In this chapter, Sarrazin focuses on musical development in young children and offers a

variety of activities for each specific age to aid in their development. The arts are important as a

means of expression for children and they learn through movement and doing from a very young

age. The chapter breaks down music learning for different age groups, which are as follows.

(1) Birth - 3 years old:

Musical learning for this age group focuses on engaging their aural and physical senses.

Adults should utilize activities such as tickling, wiggling, and bouncing to keep their attention.

Play for children nine months and older can begin to include clapping and more rhythmic

exercises, like moving along to the beat.

(2) 3 - 5 years old:

This group of children are capable of singing more complex songs and more

sophisticated learning. They can also understand some basic music vocabulary and it is

appropriate to use these concepts when teaching them. Sarrazin includes a few examples of

concepts, like high-low (pitch), loud-soft (dynamics), and fast-slow (tempo). Children can

explore their own singing voices and pitch through a variety of vocal warm-up exercises.

Sarrazin also discusses musical developmental milestones in young children. Children’s

linguistic development is related to their musical development, research shows. There is a direct

correlation between the development of children’s speech and their musical/singing ability, with

music skills correlating significantly with phonological awareness and reading development.

There can often be a disconnect in preschool teachers between this developmental correlation,

according to Sarrazin. She points out that since music and language development have such a

high correlation, it can be helpful to know what activities children are developmentally ready for

musically, and when they are ready for them.