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Little Richard Ft Debbie Gibson - Itsy Bitsy Spider

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News You Can Use: Music (Part 1) | ECLKC

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Not only is music enjoyable for infants and toddlers, but it can also provide a connection to home, opportunities to learn, and a way to connect with caring adults. This News You Can Use offers information that may be useful to teachers, home visitors, and parents about how music supports development across domains.

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News You Can Use: Music (Part 2) | ECLKC

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Children enjoy hearing, making, and moving to music. Music also supports children's development and connects them to their families and communities. This News You Can Use offers tips and strategies for staff and families on how to use music with infants and toddlers during every day routines and experiences.

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The Role of Music in Children's Development

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The Role of Music in Children's Development

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Sarah Lytle: These webinars will introduce you to some of the latest research on child development and give you ways to connect the research to your practice. Before we begin, I'd like to go over some information regarding the webinar. We will be using some of the Adobe Connect features to help us interact today. At times, we will ask you to type in the chat box, located to the right of the PowerPoint slides in response to specific questions. We would also like to point out the Q&A on the lower right. If at any time you have questions related to the presentation or other related topics, please type your question there. We will be monitoring that box throughout. Supporting documents for this webinar, including a PDF of this presentation can be found in the supporting documents box in the bottom right of your screen. If, for any reason, you get disconnected from the webinar, you can use the same link you used previously to rejoin the webinar.

We want to let you know that the session will be recorded. Finally, following the webinar, you will receive an e-mail with a link to an evaluation form. We request that you complete the evaluation. That leaves us information for improving our webinar presentations and planning for future webinars. Upon completion of the evaluation, you can download a ticket of completion for your participation in the webinar. If you are viewing the webinar with colleagues on one computer and only one person is registered for the webinar, please forward the evaluation e-mail to your colleagues who also viewed the webinar so that they can complete the evaluation and receive a certificate of completion. Today, I am very pleased to introduce you to Tal-Chen Rabinowitch. Dr. Rabinowitch is a post-doctoral fellow with Dr. Andrew Meltzoff at the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences at the University of Washington. Her research at I-LABS examines the connections between music, synchrony, and social and emotional interaction in toddlers and young children. She obtained her Ph.D at the Center for Music and Science at the University of Cambridge. Tal-Chen is also a flutist and has played in various orchestras and ensembles in Israel and the U.K. Her work is funded by a Fulbright Postdoctoral fellowship, a Grammy Foundation grant, as well as a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. Today, the title of her presentation is "The Role of Music in Children's Development." So, Tal, I'll let you take it away.

Tal-Chen Rabinowitch: All right, thank you, Sarah, for the introduction. Today we will be talking about the role of music in children's cognitive and social development. So after this webinar, you will be able to describe research on the effects of music on children's cognitive and social development, understand how different types of musical interventions may enhance cognitive and social capacities in children, and also identify opportunities and ways to implement these music interventions in your own setting. So in this webinar, we will cover the latest research on music and children's cognitive and social development. Today, we will review how music might influence children's cognitive and social development.

We will discuss why music may be linked to cognitive and social development. And, also, examine strategies for enhancing children's cognitive and social development through music. So music can take many different forms in children's lives. We often think about music as more of a passive mode of entertainment, such as when we listen to music in our home, car, or through headphones. And we can also think about music as an active participator activity where children are engaged in the experience or creating music themselves. And, lastly, music can also be seen as a social behavior where children engage in music with other people or peers and actively interact in complex and meaningful social interactions through music. Music also connects us to other people by exposing children to the music of their culture. Each of those three ways experiencing music has different implications for children's development. We shall now discuss those in detail. But before we move forward, I'd love to hear more about how you have used music with children. Have you listened to music together? Have you encouraged children to make their own music? Had you led groups of children in musical activity? Tell us more about how you use music with children. Please type your responses in the chat box.

Sarah: All right, the question is how have you used music with children? Have you listened, performed, or engaged in music socially? So looking forward to hearing or seeing some answers in the chat window. So Marcela says that she's used music as a behavioral re-directive. That's an interesting use of music.

Tal-Chen: Okay, great. Sarah: Somebody's mentioning kinder music. Some of the users, music for transitions. Somebody's invited special performances. Somebody's suggesting that they danced or played musical instruments. Lots more comments about using music for transitions. That's a great idea, can be a very useful one. Tal-Chen: Okay, great. I'd love to hear more about that, specifically. Sarah: Mm-hmm. Tal-Chen: Using music in transitions. Sarah: So using music to engage children during center time, using music to teach phonological awareness -- that's a good one. Tal-Chen: Mm-hmm, right. Sarah: Somebody has taken the kids to ballet. That's a great -- that's a fun idea. Tal-Chen: Mm-hmm, yep. Sarah: So some are using music for group interaction and body movement, expressing feelings through sound. Marcela says that she's using music for math concepts. I think that would be kind of a fun one to hear more about, if you agree, Tal. Tal-Chen: Yeah, definitely. Sarah: Marcia says that they use calming music to get children ready for nap time.

Tal-Chen: Okay, great. Yep. Sarah: Let's see, so another comment about transitions and helping the child focus by using hand movements with a song. Tracy says that they use music to access development.

Tal-Chen: Okay. Sarah: Oh, some more comments about language development. So it seems like transition is a big winner here in terms of how people are frequently using music. But lots of academic skills coming in, too, in terms of language, executive functioning skills, math concepts, things like that. Tal-Chen: The transition one is merely children listening to music and moving into another activity, or do they have to perform it, too, with the transition one? Sarah: I think that's a question for people listening. I assume probably just to help them transition between activities. But maybe they're also doing something as well. So if people want to comment on that, whether children are performing music as they are transitioning between activities, that would be interesting to hear. So maybe while people are typing, if you want to move on, Tal, we can still -- I'll keep track of the chat window as you talk some more.

Tal-Chen: Okay, great.

Sarah: Thanks.

Tal-Chen: Okay, absolutely. So we will now start with looking specifically at research that explored the possible impact of music on children's cognitive and social capacities in those three modes of musical engagement -- where we said listening, performing, and interacting with others. We will first explore the what -- which aspect of children's cognitive and social capacities can music make better? And we will then consider the why. What could the be reason for why music is able to contribute and impact those capacities in children's lives. But before we do so, I'd like to explain the basic process that allows music to have an effect on children's lives outside of the musical context. There's a process called the transfer where certain capacities and skills that are being practiced in one domain can influence and improve skills in a completely different domain. I'm sure you came across this before in many different areas, not just music. And we think that music, specially, can transfer certain skills to other non-musical cognitive and social areas in children. So in the next few slides, I will first show you which transfer effects may happen between music and other areas, and I will then explain why we think this is the case. But first, what is going on, and then why, and what are the underlying mechanisms or processes we think is happening here.

So research has found that following music listening specifically, there may be a possible short-term cognitive enhancement in areas such as spacial ability -- meaning the ability to extract accurate information and predictions regarding the space and objects around us. For example, in terms of their size and orientations, and also an enhancement in creativity in children. So both things -- spacial ability and creativity. Since music is a highly abstract activity, it is possible that when children listen to music, they are using other capacities such as their spacial ability and creativity to understand.

It makes more sense to the music. This is why only listening to music could help your child be a bit more intelligent and creative. However, the effects of music listening seem to be small and short-term. We will now move on to other more active forms of musical engagement. So we're moving on to music as a performance, and we're looking at the what. What can music performance boost in children? So musical training such as when children take music lessons with a teacher has been shown to have quite an impact on children's cognitive abilities. For example, music lessons in elementary school children have been shown to have greater increases in IQ and specifically in reading, mathematical, spacial, and verbal abilities. Music has also been shown to have a positive influence on children's working memory as well as on the acquisition of a second language. Even though these studies have been performed mostly with elementary school children, we believe that younger children could also benefit from musical training, of course.

So we're coming into the why. Why music performance may boost certain cognitive skills in children. So what could be the underlying processes that create all of thee transfer effects? There are a few possibilities to consider. First, when a child receives musical training in the form of music lessons, for example, already there are additional learning opportunities the children enjoy doing, which in itself, may be beneficial for children. So in a sense, it's just another opportunity to learn more things in general. Now going into the more specifics of music moreover, this additional schooling embodies a specific constellation of abilities the music lessons train and improve. Abilities that include focused attention and concentration, memorization, reading -- so you need to read the notes of the music, for example, fine motor skills, expressing emotions.

