What if we started our own social experiment: Teach our babies how to be connected to real people before they get sent out into the world.
Music is the number one way to communicate heart to heart – and babies are learning it!
Studies show that kids who have music training not only do better in cognitive skills like short and long term memory, but even better – They’re markedly better at human connection! Being a part of life, and connected to other people is what we all crave – and need to be fully joyful in life.
Kids who are closely bonded to their parents tend to have a sense of who they are, and their intrinsic worth as people. This grounding helps them as they grow up to stand more firmly in their decisions and not be drawn in by every shiny object they see, and to have the ability of developing healthy, lasting relationships.
Bonding with parents happens more effectively when kids are learning music – from their parents.
You might be thinking, “How do I teach music to my baby? I don’t know the first thing about music!”
or “I’m a musician, but I’m not sure how to teach musical concepts to my baby.”
or “How in the heck is my little baby going to pay attention to a piano .lesson?”
At Little Bird Piano Academy I teach moms how to play with their babies and toddlers while teaching them the fundamentals of the musical language. We use singing and the piano as our main mediums, and at first, the moms are doing the playing (you’ll quickly learn that your baby is already singing). Just as babies watch and listen to you while you talk, they’ll watch and listen to you while you play games, sing songs, and play the piano – even if you’re learning it for the first time! In the process, you can expect to learn ways of engaging your baby more effectively while you teach him to talk and to read. As you have fun with your baby every day, your baby will mimic you just the same way she mimics you when you talk, or walk, or shout, or gesture, or cry.
I remember watching my 3-year-old daughter put her hands on her hips and tell all of the other kids what was up. I wondered where she learned to act like that – then I realized – it was from me. Boy was I suddenly really aware of what I looked like to her – and I was sorry I’d been so bossy. Your kids learn from watching you and listening to you.
Have you ever wondered how they would learn to talk if they weren’t hearing and watching you every day? Or why all kids are so driven to get up and walk? It takes them a long time to develop all of the parts that go into doing these things, but they start getting ready from day one, as they watch you and try to copy you.
I’ve been teaching piano to little kids for over 40 years!
I started when I was 13. I was a good musician for a 13-year-old and I loved little kids, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t have the foggiest idea how to get on the musical level of a little kid, and I didn’t yet understand what the fundamental principles were that needed to be taught.
But it was a good start. In the last 40 years I’ve learned a lot more about how and why to teach music to kids while they’re young, and during that process I’ve discovered that you can teach babies with huge success!
There’s an order to how it’s done, and you can learn it.
I’ll teach you what that order is, and some really fun songs and games to play with them as you teach them these basic concepts. If you stick with it, you can expect your kids to be musically literate before they go to school, with brains that are sparkling and alive, and you’ll build bonds with your kids that last a lifetime.
So here’s the question of the day:
What would happen if more kids were learning the fundamentals of music from their moms, while building great relationships with them?
Let’s find out!
