PLAYful Musical Environments That Foster Learning: Listening, Making, and Moving to Music in Early Education Settings, by Eric Rasmussen, Ph.D.

Sponsored by Kindermusik

as part of the Setting the Stage for a Lifetime of Learning Webinar Series

Music holds an exceptionally fascinating place in our development as human beings. Music is a part of EVERY culture no matter how remote. Children unlock their music potential best with playful and structured guidance of an early childhood music specialist, but because most early learning programs don’t have music specialists, child learning centers can easily borrow techniques from Master Music Educators.

Most music marketed for children is not of optimal quality especially in terms of production value and content. Just as children master their native tongue, they can also master music vocabulary by first simply listening- just as a newborns listens their families speak. Absorption of this "listening vocabulary" can provide children child-appropriate, diverse, and exemplary music in as many musical contexts, cultures and styles as possible. Our goal is to provide them with well-rounded diets of that include a buffet of everything children can digest—which is just about any genre or musical style- in addition to children’s’ music, that we can consider “dessert music”. The music  we offer should be "nutritious" and appropriate, the limit being only that which you yourselves can model enjoyment by moving, dancing, and singing for the children. The earlier we start providing captivating musical experiences, the better.

We know the research: The first months of life through the early school age years are a period of exceptionally malleable neural growth.  It is important to include music development during these stages.

In this extraordinary webinar, presented by Eric Rasmussen, Ph.D., the early childhood music department at the Peabody Preparatory of Johns Hopkins University, you will begin to understand the stages of early childhood music development and learn appropriate activities you can provide for children that best enhance their musicianship. We will answer questions such as:

• What exercises are best to develop proper singing, movement, and rhythm vocabularies?

• Why is a diverse repertoire of music important?

• What is the value of breaking music down into small patterns?

• What are some typical practices that can be inappropriate and may interfere with a child's music development?

• What are three basic stages of music development that children move through before they sing in tune and move rhythmically?

• How do children learn to crack the code of the adult music understanding world?

All sessions are 1.5 hours long, and include a brief announcement from our sponsor. 2:oo PM – 3:30 PM Eastern Time. To ensure you receive confirmation and reminder emails, add [email protected] to your contacts list. If you do not receive your email confirmation, check your Spam or Junk mail folders in your email system. Can’t participate in our webinars at the appointed time? Never fear! All of the webinars are recorded. To view the recording, simply register now and you will receive an email with a link to the recording when it is ready to be viewed. You can still download the certificate by watching the recording to the end when the certificate link is announced and displayed on the screen.

Only 1,000 people at one time can attend our webinars, but registration often tops 4,000. Only the first 1,000 people to click the link to attend the webinar will be able to get in. We start the webinars 30 minutes in advance of the start time. Arrive early to make sure you get in.

Please be advised that you will only be eligible for the great door prizes if you participate in the live session. You can earn .2 CEUs for each webinar. The cost is $15 paid to University of Oklahoma online when you apply. Learn more here: Continuing Education Units (CEUs) from University of Oklahoma See the schedule of upcoming webinars.