So music laden with emotional content, and so on. So music lessons may train executive functions, which may in turn promote general cognitive capacities. So this is a very specific outlook on why music specifically may enhance musical functions and cognitive abilities in children. Now, a third possibility is that music promote intellectual development because of its inherently abstract nature. For example, a tune is defined solely by relational information. That means when you listen to even a simple tune, in order to make sense of the music, you need to understand how the notes relate to each other. And that involves some kind of an abstract understanding of the melody. And this in itself could possibly boost cognitive capacities in children. But it's also possible that children who take music are more open to experiences since they are ready to take on and learn a new thing. And this, in itself, helps them succeed in intelligence tests. So this latter quality has to do with the type of personality of children who actually decide that they will do music and not with the activity itself. So something to think about -- not music specific, but the type of crowd that is attracted to music. So we will next discuss music as a social interactive activity. So we discussed music as a listening medium, then as a performing medium, and now as a social interactive medium. And interacting with other children or adults in music has been shown to have positive effects on mainly children's social and social emotional behaviors. For example, musical interaction has been shown to have a positive impact on children's cooperation, sharing, gross social skills, and a capacity for empathy. So first, I'd like to delve into the underlying processes or the reason behind those transfer effects between musical interaction and children's social capacities. Why is it so that music is -- doing music together is such a good tool for enhancing social skills in people who are interacting in it?

So when playing and interacting in music with other people, in order for the musical interaction to be successful and harmonious, there are certain basic skills that children need to develop. Let's think about them. For example, being in synchrony. The experience of being in time together, of sharing the same beat. Think about any kind of music or musical interaction you've ever been in. It always involves a joint beat. So it doesn't have to be exactly synchronous, but if people are playing together, they share a very similar beat together. And sometimes it's highly synchronized, in most cases. So, for example, think about children, the most simple case would be with a clap or drum together at the same time. Recently, there have been many studies looking specifically on the role of synchrony in children's social behavior. Results show that when children are moving, drumming, or tapping together with another peer or adult, they tend to be more helpful, cooperative, and generous towards the person they're interacting with. Some studies also found that being in synchrony together with another group of people creates a strong bond between those group members. Stronger when compared to when children are moving, drumming, or tapping with another peer or adult in an asynchronous way. That means sharing different beats at different times.

So if you think about, for example, jazz, that may not be the perfect example for asynchrony. When I say asynchrony, I mean, something far more disorganized in terms of the beat than just playing groovy music. So I would consider jazz to be a type of a very groovy synchronized activity, but this is a very different type of experience of being completely asynchronous with each other. So there are many more studies being done with adults, actually, showing how synchrony between two or more adults enhances their memory towards the person with whom they're interacting, so their sense of a person's perception, their affiliation towards the person, their sense of perceived similarity and so forth. The reason why synchrony might promote all of those positive social interactions is not completely clear yet, and most probably, there is more than one mediating factor that could contribute to this effect. Possible explanations include an enhanced sense of perceived similarity to the person with whom one is synchronizing with. So think about it. Since the movements when being in synchrony are so intensely similar, people may expand and extrapolate that feeling of being similar to the other person to other areas, different areas, not just the beat, such as their personalities, hobbies, et cetera. Meaning, if we are similar in once sense, in this case, movement, we may be similar in many different ways, too. This sense of feeling similar to one another might in itself create rapport between the interacting individuals, and thus raise their motivation to engage in positive social behaviors with each other.

We actually tested this hypothesis in a study with kids, with children where we had two children play drums together, either in synchrony or in asynchrony. And then we asked them how similar and actually close to they felt towards each other. Children who had been drumming in synchrony rated themselves as substantially more similar to their drumming partner than children who had been drumming in an asynchronous way with each other. Children who were in the synchronous condition also rated themselves as feeling closer to their partner when compared to children in the asynchrony condition or children who did not have any type of rhythmic interaction with a partner at all. So, in essence, drumming together for two minutes had enhanced children's perceived similarity in many different areas, not just in music or the interaction itself or the physical movement towards their interacting partner. And also it made them feel closer to that person. So this may be a mediating factor that may facilitate positive social interaction in children later on. Our explanations for the connection between synchrony and social interaction is that being in synchrony enhances in-group affiliations. So it takes the interacting participants -- it makes the interacting participants feel like they belong to the same group, and by that, it lessens social distance and motivates them to help cooperate, and, for example, remember more things about each other.

So earlier, I mentioned one study that showed that children who experienced synchrony in a group tended to create a stronger bond with members of that group when compared to experiencing asynchrony with other group members. Of course, there is still a lot of work and many more studies to be done in this area decomposing and understanding synchrony as a constructive and beneficial tool for social -- and beneficial social phenomenon. Next imitation. When children engage with others in music, they tend to imitate each others movements and phrases. This happens very naturally. They are sharing the beat, the melody, the harmony, et cetera, together. And imitation has been shown to be related to positive social behavior and specifically to empathy.

So when we imitate another person, it gets us closer to the first-person perspective rather than to the third-person perspective. And so it makes it easier for us to be in someone else's shoes and understand their emotion and feelings better. Some studies also show that imitation creates rapport between people. So this is why it is possible that experiencing imitation in music while interacting with other people may benefit children in real-life social interactions later on. So, in addition, when engaging musically together with another person or persons, children need to be generally attentive to the other people with whom their interacting with in order for the music to sound well. And focusing your attention on another person is an important first step for children to be able to understand and engage with the other person, and, ultimately, be motivated to cooperate, help, or be involved with any kind of positive social interaction. Therefore, using and developing these skills during musical interaction with others in such an enjoyable and non-competitive activity such as music is likely to give those skills, specifically synchrony, imitation, and attentiveness a boost when children come to interact with others in their everyday lives, also outside of the musical context.

And as we described above, these very same skills are considered to be important in maintaining a positive and cooperative social behavior. So before I move on to the practical part, I'd like to show you some examples of those underlying processes we discussed. And specifically to show you a study we conducted with four-year-olds and how a brief intervention of only synchronous swinging made those kids be more cooperative with one another. Our experiment comprised 81 dyads of fouryear-old children, either boy dyads or girl dyads, who were complete strangers to each other. When they first met, we only introduced them to one another by their first names. So think about it. Children are coming into our labs in dyads. They've never met each other before. And they introduce themselves by the first name only. And then we divided them into three groups. In one group, the two children were swinging in synchrony, as you can see on the left-hand side of the picture, in the exact same pace and the exact same phase. The second group consisted of dyads of children who were swung in asynchrony, at different paces, and differed phases. In the third group were children who did not swing with each other at all. So a baseline control group. For the first two groups, the synchrony and asynchrony, we then swung both children for two and a half minutes.

As you can see in the picture on the left-hand side, this was how it looked when we swung the children in synchrony. And as you can see in the picture on the right-hand side, this is how it looked when we swung the children in asynchrony with each other. I don't have access to the computer. Yeah. There -- it got stuck in the middle. Okay. So and as you can see in the picture on the right-hand side, this is how it looked when we swung the children in asynchrony so that they're not together in terms of their position in space. So after the swinging, we gave the children two cooperative tasks, cooperation tasks. On the left-hand side, you can see the button-push test. I hope you can see that, where the children were asked to push a button together at the same time in order to make an animated figure pop up on a computer screen. They were asked to do this four times in a row. On the right-hand side, you can see the give-and-take task where we asked the children to pass toys from one bucket to another through a hole in an apparatus. One child passed the toys and the other one grabbed it. what we found was that overall, children who were swung in synchrony with each other cooperated better than kids who were swung in asynchrony or kids who did not swing at all. This was evident in both of the tasks. So in the button-push task on the left-hand side, children who were swung in synchrony tended to make less failed taps prior to success when compared to children who were swung in asynchrony or children who did not swing at all. In this sense, children who were swung in synchrony showed better coordination and overall cooperation than children in the other two groups. Okay. We found that the same effect also with the give-and-take test, as you can see on the right-hand side. Children who underwent the synchronous movement experience tended to perform the task more efficiently and quickly when compared to children who underwent the asynchronous movement experience or children who did not swing at all.

In this sense, too, children in the synchrony group out-performed their peers from the other two groups in terms of being more coordinated and cooperative. So why would synchrony enhance these children's cooperative behaviors? So as we mentioned earlier, we think that this is because swinging in synchrony made those children feel more similar to each other, starting from the simple similar movement experience they underwent together, which may have expanded in their mind to other areas where they might be similar to each other. And to this ability to be more cooperative with each other overall, that's the effect that we had observed. Interestingly, we also noticed that some children, when they pressed the button, tend to raise their hands up in the air in a stylized manner, as if to signal the other child that they're about to push the button. We see this as an interpersonal communicative mechanism where children are signaling to the other child so that they would be ready to push, too, when they are. What we found were two very interesting things.

First, we found that overall, raising the hand up in the air before pushing the button proved to be a successful strategy. So the dyads who raised their hands before pushing the button tended to be more successful in the task than children who did not raise their hands. In addition, we also found that the stylized hand behavior was substantially more prevalent in the synchrony group when compared to the asynchrony group so that the children who underwent the synchronous movement experience had used a specific social communicative mechanism in order to succeed in the task. Okay. Moving on to another study we conducted and are currently pursuing further. We gave children a year-long musical group interaction program where they played different kinds of musical games with each other, mainly concentrated on being in synchrony with one another, imitating each other, and learning to be attentive to the other children while playing music together. Later today, we will look at specific examples of games played in this program. We also had two control groups, an arts-oriented control group where children played very similar games to the ones played in the music group, but instead of using music, we used drama, story-telling, and plastic arts techniques instead. We also had a baseline group of children who did not participate in any additional education programs on our part. And what we found was that this specific musical group interaction program boosted children's capacity for empathy outside of the musical context. So there was a transfer effect happening between music or musical group interaction and empathy in this case. We are not in the process of performing more studies and experiments to understand this transfer effect better, and, of course, know more about it. So to summarize what we have said so far.

