As a music educator, I always believe that if parents treat music education is as important as language education or math education, children will naturally grow up to:
- read a piece of music as easily as they read a piece of news
- sing a song aloud as comfortably as they recite a poem aloud
- appreciate a piece of music from another culture just like they start to like an author's work from a foreign land
- compose simple music using the music notation, just like how they use the math symbols to solve mathematical problems.
I always imagine a world where everyone is not afraid to sing and share their musical thoughts as if it's a natural human phenomenon - It will be a better world.
BTW, I learnt all these fundamentals of music education from my youngest students - the babies and tots - long before the world starts to make sense, sounds and music enter their world as a "given." Yes, they take it for granted, and they appreciate it.
Witnessing babies and tots' musical growth is the most beautiful thing that I experience in my career - they constantly remind me of why I choose this path.
Here, on this page, I'd like to share with parents what I have learnt in early childhood music education (from prenatal years onward) through my teaching and reserach.
