Practical Suggestions for Early Years Settings
Practical suggestions to develop active music listening in your setting
Put up a listening sheet for staff to write on –“Today we have been listening to…” this may encourage staff to think carefully about music listening and the music they select as well as to inform parents about the music the children have been listening to.
Documentation
Keep a journal, we have found this invaluable throughout the project, it has enabled us to clearly see a huge range of children’s responses to music as well as share them with parents and other members of staff. It has also enabled us to visually see trends of children’s responses across the course of the project. Time to reflect has also been essential, both for staff and for children. Reflection with others can help you see things you may have not seen before or offer a different perspective. Looking back through video footage can enable you to see things that you may not have seen in the moment.
Place music quotes up in the staff room to raise the profile of music
Amie from Hillfields created a musical game for staff. She asked all members of staff “What is your favourite song and why?” All staff members wrote the answers down on a piece of paper and did not write their names. The answers were swapped around the staff and staff had to guess who the answer belonged to. This created conversations between members of staff and encouraged them to think about listening to music. This raised the profile of music and listening to music in the setting.