Music can be experienced in three main forms, listening, performing, and interacting with others.

All of those forms have been shown to have cognitive and social benefits for children, but mainly the latter two forms, the performing and interacting ones. In order for these benefits to happen, there needs to be a transfer effect taking place where some skills are transferred from one domain, music in this case, to another, the cognitive and social domains in this case. Likely explanations for a cognitive transfer for music includes additional schooling develops specific related abilities, music's abstract nature, and perhaps the personality type such as openness to experience. A likely explanation for a social transfer from music includes synchrony, imitation, and attentiveness to others in a fun and non-competitive context such as music. I'd now like you to consider two important points about what I just said before summarizing and moving on to the practical level some questions I usually get from people. So, first, it doesn't matter what kind of music is being played. The important thing is the how. How kids are engaged with music and how they do it might lead to transfer effects. For example, playing musical games that include opportunities for synchrony and imitation might facilitate a transfer effect of social skills. Second, of course, music is not the sole medium or tool that may enhance social and cognitive capacities in children. There are many, many more ways of doing so. Music is just a great medium, or rather an arsenal that embodies multiple processes that have the potential to enhance cognitive, as well as social skills in children. It is also so much fun to do, so it makes it easy to engage kids in it and sustain them in those activities.

Okay. So I would now like to turn to practice and discuss the different ways in which we as teachers, educators, and parents can use music in order to help our children enhance their cognitive and social skills in an enjoyable and meaningful way through music. Anytime is a great opportunity for children to play and engage with music. We've talked about it today with regards to preschoolers, but music is something that cuts across age, culture, language, and ability. Anyone can listen to and engage with music. Of course, listening to music is easy to do. All you need is to provide children with a playing device and headphones when necessary. It doesn't necessarily need to be in a quite or an isolated space. It could also be along with other activities. In addition, going to children-specific or any kind of musical concerts or shows would be fun and beneficial for them. Opening them up to as many different types and styles of music widens children's horizons and helps them figure out what kinds of music they especially like listening to.

You might also consider playing music that has particular cultural significance to you or your community. There are many ways to get children actively engaged in music by themselves. Around the house and in school, there are always tools children can bang on and create music with. It doesn't have to be a designated musical instrument for it to be considered as music. And the children should be free to explore this on their own so it is not contingent on an adult facilitating those activities. Music training, learning how to sing or play an instrument is another great way to create opportunities for children to perform music themselves. This is usually done by a qualified teacher, either at school or outside of school. And here are ways to create opportunities for children to engage in group music-making. Around the house and in schools, gather a few children and provide them with musical instruments or tools to play with. Especially for the younger children, singing and making music together as a group is a wonderful opportunity for them to experience music. For older children, encouraging and supporting families to involve children in a choir or an ensemble when available in their communities is a wonderful way for them to practice those interactional music skills with other peers. With listening to music, one can do the following, for example.

Play the child a musical except and ask questions about it, such as what kind of instruments were played, did you like it, and if so, what parts and why? This will enhance and deepen the child's engagement with the music being played. So you can play it as a little quiz for them to listen and then answer some questions or they need to pay attention and tell you what they hear in the music. So it can be done in many, many different ways. Another option would be to provide the child with information about the origin and culture of the music being played. So what's really special about music is that it's both a very universal language, so it embodies or it can speak to many different people at the same time. But also it could be very culture-specific. So if you had a classroom that has many different kids from different cultures, you can use music to connect other kids to someone else's culture and use the music as a tool for everyone to connect together. So that's a very useful thing to have. For actively engaging children with music, when provided with tools to play with -- so I'm saying tools just because it really does not have to be musical instruments, it can be anything in the home that makes some kind of sound. It could be the body of a child or of the caregiver, the parent. It really doesn't matter. Anything that makes some kind of a sound is good to go.

So when provided with tools to play with, encourage the child to try out as many sounds and sound combinations as possible. And provide enough space for that, too. Also, working with your community resources to provide children with formal musical training is a great way to widen ones opportunities for engaging with music. So there's many different extracurricular programs children can enroll to such as music and movement, music and storytelling, maybe take a lesson, a private lesson or a group lesson on how to play an instrument, even at age four or five or six so we can start earlier to -- so many, many different ways for engaging children in music, either at home, at the school, or in community centers or other different spaces for the children. So I'll now lay out a few examples of musical games that could be played as a group and are likely to be beneficial in strengthening social skills in children who engage in them. What is really nice about these games is that you don't need to be an expert to facilitate or lead those games with the children, not at all. We'll start with the synchrony game. And all you need for these games is to provide children with some kind of instrument they can bang, tap, or drum on. First, ask the children to drum together very slowly. Then very fast, and then gradually go back to being slow so that they would have a deep pattern of slow, fast, slow. The one condition of this game is that they need to do everything together at the same time. You can then suggest to them to play that game in a loud, quiet, loud pattern, too, that they start off playing very loudly together, then go on to playing more quietly, and then get back to playing loudly again. So in a sense, it's a game where you can have either the children lead or one of the facilitating adults. So they start together, they start either very loudly or very softly, then somehow it turns into a very loud or the other way around interaction, and then it goes back to how it used to be. So -- in a kind of a forward movement. And these types of games can also be done with musical instruments that have specific pitches.

And then the children could play a game that goes specifically according to the pattern of low pitch, high pitch, and then low pitch again. So they play very, very low on bass instruments or the lower part of the instrument, and then they try to play a very high-pitch instrument or high pitch in the same instrument, high-pitched voice, and then go back to the low pitch. And the one condition, that they do it together at the same time. Also, of course, possible to just use percussion instruments, a drum or pots and pans -- or even ones own body as an instrument could work. So anything works with these types of games, the synchrony games. And I'm sure you can think about many, many different more iterations of these games to play. So the important thing is to just keep the beat.

You can also take some music and give the kids some drums and ask them to maintain a beat together. And then you can take the music out and ask them to maintain that beat again without the music. So that would help them be very attentive towards one another and keep the beat without any external aids. So that's another idea. So many, many different variations, and the only ideas is for kids to actually learn to keep a beat with another person. Next imitation games where children are either fully imitating or just matching their partner. As with the synchrony games, these games could be done with musical instruments, but also simply with using ones own body as an instrument. Let's take the matching game, for example, where one child is asked to play or drum a musical phrase, and the child next to her is asked to try to either completely imitate that phrase or else play a similar matched version of it. So imagine kids sitting in a circle, and one child starts playing something on a percussion instrument or a piano, it doesn't really matter. So they play for about 20, 30 seconds, and then the child that sits next to him or to the child that just played, is asked to either play to imitate that phrase or play something that's really similar, continues that same phrase. So this is the matching game where they learn how to listen and imitate and match each other through playing. So the children are sitting in a circle, and each of them has a turn to play and match the child sitting next to them in the circle. Another example of an imitation game is the dancing mirror game.

So just saying a side note about music and dance, they're very, very similar -- pretty much almost the same mode of behavior. Music used to have a very active participative role prior to the modern era in a sense, and dancing is part of music, music is part of dancing. So in this mirror game, two children stand facing each other, and while music is being played, they are asked to improvise a dance together where one child imitates the other child's movements while dancing, or in the harder case, both children try to imitate each other's movements, which could be slightly tricky -- but they'll work it out. So that's another example of imitation game. You can use anything, the children's bodies, instruments, their breathing pattern. You can ask them to breathe together when they dance or when they play music. There are many, many different ways in which you can take the idea of them imitating and matching each other while interacting in music or in dance, for that matter. And attentiveness games are games where the children are required to be focused on the partner or partners with whom they are playing. For example, the musical mind-reading game. The musical mind reading. In this game, the children are asked to improvise on a musical or percussion instrument and think about a specific theme while they play. For example, a specific animal such as a dog or a lion, or even a certain emotion, such as being sad or happy. They're also asked to try and convey that theme to the other interacting participants while they play. So at the same time, the children are also asked to try and guess what themes their partners have in mind. And this is all happening while interacting musically with one another without using words or describe the themes that they have in mind. Only after the musical interaction is over can the children talk about the themes they had in mind while playing and compare their impressions and guesses about them. So, in essence, think about two children who are playing with each other, each of them thinks about something they decided to think about. So, for example, one is thinking about a lion, and the other is thinking about a dog.

