AC #5: Best Program Practices for Children & Families in Early Childhood

Ability to plan for and implement a family-centered child care community

Knowledge of how to establish and maintain good communication and partnerships with
families and to promote strong and meaningful family involvement in the program

The music workshop series will give the parents a chance to learn the songs their children are
singing at LifeWays, helping them connect with their childrens experiences in the center. We
will talk about the value of singing to your children and I will provide resources to support this
assertion. I will discuss Pam Bellucks New York Times article, Live Musics Charms, Soothing
Premature Hearts. The article shares multiple studies on infant response to music by measuring
heart rate, suckling, etc. The studies concluded that, while infants responded positively to
recorded music, they thrived when they were being sung to by their parents. In addition, the
infants had the most positive response when the parent was singing a song of their choosing. I
will use this example to encourage parents and caregivers to sing to the children in their care and
to I will offer them choices of songs to sing while encouraging adults to sing songs that are
meaningful to them, personally (i.e. Its okay to sing the Beatles rather than Twinkle Twinkle
Little Star).
In addition to teaching songs and talking about the value of music, I will offer suggestions of
music books and resources. I will also permit parents to record the songs we are learning and
offer hand-outs of the lyrics. Since story, songs and language development are closely
intertwined, I will also share stories and puppet plays with them and speak a bit about the oral
tradition. In addition, I will enhance our website by linking to a recording of our mealtime
blessings as new families are often eager to learn this melody (in January 2016). Parents,
families, staff, educators and community members will have the opportunity to come together to
learn new material to enhance their work with young children. They will have a chance to
connect with one another and to the children in their care through music.