Nurturing Music in Our Family

I've had music on the mind this week. Having gotten a child all the way to the mature age of five, I have plenty of experiments to look back on, and a better idea of what a good children's curriculum is. It's funny how my views have changed and matured so much over the past few years. I have to plan when I'm out of class, because once I'm back in I don't have much time to reassess life, just to move on with the plans I've laid out. I haven't yet used all the books I've listed. Hopefully they live up to my hopes. And I still want to find a good Nursery/Folk song book, and game instructions.

Babies
*They are absorbing the sounds of voices, the rhythm of life, and the family culture.
Toddlers/Preschoolers
*Play Nursery/Folk Song Games regularly (including "Ring Around the Rosie" and "London Bridge")
*At the piano (get it in tune, they're developing an ear for pitch): Children's Folk Songs and Children's Songbook; they can hear the melodies, learn the words, and "play" the piano, but more important, they learn that music comes from people, not electronics, and develop a habit of expressing themselves while making it.
*Talk about the feeling of the sounds. "I think these slow low notes sound spooky. Is this your monster song?" or "The music is so fast. It makes me feel excited."
*Musical Scriptures: whatever pictures you use to represent scripture stories, there is always an appropriate song to go with it. Balance letting your children have their favorites, and introducing new stories. Songs may come from the Children's Songbook again, or Hymns or Folk Songs (like "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho")
*Read Meet the Orchestra or Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin, to introduce instruments and their names.
*Have some toy instruments. Encourage marching bands and orchestras.
*Have informal family dances.
*Occasionally attend local Concerts in the Park.
*Use themed Music Playlists in daily routines to expose children to a variety of delightful music (more on these Playlists in a separate blog).
Around Kindergarten, give or take a year
*Use Music for Little Mozarts and listen to related ear-training CDs (If beginning piano lessons now, the series also has kindergarten-age-appropriate piano books).
Read and listen to Carnival of the Animals (it may be best to start with no more than one track per sitting)
*Begin learning sol-fa hand signs, and music vocabulary
Elementary (this outline is more skeletal, as I do not yet have an elementary age child)
*Listen to Classic Kids CDs, like Vivaldi's Ring of Mystery
*Begin piano lessons (or another instrument or choir) and instill the habit of regular practice, about 10-15 minutes a day, depending on the developmental age of the child.
*Go to an instrument petting zoo (I think the Everett Symphony has one)
*Read stories about operas and ballets
*As a special treat go to a children's concert, the Nutcracker Ballet, or more Concerts in the Park.
*Keep using music in everyday life, and stretch their familiarity repertoire by introducing new music.
*As long as it isn't violent, profane, etc., let them choose their favorite style of music. Their own CD player or MP3 player could be a special treat.