A child who is thinking about a lion is trying to convey that lion-ness in their playing. But at the same time, while trying to do that, he is also trying to understand what kind of theme their partner has while they're playing. So it's a dual task. So on the one hand, they need to be focused on themselves, but they can't do that, can't succeed in the task or in the game without actually really being focused on the other, on the partner and trying to figure out what they had in mind when they're playing. So it's a complicated task, but it works really well, even with younger children, a game that I've used many times before with young children. So, therefore, in order to make ends meet, children who participate in this mind-reading game need to be very attentive to the other child's playing while actively, musically interacting with them. Another musical game that focuses on attention is when one child is dancing and the other child is playing music according to the dance. So the child who is dancing is, in a sense, dictating the child who is supposed to improvise. And playing music accordingly, what kind of music they should play.

So if the child who is dancing is dancing very slowly, you'd imagine that the child who is improvising to that dance would play a very slow melody or a slow form of rhythmic progression. Or if the child is jumping, I'd assume that the music would change accordingly. So this also allows children who engage in this kind of interaction to be able to be very focused on their partner while doing this, while interacting musically and in a movement way with one another. Okay, so moving on... We wanted to ask you before we wrap up, we'd love to hear more about your musical plans for the future. How will you use music in the future, what games and activities might you incorporate into your interactions with children. So please type your responses in the chat box as before.

Sarah: Thanks, Tal. So the questions is what kind of activities are you inspired to try with children? So if you can type some of those activities into the chat box, that would be great. Somebody earlier said that they let children pick their own instrument every day, which is fun. Tracy said that she uses music to accompany telling stories.

Tal-Chen: Right, mm-hmm.

Sarah: Jennifer says that she might try asking children to match tempo to the pace of their friends while they're dancing. Rose suggests drumming together in synch, like you were talking about. Tal-Chen: Okay. Sarah: So some fun ideas. It will be interesting to hear more. I see a lot of people are typing. Tal-Chen: Okay. Sarah: So Michelle who works in -- mm-hmm. Michelle works in a home-based program, and says that she sings songs with children and parents that incorporate movement. Oh, this is an interesting one. Asking parents and children to make instruments together, so making string or percussion instruments.

Tal-Chen: Right, that could be really good and really fun. Sarah: So you get involved in the making of the instruments as well. Tal-Chen: Right. And understand it better, from that perspective. Sarah: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Marcela says she wants to encourage music to encourage cultural sensitivity. I think you talked a little bit about that. Tal-Chen: Right, yep. Sarah: Another mention of making instruments with recycled materials. Using our body as an instrument -- this idea that you don't have to have actual instruments to do music with kids.

Tal-Chen: Absolutely. I can't agree more with that. And making instruments from recycled material, that sounds like a fantastic idea. Sarah: Mm-hmm. That's an idea. So an idea that you can use music for departure and arrival times.

So, again, back to that sort of transition kind of thing, that you're signaling different times of the schedule based on music. Tal-Chen: I wonder if people can write a little bit more about why they think music is good for transitions.

Sarah: Oh, sure. Tal-Chen: What they think is happening there. Sarah: Yeah, that's a great idea. So if people want to talk a little bit more about why music works so well for transitions. In the meantime, Lauren said that she loves what you said about synchronizing and doing this with a musical instrument like a shaker, and making it go fast or slow using the shaker to find your head and toes, et cetera, and you can pair that with, you know, being loud or quiet and thinking about that.

Tal-Chen: Mm-hmm. Sarah: So some answers to the questions that you posed about transitions. So Jennifer says that hearing music triggers a response for children. So giving them sort of this auditory cue that, you know, a different activity is about to begin or a different time of the day is about to begin. Michelle says that she thinks music helps the process run more smoothly. Maria says that children enjoy listening to music, and so it facilitates the opportunity for them to be engaged, gives a positive context for children.

Tal-Chen: Right, the positive feelings. Because a bell is something audible, too. It could be like music is a more -- working better than a bell for example. Or if people have any ideas or thoughts about that.

Sarah: Yeah. It's interesting. I wonder if music is maybe more interactive or more enjoyable, you know, than just hearing a bell noise. So, again, more comments. So Juanita is talking about making a drum using coffee cans. So that's a really fun example of...

Tal-Chen: Nice.

Sarah: Of how this might work. Interesting. Well, we'll let people keep typing, but in the meantime, I wonder, Tal, if you want to move, we can move to the wrap-up, and then we can sort of invite general questions as people continue chatting. Does that sound good?

Tal-Chen: Yeah, okay. Sounds good. So to warp up, here's a summary of things we've discussed. So we talked about how music can be experienced in different ways, mainly listening, performing, and interacting socially. And music can be beneficial for children's cognitive and social development by transferring skills from the music domain to other domains. So that was the whole idea of transfer between music and other non-musical domains. So our specific underlying processes that might be responsible for these transfer effects, and we discussed those in detail, mainly synchrony imitation and attentiveness, and others, too. And we also talked about ways to both create opportunities as well as activities for children to engage in music in a meaningful way. Again, thinking about the three main modes of engagement with music, which are listening to music, performing, and interacting socially with other peers and adults. And that's pretty much it. So, yeah.

Sarah: Great. So, thank you, everybody, for listening. And we hope this information will be valuable to you as you help programs, consider ways to enrich musical experiences for children and families. If you have thoughts you'd like to share about how this relates to your work or any additional questions about the content that Tal covered today, we will open it up for your questions and comments at this point. So please, we'd love to hear from you, what you think, and again, more information about how you do use music and how you might use music in the future with the kids and families you work with. And I'm sure Tal will be happy to take some questions.

Tal-Chen: Absolutely, yep.

Sarah: So a question from Sarah about how can we get a copy of the references from the presentation.

Tal-Chen: Mm-hmm. Do you have any ideas about that, Sarah?

Sarah: Well, you have the copy of the PowerPoint that's available to you. And then, Tal, perhaps, you can share a web site where people might find more information about your work.

Tal-Chen: Yeah. I will... We can add that. There's a web site on the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences under my name. You can find that, and it will link you also to the music and empathy project and other references and papers that we have done in the past. So you can just type my name through I-LABS web site and discover all of that there.

Sarah: And I'm gonna provide a link for people here in a minute.

Tal-Chen: Okay, great.

Sarah: A question from Jennifer about the -- what were the ages of children involved in your music study.

Tal-Chen: Okay. In the music study, there were elementary school kids, specifically then in that study, we had kids going from eight to 11. But, actually now, we're running a study with much younger children, mostly in the K1 area. But we don't have results yet. It's an ongoing project in Seattle at the moment.

Sarah: That's a stay tuned, right?

Tal-Chen: Exactly.

Sarah: Yes. A question about access certificates. So you are going -- you will get an e-mail with a link to an evaluation survey after the webinar. And if you complete the -- when you complete the evaluation survey, you will be able to print out a certificate of attendance.

Tal-Chen: Mm-hmm.

Sarah: Oh, and we've just posted the link to the evaluation here as well. So feel free to fill that out. Just one additional comment that I saw about using music for transitions. So Mallory says that it allows children to have a cue as to what's about to happen. They're not as abruptly interrupted during an activity. So that's -- I think that's an interesting idea as far as, you know, using music for transitions.

Tal-Chen: Right, right. Yeah, definitely.

Sarah: Yeah. So a question from Marcela about what the study in Seattle -- what type of facilities or schools are you using? Are they Head Start or others?

Tal-Chen: Not Head Start specifically. We're doing it in different sites, public schools, private schools. We're running some sessions here in I-LABS. So just trying to utilize as wide -- the wider range of kids with different backgrounds and cultures we can possibly find. So that's what we wanted to do.

Sarah: Great. Okay. Any final questions from anyone while we've got Tal on the line? So Marcela's asking are the kids of a particular socio-economic status?

Tal-Chen: Exactly. So that's what I meant. So we have very differences of socio-economic status between the kids that we are currently working with. That wasn't the case in the study that I had reported before, which mainly had -- it was in Britain. But this one has a very wide range of kids coming from different socio-economic backgrounds and cultures. So, yeah, it's a very wide range.

Sarah: All right, well, thank you, Tal.

It is 1:00 here in the Pacific Time Zone and 4:00 on the East Coast. So we are out of time. Thank you all so much for attending. Please, again, look out for the evaluation link that you will receive via e-mail, and once you complete the evaluation survey, then you will be able to download a certificate of participation. So thank you, Tal, for joining us, and thank you, everyone, for attending our Front Porch series. And we hope you'll join us for the next Front Porch.

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The Role of Music in Children's Development | ECLKC

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Learn how music benefits children's cognitive and social development. Hear strategies for enhancing this development through music.

