Learning How to Teach Preschool Music is not hard to do when you use the right tools
There are three vital elements that you must have when you learn how to teach preschool music. Armed with these three tools, you will be able to achieve feats that will appear almost magical to the average teacher. You will be able to take a group of 20 or 30 three year olds and keep them fully engaged for an entire 30 minute music group. Your students will love you and teachers, parents and school directors will be amazed.
The Three Magical Tools That You Must Use When You Learn How To Teach Preschool Music
1. Energy / Enthusiasm
The best curriculum in the world will do you no good if it’s presented half hardly. Your body language, facial expression and vocal inflection must broadcast every and enthusiasm. You must be fully engaged in what you are presenting to the group and you must maintain that energy for the entire group time. I call this being ‘The Shiniest Object in the Room’. If you and what you are presenting is the most interesting thing that the children can see and hear, then they will stay engaged. It’s that simple.
You will lose the attention of the group when you break the flow of activity. If you pause between songs, even for a second, the children’s attention will start to wander. Before starting your music group you must have more that enough material for the allotted time and you must know the material well enough to be able to present it in a a continuous flow. One activity should be starting as the next one is ending so there is no break. Have something going on all the time.
Here’s a special advanced tip:
When you are passing out or collecting instruments, have a call and response song going so that you are singing and the children are echoing you during this potential ‘dead’ time.
3. Curriculum is King
In order to teach effective, engaging and enriching preschool music groups, you have to have the right curriculum. The old standards like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Itsy Bity Spider wont cut it. The curriculum you present must be tried and tested in preschool classrooms with actual children to assess its effectiveness. It must be honed over years of trial and error so that it is refined down to the elements that make it fun and engaging for young children.
You could start right now and spend the next 10 or 20 years creating your own early childhood music curriculum, or you can use something that has already been created through decades of work in preschool classrooms. The program I’m referring to is PlayMotion Music. You can try it for free. Here is a link.
What are some good ideas for preschool music time?
What are the Three Best Ideas for Preschool Music? Preschool music must be interactive. So the best ideas for preschool music are songs and activities where the children take an active and creative part.
Directed movement songs
Number one of the three best ideas for preschool music is directed movement songs. Directed movement songs are songs that tell the children exactly how to move their bodies. These kinds of songs feature movements like wiggle your shoulders, stand on one foot, turn around, tap your foot, stand on one leg, lay down on the floor and go to sleep jump back up.
Imaginative movement songs
Number two of the three best ideas for preschool music as imaginative movement songs. Imaginative movement songs are the kinds of songs that leave room for interpretation. And these kind of songs of the children are told to crawl like a spider, hop like a frog, fly like a super kid, go riding on a train etc.
Number three of the three best ideas for preschool music is: use instruments. Use instruments in your music time like shakers, scrapers, triangles, drums and bells. These instruments can be used to accompany songs, especially ones that have a strong rhythmic element. They can be used to Play rhythms like quarter notes, half notes, eighth notes and 16th notes. These hand percussion instruments can also be used to tell musical stories. Scrapers can make the sound of a frog, drums can be the sound of elephants running to the jungle and shakers bells and triangles can be the sound of splashing water for example.
How to create great interactive songs and activities for preschool music time
As an early childhood educator, you know the benefits of making music a part of your regular classroom curriculum. Unfortunately, many teachers are struggling with preschool ideas for music and movement.
I began my career as a classroom preschool teacher before specializing in music and movement. After 20 years of teaching music in preschools, I am ready to share my preschool ideas for music and movement, curriculum and experience with you.
Imaginative movement songs give suggestions, but they allow the children to interpret how they will move. Click here to get free access! It is a good idea to have a mix of both kinds of songs in your preschool movement and music program.
Class Management for Preschool Music and Movement Time
Imaginative movement song the children are allowed to move their bodies around the group space as they crawl like spider, hop like frogs, fly like super kids and drive their race cars. Here’s a great class management tool for imaginative movement songs; the Invisible Bubble. You can learn all about how to use this tool and many others in “Nick Young’s Ultimate Guide to Class Management for Early Childhood Music Groups”Click here for my guide to Music Time Class Management.
Preschool Ideas for Music and Movement
To get you started with some ideas for preschool music and movement, you can access four complete preschool movement songs with audio, teacher training videos and song cards to give you everything you need to start music and movement in your preschool classroom. Click Here
I have been teaching preschool music classes for over 20 years. Now, I am ready to share the secrets of teaching preschool music. Let’s get started!
Learn How To Teach Preschool Music Groups
First; Your Approach
You must have the right energy, enthusiasm, and commitment to what you are presenting. The children pick up on your energy and if you’re excited and having fun, they will be too.
Second; Class Management Techniques
Preschool music is interactive and action-packed. It presents very specific class management challenges. In order for the children to be safe while they’re moving and interacting, they need to have specific boundaries and limits in place. Here is a link to my Complete Guide to Preschool Music Class Management: Click Here
Preschool music curriculum must be interactive and involve physical movement. Preschoolers learn through play and music is the ideal arenafor this. The old classic preschool songs like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in The Itsy-Bitsy Spider are fine to get started, but you need to quickly move on to songs that involve crawling like a spider, flying like a bird, hopping like a frog, riding on a train and more if you want to keep their attention and interest.
I have been developing my preschool music program for over 20 years and have created many, many songs and activities that make teaching preschool music easy for all teachers. If you’d like to do use some of my material, please take advantage of the free membership on my site. Go to PlayMotionMusic.com and click on “free membership” to access four complete preschool music song activities and get started teaching preschool music! Learn More