when learning to play an instrument such as a guitar or recorder. This is why, here at Willows, we also follow a Write Dance Programme. Write Dance is a music-based approach to introducing writing at a young age. through music, it offers children the gross and fine motor skills needed as the foundation for writing, making learning to write an energetic, creative, and all-around enjoyable experience!
At Willows Hammersmith Nursery we are also very lucky to have our own music teacher who comes to teach us twice a week. Each week, he teaches us a range of songs on the keyboard and both acoustic and electric guitar. The children learn seasonal songs and get to make up their own songs too! Recently, the children have been wanting to learn these instruments for themselves and have been working on their musical skills, playing with the keyboard and guitars during their music sessions. The children have been inspired by music so much that they use it in their everyday play sessions and often create their own songs together!