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Building a Dynamic Brain: The Influence of Music, Movement, and Nutrition

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Building a Dynamic Brain: The Influence of Music, Movement, and Nutrition

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Building a Dynamic Brain: The Influences of Movement, Nutrition, and Music The Second Webinar in the "Little Voices for Healthy Choices" Series‌
Laura Annunziata: Good afternoon everyone. My name is Laura Annunziata, and I am a senior training specialist at the Early Head Start National Resource Center at Zero to Three. I'm very pleased to welcome you to this afternoon's webinar entitled "Building a Dynamic Brain: The Influences of Music, Movement, and Nutrition"...the second webinar in the "Little Voices for Healthy Choices" series. "Little Voices for Healthy Choices," sponsored by the Office of Head Start, is an initiative focused on issues in nutrition, music, and movement, particularly, as they relate to infants, very young children, their families, caregivers, and communities.

We're very pleased to have all of you joining us today as we spend the next hour or so exploring concepts in early brain and neurologic development, looking particularly at the prenatal period and children between birth and 3 years of age. We have three wonderful presenters joining us. Donna Britt, senior program manager, distance learning and senior training specialist, and with the Early Head Start National Resource Center at Zero to Three, and Valerie Bayne Carroll and Maria Tripodi, teaching artists with the Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Arts. In the audience, today, we are joined by staff from programs throughout the country, both those that are participating in the yearlong "Little Voices for Healthy Choices" initiative as well as federal staff, technical assistants, consultants, and others interested in the "Little Voices for Healthy Choices" content.

Today's presentation will include some interactive arts activities, a PowerPoint presentation, and an opportunity to ask questions of our presenters. We will also be sharing some short videos with you. If, for some reason, your computer has difficulty processing the video in this live format, don't worry.

You'll have a chance to view it again later when this presentation is archived for you. Now, I'd like to introduce you to Valerie Bayne Carroll and Maria Tripodi. Both Valerie and Maria are arts educators with many years of experience working with infants and very young children in a variety of settings. They will begin by sharing a music and movement activity with you called "Dance Like Raindrops." If you've brought scarves with you, please take them out now so that you can use them as you follow along with them in this experience. Maria, Valerie?

Valerie Bayne Carroll: Thank you Laura. This is a simple song that uses scarves with rhythmic movement.

Maria Tripodi: Esta una canción simple que utiliza pañuelos con movimiento rítmicos.

Valerie: It focuses on crossing multiple midlines.

Maria: Su enfoque es cruzar las líneas del cuerpo.

Valerie: Causing information to be transmitted from the right and left sides of the brain.

Maria: Que causa que la información se transmita de una parte del cerebro al otro.

Valerie: So to join in, stand up in a place that gives you some space to move.

Maria: Si quiere participar, levántese y encuentre un espacio donde se pueda mover.

Valerie: First. I'll describe the movement, and then we'll add the singing.

Maria: Primero voy a describir el movimiento y después vamos a agregar el canto.

Valerie: So with a scarf in each hand, extend your arms up over your head.

Maria: Empiece con los pañuelos en cada mano y sus brazos extendidos arriba de la cabeza.

Valerie: Then slowly sweep the scarves down in front of you to the ground, swishing them from side to side.

Maria: Lentamente vamos a bajar los pañuelos hacia el piso, moviendo de un lado al otro como una serpiente.

Valerie: And when you finish, the scarves will be touching the ground.

Maria: Cuando terminemos, los pañuelos estarán tocando el piso.

Valerie: and you'll be bent over at the waist, crossing the first midline.

Maria: y estaríamos doblados hacia abajo, cruzando el primer "midline".

Valerie: Next, you'll uncurl into a standing position with your arms stretched out from side to side.

Maria: Lentamente volvemos a pararnos en una posición recta con los brazos hacia los lados.

Valerie: Then, you'll twist from side to side, crossing the midline that runs up through the belly button.

Maria: Luego, girar media vuelta de lado a lado, cruzando el "midline" del centro del cuerpo.

Valerie: For the third movement, hold your scarves out in front of you.

Maria: Para el tercer movimiento, sostenga los pañuelos en frente suyo.

Valerie: and wave them up and down, alternating hands, as if you're splashing water.

Maria: con los brazos extendidos, comience a mover los brazos en dirección contraria hacia arriba y hacia abajo como si estuviera chapoteando sobre el agua.

Valerie: And you can also add your feet, as if you're splashing through a puddle.

Maria: También puede agregar los pies, como si estuviera chapoteando el barro.

Valerie: Now, we're not crossing a midline with this.

Maria: No estamos cruzando una línea con esto.

Valerie: But by alternating hands, we're still stimulating both sides of the brain.

Maria: Pero haciendo la dirección contraria, todavía estamos estimulando las dos partes del cerebro.

Valerie: Finally, for the last midline, keep your arms extended in front of you.

Maria: Finalmente, para la ultima línea, mantenga sus brazos extendidos en frente suyo.

Valerie: Open your arms until they're extended behind you, and then close them again.

Maria: Y luego comience a abrir los brazos hasta que se extiendan hacia atrás.

Valerie: And with that we've crossed the midlines that run up both sides of the body.

Maria: Y con eso hemos cruzado las líneas que corren por los lados de nuestros cuerpos.

Valerie: Now, we'll add the singing to the movement.

Maria: Ahora vamos a agregar el canto al movimiento.

Valerie: So start again with the scarves over your head, sweeping them down to the floor as we sing.

Maria: Comencemos de nuevo con los pañuelos con los brazos extendidos arriba de nuestra cabeza.

Valerie: Here we go. ♪ Dance like raindrops, dance like raindrops.

Maria: ♪[in Spanish] Empecemos, baila lluvia, baila lluvia.

Valerie: Now uncurl to standing, arms stretched out at your sides and get ready to twist.

Maria: Volviendo a una posición recta, con nuestros brazos a cada lado nos preparamos para girar, cantamos.

Valerie: Here we go. ♪ Through the air, through the air.

Maria: ♪ [in Spanish] Fresca sí, fresca sí.

Valerie: Now arms in front for the splashing motion.

Maria: Brazos extendidos en frente de su cuerpo para la agitación.

Valerie: ♪ Splishy-splashy, raindrops, splishy-splashy raindrops.

Maria: ♪ [in Spanish] Plis-plas, la lluvia; plis-plas la lluvia.

Valerie: Keep your arms extended in front of you, then open them up till they're behind you then close them again.

Maria: Mantenga sus brazos extendidos en frente suyo, ábralos hasta que estén detrás suyo.

Valerie: ♪ Here and there.

Maria: ♪ [in Spanish] Aquí y allá.

Valerie: ♪ Here and there.

Maria: ♪ [in Spanish] Aquí y allá.

Valerie: Now let's move through the whole sequence with just the singing.

Maria: Ahora vamos a hacerlo todo de vuelta simplemente cantando.

Valerie: And we're going to open the lines so please sing along! Here we go. ♪Dance like raindrops, dance like raindrops. ♪Through the air, through the air. Splashy-splashy raindrops, ♪splashy-splashy raindrops. ♪Here and there, here and there. Thank you! Now close the lines again. This next experience deals with quality of touch. I like to call it "Kneading the Bread."

Maria: Esta próxima experiencia es con la calidad de tacto. A mi me gusta llamarlo amasando el pan.

Valerie: This experience is a collaboration between you and your child.

Maria: Esta experiencia es una colaboración entre usted y su niño.

Valerie: The physical cues that the child is giving you will dictate how much of this experience you will be able to do at one time.

Maria: Las pistas físicas que el niño le esta dando va a determiner cuánto de esta experiencia se va poder hacer a la vez.

Valerie: It is a great way of incorporating imagery into the tactile experience, even if the image is more for the adult than the child.

Maria: Es una forma excelente para incorporar la imaginación con la experiencia del tacto, aunque la imagen es más para el adulto que el niño.

Valerie: For this webinar, let's practice on ourselves.

Maria: Para este webinar, vamos a practicar con nuestros cuerpos.

Valerie: I like to imagine...the image I like to use is of kneading bread. Having said that, take your child and lay her on her back in front of you with her feet toward you.

Maria: La imagen que me gusta usar es el de amasar pan. Con eso dicho, acueste a su niño enfrente suyo con sus pies hacia su cuerpo.

Valerie: Using your fingertips, gently begin to sprinkle some imaginary flour so it feels like gentle rain. Start at the head and work your way gently down the body.

Maria: Usando las puntitas de sus dedos, suavemente espolvore un poco de harina imaginaria como si fuera lluvia. Empiece con la cabeza y muévase hacia abajo por todo el cuerpo.

Valerie: Incorporate the shoulders and the arms, the torso, legs, down to the bottoms of the feet.

Maria: Incorporando los hombros y los brazos, el torso, las piernas, hasta que llegue a la planta de los pies.

Valerie: You can even describe what you're doing to the child as you go: "Here comes the flour. I'm sprinkling it on your head! Now it's on your shoulders. And whose arms are these?" Etcetera.

Maria: Incluso, se puede describir los movimientos mientras se hacen. Por ejemplo, "Acá viene la harina. Estoy espolvoreando la harina sobre tu cabeza. Ahora está sobre tus hombros y ¿de quién son estos brazos?" Etcetera.

Valerie: If the baby seems comfortable, this is a great opportunity to cross some of those midlines.

