Children are inherently musical. They respond to music and learn through music. Music expresses children's identity and heritage/ teaches them to belong to a culture/ and develops their cognitive well-being and inner self worth. As professional instructors/ childcare workers/ or students looking forward to a career working with children/ we should continuously search for ways to tap into children's natural reservoir of enthusiasm for singing/ moving and experimenting with instruments. But how/ you might ask? What music is appropriate for the children I'm working with? How can music help inspire a well-rounded child? How do I reach and teach children musically? Most importantly perhaps/ how can I incorporate music into a curriculum that marginalizes the arts? This book explores a holistic/ artistic/ and integrated approach to understanding the developmental connections between music and children. This book guides professionals to work through music/ harnessing the processes that underlie music learning/ and outlining developmentally appropriate methods to understand the role of music in children's lives through play/ games/ creativity/ and movement. Additionally/ the book explores ways of applying music-making to benefit the whole child/ i.e./ socially/ emotionally/ physically/ cognitively/ and linguistically.
