YOUR IMPACT

Happy children. Outstanding results.

THE RESEARCH IS CLEAR

Children who have basic music skills are better readers!

Sing Your Day Away!

You are a child’s “rock star!”

• Give directions in rhythm and rhyme (with a smile!):  “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go! Don’t be slow!”

• Instead of talking, spontaneously sing: “What are we going to do today?” “Let’s go to the park!” “I’m so tired.”

• Sing the same greeting song every morning.

• Sing your child a lullaby before they go to sleep, such as, “This Little Light of Mine” or “All the Pretty Little Horses.”

HAVE YOUR CHILD KEEP THE BEAT

• Play your favorite music and have your child keep the underlying beat or pulse with two hands on their lap.

• Download a free metronome app and see if they can match the tick-tick-tick by patting with two hands on their lap.

• Sing simple folk songs and chant nursery rhymes and raps with your child as THEY keep the beat with two hands on their lap. Try keeping the beat with two hands on other parts of the body, such as on their shoulders, head, knees…

Have your child match a pitch

• Sing a pitch and ask your child to match it singing “oo” or “loo.” Play another pitch and have them try to match it.

• Download a free pitch pipe and play a pitch and ask your child to match it.

• Sing or play two different pitches very far apart (one really high and one low) and ask your child which one was higher and which one lower.

develop Their musical fitness

Can your child keep a steady beat? Clap the rhythm of the words of a song? Match a pitch? Sing in tune? These basic skills need to be developed by kindergarten. Click below for a quick assessment tool.

PLAY SINGING GAMES

• Chant nursery rhymes and sing folk songs, such as “The Wheels on the Bus,” to your baby, toddler and preschooler. Have them do motions to the beat.

• With older children, play fun singing games, such as the African American hand-clapping game “Miss Mary Mack.” After they have learned it well, modify the game to practice reading skills, such as making up new rhyming words, such as, Miss Mary Ann, Ann, Ann, all dressed in tan, tan, tan…”
  
  See a dad and his daughter playing “Miss Mary Mack”

Read folk song PICTURE books

When a song is well-learned, sing-read the picture book with your child. Having children read words their brains already know is an intermediary step to reading. There are hundreds of these books. Here are some links to find them:

15 Multicultural children’s books based on famous songs>>>
Bookroom picks>>>
Public library suggestions>>>

SAME-LANGUAGE SUBTITLES (SLS)

Singing with videos of popular musicals that have subtitles that light up exactly when they are sung causes inescapable reading behavior and substantial improvement in literacy.

TUNE into READING

Is your first grader struggling to learn to read? Don’t wait! Without intervention, only 10% will ever catch up! Contact the TiR company about their home version—click the green button below.