Maria: Si el bebé se siente cómodo, esta es una buena oportunidad para cruzar esas líneas del cuerpo.

Valerie: For example, take both arms and lift them over the head or cross one arm at a time over the belly, reaching toward the opposite side.

Maria: Por ejemplo, levante sus brazos arriba de la cabeza o cruce los brazos en diagonal a la altura del ombligo uno a la vez.

Valerie: Another thing you can do is lift the legs toward the chest so that you cross the midline at the waist.

Maria: Otra cosa que se puede hacer es levantar las piernas hacia el pecho, cruzando la línea que se encuentra en la cintura.

Valerie: Next, we're going to knead the dough. Starting at the head, we're going to gently squeeze all the same body parts we just sprinkled.

Maria: Luego vamos amasar la masa. Empezando con la cabeza, vamos a apretar las mismas partes del cuerpo que espolvoramos.

Valerie: Finally, we're going to wipe off the excess flour with a sweeping motion, adding a bit of pressure so that the quality of touch feels different from the first two experiences.

Maria: Finalmente, vamos a cepillar el resto de la harina, agregando un poco de presión para que la calidad del tacto se sienta diferente de las primeras dos experiencias.

Valerie: Remember to incorporate all the body parts as before, starting from head to the bottoms of the feet.

Maria: No se olvide de incorporar todas las mismas partes del cuerpo que antes, empezando con la cabeza hasta llegar a la planta de los pies.

Laura Annunziata: Thanks Valerie. Thanks Maria. And thanks to all of you out there for joining in with us! At this point in our webinar we'd like to welcome Dr. Donna Britt. Donna is an experienced trainer and educator who many of you may know from trainings throughout the country. She has prepared a lively and information-packed presentation to share with you, and we're very pleased to have her here with us today. Donna?

Donna Britt: Hello, everyone. I may be an experienced trainer, but this is the first time I've talked to a microphone and not seen faces to respond to me. So, this is a new experience for me too. Today, we are going to talk about the most complex job in the world: The formation and development of the human brain. How and when the brain grows is something scientists are learning more about almost every day. As early care professionals, we don't need to know everything about brain growth. But knowing a little bit about what happens at each stage of brain development helps us understand this dynamic, interactive process and helps us support healthy brain development. Our goal today is to explore the relationship between the developing brain, nutrition and motor, movement, and music development of infants and toddlers. We will review the brain's developing structure and functions, then conclude by looking at what we can do to promote and support healthy brain development.

To begin with, imagine a brain. What color do you think the brain is? What is the texture? What is the size? The brain's outer cover is a light gray. Immediately underneath the light gray is a whitish layer. The texture is that of pudding or tofu. It is made up of water, fats, and proteins. A newborn baby's brain weighs about 12 ounces to 1 pound, while an adult brain weighs about 3 pounds. You can see the size difference in this picture. The wrapped peanuts weigh one pound; the melon is three pounds. The adult brain makes up only about two percent of your total body weight. A baby's brain is about 16 percent of that total body weight. So, if you were 100 pounds, it would be like you carrying around 16 pounds above your shoulders, day in, day out. That's a lot of weight for a little guy. Then by two years of age baby's brain will have doubled to about two pounds.

The information about brain development is available, in part, due to the new methods of studying the brain in living persons. You may have had personal experiences with the use of some of these technologies: the MRI [magnetic resonance imagery], the PET scan [positron emission tomography], and the ultrasound or sonogram. I think that Jackie Ward, a past SETA Health Coordinator, said it best when she said, "First of all we need to recognize that before most are aware that they are pregnant, the baby is developing. The brain is the center of everything else that happens in our body. If we don't have a good start with the brain, then we're going to have a problem with everything else. The brain begins to develop about two weeks after conception and there is so much happening, we will only hit some of the highlights during our time together. When the brain begins to form, the embryo is not much larger than a grain of rice. And you can see the size of a grain of rice in comparison to this dime. During prenatal development all the structures of the brain are formed, but the internal components need time to develop. Nature has ensured that the neural circuits responsible for the most vital bodily functions- breathing, heartbeat, circulation, sleeping, sucking, and swallowing-are up and running by the time a baby emerges from the protective womb. The brain stem controls these bodily functions, the reflexes, and the senses of taste and smell. Much of the newborn's behavior is linked to brain stem maturation. The sense of taste begins to develop at about 11-13 weeks after conception. Research shows that prenatal experiences with taste affect what babies can taste and what they prefer to taste after birth.

The sense of smell develops very early, but it's not known exactly when. Newborns remember and prefer smells from their prenatal experiences. The newborn's ability to recognize the mother by smell is an example of the remarkable ability of the brain to store memories from prenatal development. The cerebellum is located at the back of the brain and is divided into two peach-size mounds: the right and left hemispheres. The motor and movement of the body, including posture, balance, body awareness, and coordination, are the responsibilities of the cerebellum. About half of the brain's neurons reside there. This allows for fine motor control of the fingers and toes, as well as the movements of the lips, tongue, and larynx needed for speech.

The cerebellum begins maturing shortly after birth and continues throughout the elementary years. Deep inside the recesses of the brain is the limbic system, and it's the center of human emotions, motivation, memory, and body regulation. The lower limbic system is mature at birth. It generates the basic emotions of fear, anger, and joy and controls the body's responses associated with those emotions. The upper limbic system is responsible for regulating the emotions. The total experience of our emotional memories is responsible, in part, for the emotional tone of our mind. The more stable, positive experiences, the more positive we are likely to feel. The more trauma in our lives, the more emotionally set we become in a negative way. The top, wrinkled layer of the brain is called the cortex. The cortex is only about the thickness of a quarter. This thick outer covering of the brain resembles the peel of an orange and, if unfolded, equals the size of a single page from a daily newspaper. This layer of the brain consists of bumps called gyri and grooves called sulci. As brain cells multiply and grow, the gyri and sulci help squeeze the mass of the cortex into the very small space of the skull. Most of the gyri and sulci are formed before birth or during the first year of life. Within the cortex are four lobes: the occipital, temporal, parietal, and frontal lobes. These lobes are associated with the senses of hearing, vision, touch, smell, and taste. The occipital lobe, located in the back of the brain, so you really do have eyes in the back of your head, serves as the home for the sense of vision. The sense of vision is the last sense to develop before birth, beginning about 26 weeks after conception. The fetus can sometimes see its own limbs, the shadows of its own body, and mother's organs. As the abdominal wall stretches, more light enters the womb. You can see the fetus react to light by shining a flashlight on the stomach of a pregnant woman. Usually the fetus turns away from the light. The amniotic sac provides a predominantly dark environment to aid typical development. Early exposure to light slows auditory learning and development, while bright light is stressful to the fetus. The development of sight is one of those critical periods. Exposure to light is required for the sense of vision to develop properly. Any problems such as congenital cataracts or crossed eyes should be promptly corrected so that the visual cortex is properly wired. At birth and for the first two to four months the neonate's focus is about eight inches, which is about the normal distance from your face to the crook of your elbow. That just happens to be the distance away that we hold infants when we look at them and feed them.

The development of sight directly influences the infant's developing motor and movement skills. Our second is the temporal lobes and they are located on both sides of the head, just above the ears and house the sense of hearing. The ability to hear begins to develop before birth at about 21 weeks after conception. The prenatal environment is full of sound. The fetus hears the mother's heartbeat, the sound of blood moving through her veins, and her breathing and digestive sounds. The fetus can hear mother's voice and other sounds from outside, but the volume of these sounds decreases as they pass through the maternal tissue and amniotic fluid surrounding the fetus. Research shows that the newborn prefers the speech of the mother's language over other languages; the theme songs from the daytime dramas that mother watched while pregnant over other songs; and stories mother repeatedly read aloud. Researchers believe that newborns are probably responding to the familiar intonation, rhythm, and stress rather than to the particular words and songs in the songs or stories.

The temporal lobes are also associated with memory, meaning, and language. They work with the deep limbic system, remember way down in the center of your brain, to store highly charged emotional memories, whether positive or negative. Without auditory input, this part of the brain is taken over by the sense of vision; so, from my understanding of the research that means the vision becomes more acute if the baby is not able to hear, is exposed to sound to develop that particular sense. The parietal lobe has many responsibilities. One area of the parietal lobe processes information from the skin including touch, pain, and temperature. The sense of touch is the first sense to develop, and it does so at about 7½ weeks after conception.

The mouth is the first region to become sensitive to touch and continues to be highly sensitive after birth. Infants use their highly sensitive mouths to help them learn about the objects in their environment. At about 14 weeks after conception, the fetus begins to sense its own movements and changes in position within the womb as the vestibular system in the inner ear begins to develop. When mother's movement is not sufficient to stimulate the vestibular system of the fetus, the fetus becomes active, moving about within the confines of the amniotic sac. And I think women who have been pregnant would validate that by saying it usually happens when they are trying to rest. The parietal lobe also controls and directs voluntary movements. The motor area of the brain gains control of the body gradually, from the top down and the inside out.

