Developing Music Curriculum

The following is a list of general recommendations for developing curriculum for music education for children of different ages. These recommendations are based on the review of child development discussed in the previous section, the MENC’s guidelines listed above, and the work of Krogh andSlentz (2001).

• Infants. Sing lullabies, traditional children’s songs, and folk songs while interacting with infants. Provide rhythm experiences when playing games such as patty-cake, and chant nursery rhymes while you gently bounce the infant on your knee. Provide infants with exposure to numerous varieties of recorded music. As soon as they are old enough to control them, provide babies with safe toys that make various musical sounds.
• Toddlers. Provide toddlers with opportunities for improvised singing and teach them some simple songs, making sure to include plenty of repetition for the sake of memory and imitation. Chant poems and nursery rhymes while gently bouncing or rocking a child. Provide opportunities for free movement while playing various kinds of music, both slow and fast, soft and loud. Let toddlers explore the uses of basic instruments and objects that make interesting sounds. Help their musical vocabulary grow by verbalizing what they are doing and the instruments they are exploring.
• Preschoolers and Kindergartners. Continue to add to children’s repertoires of songs, especially those with repetitive patterns. Preschool children typically like group games with songs attached. Use a recording or musical instrument to accompany movement experiences in which children try out different forms of locomotion (walking, jumping, skating) in rhythm. Use singing to get children’s attention, announce snack time, describe what they are doing, and so on. Children also enjoy it when you sing their names and wait for them to sing yours back.
• As children approach kindergarten, increase the level of sophistication of your music curriculum as you continue to introduce songs with repetitive patterns, play group games that include music, provide musical movement experiences, communicate through singing, create a music center for experimentation, and introduce adult-style musical instruments by inviting various musicians to visit your classroom.
• Primary Children. Provide primary children with expanded singing experiences by teaching them rounds and traditional folk songs, especially those with multiple verses. You may also want to foster their own musical creativity by allowing them to improvise and create new lines to familiar songs or create songs of their own. Continue to give them a variety of experiences with musical instruments and play music of many different kinds at varying times of the day. Teach students to identify various instruments by their pictures and their sounds, and begin to introduce various composers and tell them about their lives.