The fine motor skills and sequencing actions are still developing during the preschool years. Still another responsibility of the parietal lobe is that of linking all the information being processed in the brain, then directing appropriate actions. Maturity of this area often takes a while and may not occur until the '20s. That leaves us with the frontal lobe, which is behind the forehead, and it's responsible for deciding what to do with the information received from all parts of the brain.

Some of these functions include problem solving, planning, initiating, organizing, judgment, short-term memory, motivation, creativity, and impulse control. This is the last area to develop, often not mature until the late '20s or early '30s. The slow development of this area is why children have trouble controlling their impulses, making good decisions, following multiple instructions, and having a hard time sitting still and paying attention for extended time. Major development in the areas of cognitive growth, social-emotional functioning, and behavior directly relate to the development of specific areas of the cortex. For example, for a child to follow rules and control behaviors, maturation in the frontal lobe must be occurring.

The cerebral cortex is divided by lengthwise fissures that are connected by bundles of nerve fibers. The largest is composed of about 250 million nerve fibers and serves as the connector for the exchange of information between the right and left sides of the brain, kind of like the Golden Gate Bridge serves as the connector of hundreds of commuters in San Francisco. The two hemispheres are very similar in structure but have different purposes; although there is no known ability that uses only one hemisphere at a time. For example, we now know that the left hemisphere is more active when we experience positive emotions, while the right hemisphere is faster at recognizing negative emotions. Although all of the neurons in the cortex are produced before birth, they are poorly connected. The lower brain is therefore largely in control of a newborn's behavior: All of that kicking, grasping, crying, sleeping, rooting, and feeding are functions of the brain stem and spinal cord. Even the striking visual behavior of newborns -- their ability to track a bold moving object, like a red ball of string, or to orient to Mom's or Dad's face -- is thought to be controlled by visual circuits in the brain stem. The cerebral cortex produces most of its synaptic connections after birth. At its peak, the cortex creates an astonishing two million new synapses every second. Although, this "hardware" is laid out during pregnancy, the connections within the brain are unique to an individual and to the physical, cognitive, social, and cultural environment that that individual experienced.

The building of these connections is dependent on the experiences available in our environment. Although the brain has already undergone an amazing amount of development, the brain of a newborn baby is still very much a work in progress. At birth, about 100 billion neurons, or brain cells are produced with about 15,000 connections for each brain cell. Not only are most of the brain cells formed, they have spent time traveling to the right sections of the brain and connecting to one another. Additional connections form after a baby's birth, some existing connections are strengthened, and others are removed. By age 3, 80 percent of the connections are made, forming neural networks.

During "Little Voices," Dr. Carson described the neuron's communication system. Let's review by watching a short video of that, of her communication system. Feel free to follow along with the activity with others at your site. Remember this video may download slowly at some of your sites.

[Video begins] Linda Carson: Say, this word: "Neuron."

Audience: Neuron.

Linda: Hold out your hand like this and look at your palm. Look at your palm and say: "neuron."

Audience: Neuron.

Linda: Think of your palm as that cell body; think of your palm as the neuron. And the neuron is going to be...that's where...That's Grand Central Station, right there. Say, this word: "neuron."

Audience: Neuron.

Linda: Alright. So, the neuron is going to be where the messages are coming from. Now, what I want you to do is to look at your arm...look at your arm and say: "Axon."

Audience: "Axon."

Linda: Say it again.

Audience: "Axon."

Linda: OK, look at your palm and say: "Neuron."

Audience: "Neuron."

Linda: Look at your arm and say: "Axon."

Audience: "Axon."

Linda: The axon is this long extension cord; sometimes it can be three, four, five, six feet long. It's a long extension cord, and it connects neurons together. So, it's a long extension cord. And the reason I call it an extension cord is because the message that's coming from the brain down here to the muscles, or in an infant's case, the messages that are coming from the limbs, as we passively move them through a range of motion, the messages that are going back to baby's brain to help say to the baby's brain: "I'm here; I can bend; I can do this; I have two." The messages that we send back up are really electrical messages. All of our messages in our nervous system are electrical messages, So, we need an extension cord; we need electrical wire to handle those messages. Say: "Axon."

Audience: "Axon."

Linda: Alright, that's your arm. Now, look at your neuron and wiggle your fingers and say: "Dendrite."

Audience: "Dendrite."

Linda: Dendrites. Dendrite is, they're like little extensions coming off of the neuron, and the dendrites are the real messengers because what they do is they connect with other dendrites from other neurons. And, so, let's do this: Put one hand out like this, palm down, palm down and then put your other hand right here. Wiggle your fingers; wiggle your fingers; and now, you've already made a connection here; you have two dendrites on either end of your axon. What I want you to do at your table is stand up.

Stand up. We're going to start forming some neural networks. Listen. Listen. Dendrites don't actually touch other dendrites; they chat; ok, they chat. And, so, a dendrite comes over here and does this, and there's a little tiny divide in between there, and they're chatting across this divide through some chemical substance because the electrical message from here goes across and it becomes chemical.

And, then, when it gets over there, it's back to being electrical and it goes on; so, this is called a synapse. You've probably heard that word: "Synapse." This is the synapse and they don't actually touch; but they chat, chat, chat, chat, chat. So, what I want you to do now, is I want you to try to find some other dendrites that you can match up with, and you're going to build networks right now. I would build networks with your own program first. Yes, yes, you're building networks. [Video ends]

Donna Britt: As Dr. Carson stated, when the current reaches the end of the axon, the axon releases chemicals called neurotransmitters into the synaptic gap. Just as a baseball mitt, the dendrites catch the chemicals. Certain chemicals fit into certain dendrites; some activate the cell, some stop the cell from firing. Whether the neuron fires or not depends on all the signals received. Both the environment and experience influence the production of these chemicals before and after birth. To begin with, this communication between cells is not very fast, much like the dial-up, Internet connection, many of you are using. It takes a while to pass the information along. But for cells to react to all the sensory input one is exposed to in the environment, communication between cells must be quick. Nature's way of speeding up communication is through a process known as myelination. Myelin is a white, fatty substance that coats the axons. It's produced by certain kinds of glial cells. Remember Dr. Carson's idea of an extension cord: Think of the myelin as the rubberized covering surrounding the wires.

The process of myelination begins in the third trimester of pregnancy or about the sixth month. The majority of the process occurs after birth into adulthood. Babies, preschoolers, and even older children perform tasks slower than adults because their axons are either not myelinated or not sufficiently coated to allow for rapid transmissions through the neurological network. The early development of myelin can be disrupted by malnutrition, infection, and brain injury. So, let's talk a few minutes about the importance of nutrition. Good nutrition is important for both the pregnant mother and the infant. A baby's birth weight and brain size depend on the quality of mom's nutrition during pregnancy.

Remember, the brain begins to develop at two weeks after conception. By the fourth week of development, or one month of pregnancy, the neural tube that holds the spinal cord seals. But sometimes the groove doesn't completely seal, causing spinal bifida. Most cases are the result of a lack of folic acid, a B vitamin.

According to Klein, Gilkerson, and Davis, 70 percent of neural tube defects are preventable by taking a multivitamin beginning before conception and continuing in the first month of pregnancy. After birth, brain growth depends critically on the quality of a baby's nutrition. Breast milk offers the best mix of nutrients for promoting brain growth, provided the breastfed infants receive some form of iron supplement beginning after six months of age. Iron deficiency has been clearly linked to cognitive deficits in young children. Iron is critical for maintaining an adequate number of oxygen-carrying red blood cells that are necessary to fuel brain growth. Learning changes the brain because with each new experience, behavior, or stimulation the brain wires and rewires itself. To do this, the brain needs eight gallons of blood every hour or 198 gallons per day. The blood provides the brain with nutrients like glucose, protein, and oxygen that fuel the brain. Because of the rapid pace of myelination in early life, children need a high level of fat in their diets, some 50 percent of their total calories until about two years of age. Babies should receive most of this fat from breast milk or formula in the first year of life and can continue to be an excellent source of liquid nutrition in the toddler years. However, depending on doctor's advice, whole cow's milk may become a part of a toddler's diet after the first birthday. Low

fat milk of one or two percent is not recommended until after two years of age or upon doctor's recommendation. The brain must remain hydrated for optimal learning. Breastfed and formula-fed infants usually do not need additional water. However, infants and toddlers are particularly susceptible to dehydration because they have more water in their bodies than adults. They also have less ability to tell you that they are thirsty. For toddlers, water is an appropriate choice for quenching thirst because it does not contribute to excess caloric and energy intake. Depending on how much water is included in the foods eaten at meals or snacks, fruits, vegetables, soups, etc.; older toddlers and twos may need about a half gallon of water a day. One-half gallon of water, in toddler-size servings equals about 32 two-ounce cups, the number shown in this slide. Think about how often you offer water to the older toddlers and twos in your care. Ensuring that toddlers and older children have enough water to keep the brain and body hydrated is essential to learning. In summary, poor nutrition can cause smaller than normal brains because of reduced dendritic growth, reduced myelination, and the production of fewer glial cells. Inadequate brain growth explains why children who were malnourished as fetuses and infants suffer, often, lasting behavioral and cognitive deficits, including slower language and fine motor development, lower IQ, and poorer school performance.

Next, let's look at motor development and movement, by reviewing the principles of physical development. The principle of directional growth is that the body develops from head to tail and from the center to the extremities, or from the midline out. Most control develops from the reflexive reactions to specific coordinated responses. Once connections are made, in the brain, the brain must identify and remember what parts of the body do specific actions, then develop wiring that allows for the movements in different parts of the body to be coordinated. Once motor and movement skills are accomplished, they become stored memories like riding a bike and tying shoes. Movements that are new or novel, something that hasn't been tried or accomplished, shifts the focus in the brain and cause a flurry of nerve impulses to the muscles involved in the movement, creating new networks. Strick's research found that the part of the brain that processes learning is also the same part of the brain that processes movement. The development of gross and fine motor skills follows the same pattern with all children, although the age at which each develops depends on many genetic and environmental influences. Knowing or having access to the milestones of development for gross and fine motor skills and locomotor development, allow you to identify the skills baby is building and look ahead to prepare the environment for the skills that are next to come. Infants deprived of stimulation from touch and physical activities have fewer neural connections between the cerebellum and the brain's pleasure centers. Scientists associated with the longitudinal studies of the children from the Romanian orphanages showed that children who were deprived of positive, nurturing relationships and restricted from exploring and moving about continued to have some delays in sensory motor development, poor balance and difficulty integrating movement of the right and left sides of the body. And these difficulties extended well into their school-age years. These children also had difficulty listening to words, remembering a task, and responding quickly.

The picture that you should see on your screen is the confined infant from a Roumanian orphanage. And you can see how they were tied to their beds. And actually got no movement whatsoever, other than what they could do moving around their bed.

At this time, let's watch a video. And it's a really short one, so hopefully those of you who couldn't see the last one will be able to see this one: And this is Mary, an Early Head Start teacher, and Awja, with one of her babies in care. As we watch the clip think about what motor skills Awja is developing and what strategies Mary uses to encourage 3-month-old Awja to development these skills.

[Video begins] Mary: Are your arms getting tired? Huh? Oooh look it there. Can you feel it? How does it feel? Is it soft? Is it soft?

Narrator: Three-month-old Awja is spending her ninth day at Early Head Start. Her primary caregiver, Mary Butler, promotes brain development by engaging Awja. [Video ends]

Donna: During this clip, Awja appears to be working on controlling the muscles of her arms-moving from reflexive reactions to specific coordinated responses. Awja's ability to reach and grasp has not developed yet. Her arm movements seem erratic and uncontrolled. These seemingly purposeless movements contain identifiable rhythms and patterns that may be seen through time-lapse photography. Scientists believe that these rhythms and patterns lay a foundation for deliberate action. Individual babies show differences in their activity levels, responses, and personalities, but cultural practices and racial background also affect how much a baby moves. Think about cultures that swaddle their infants or use cradle boards for infant sleep. Awja is also working to coordinate her eyes with the object as well as with her hand and arm. Hand preference is hard to identify in this clip. Research studies show that before birth, about 70 percent of the fetuses studied were right-handed. Strategies that you may have seen Mary used might have included soft language, describing actions and objects, identifying feelings, positive relationship, stopping to allow Awja to touch the toy, verbal interaction, the use of "parentese," and encouraging reaching and eye-hand coordination. I'm sure you probably had many others, but those are the ones I came up with and thought that I would share with you. One of the most highly developed abilities of newborn infants is the response to sound. Newborns move their bodies in synchrony to adult speech. They are programmed to respond to human speech, moving in rhythm to mother's voice in a kind of subtle dance. Babies can distinguish minute differences in spoken sounds, in pitch, and in rhythms. They prefer soft, melodious speech to sharp, strong, abrupt, angry speech.

Between birth and three or four months of age, babies manipulate sounds of crying, varying rhythm, pitch, and loudness. They experiment with music, like sounds of cooing, gurgling, and babbling, followed by babbling in response to parents and teachers who are talking or singing to them. Between six to nine months of age infants make speech sounds of various pitches, known as musical babbling. They follow this musical babbling with explorations of voice sounds during interactions between nine and 18 months of age. Then, somewhere around 18 months they are speaking and singing.

Bayless and Ramsey state that infants need to be musically nurtured from birth by hearing mom or teacher sing lullabies, hum spontaneous melodies, sing, and chant. Some research shows that the musical skill of "perfect pitch," or ability to identify a musical note without referencing a tuning note, seems to develop only in musicians who began their training before seven years of age. Coulter calls movement, songs, and music, brilliant neurological exercises vital to cognitive development. Infants respond to music with their "whole body." Toddlers and twos deserve the same opportunities to listen, sing, play, create, and move. The benefits of music to the brain continue to be a focus of study. They have found that music helps manage feelings through the release of endorphins and that it fosters cognitive, physical, and motor development. It is thought that music increases an appreciation of one's cultural heritage, creativity, and self-expression. Music and movement cannot be thought of as separate entities. The developmental stages of musical experiences are equally as important to the continuing wiring of the brain in many areas, including those controlling coordination, balance, body awareness, vocalization, language, math, and organization. Including music and movement opportunities during daily routines can occur in many ways.

As you watch the next clip, think about the toddler's play with the tambourine. What movement, motor, and music skill is Xariah developing? What additional skills do you hear developing in the background?

What are the strategies teacher uses to support and promote healthy brain development?

[Video begins] Narrator: When Xariah was introduced to a new tambourine toy she continued to show her growing interest by going back to it frequently. [Video ends]

Donna Britt: Xariah is developing so many skills, it's hard to record them all without seeing the video multiple times. I'm sure you found some of these as well as many others. Some of the Xariah's skills that I saw were eye-hand coordination, beat, rhythm, listening, grasping, shaking, focused attention, and arm control and coordination, using the shakers to hit the tambourine. The young man in the background created his own music complete with accompaniment of song, which I thought was really cute. Some of the teacher's strategies included encouraging independent play. I don't know if you saw the times scrolling across there, but Xariah spent an extremely long amount of time focused on playing with this musical toy. The teacher showed patience in allowing the toddler to play until she was no longer interested, and I thought the teacher showed a lot of patience listening to all of the music noise that was going on in her classroom. The teacher also allowed the freedom to explore the tambourine in the way that the child chose to do so, encouraging independence and further exploration. Movement, motor, and music provide opportunities for the brain to both build and strengthen the connections while offering great opportunities for enjoyment as well as learning.

Remember that at birth, about 100 billion neurons, or brain cells, have been produced. The process of pruning streamlines the functioning of the brain based on experiences that occur throughout life. Neural pathways that are used are maintained. We help infants and toddlers build and maintain neural networks by our positive, nurturing relationships with both the baby and the parents. Through exploration and practice, the connections strengthen, skills develop, and new skills are attempted. Our brain is a wonderfully adaptable organ. It changes based on new experiences, and those changes are called plasticity, which, in turn, keep reorganizing our neural networks. Although brain connector density is at its highest level in the first three years of life, that doesn't mean that the brain has its greatest brain power at that time. The first three years are important for laying the foundation for learning, the groundwork for healthy brain development. The brain continues to grow and mature well into adulthood based on the experiences or lack of them. The brain is adaptable and flexible, with the exception of some language sounds and sight, although the ability to adapt changes with age and situation. Just because the brain is flexible doesn't mean that change is easy. Just as a stroke or accident victim works to regain their skill, or an adult tries to learn a second language for the first time. It's an incredibly difficult challenge.

Although difficult, the brain is capable of rewiring, to accommodate for loss, trauma, and accident, but it is most adaptive in early childhood. Research tells us that the child's successful learning and progress through the developmental milestones is dependent on the formation of an emotional bond and relationship between the baby and their parents. To promote and support healthy brain development, we must form an emotional bond or relationship, both with the child and the parents. For that reason, relationships become the key, the foundation or base for healthy, successful development and learning. To develop and maintain a positive relationship, we must accurately respond to the baby's cues, recognize and respect the family's culture and customs, and follow routines that allow the infant and toddler to repeat their experiences over and over until they're ready to move onto the next set of skills.

I've summarized a little bit about what research tells us, and as you can see relationships are one of the most important pieces for development of brain. And I'd like to leave you with this thought: "What the brain does is what the brain becomes" and this is Gunnar from 1997. And I thank you for your attendance.

Laura: Thank you, very much Donna. This is such an important topic. I'm sure that people in our audience are going to have some questions for you. For those of you who are listening who would like to send us questions, please feel free to type them in now. Jose, could you prompt attendees regarding how to engage with us around questions, please?

Jose: Not a problem. To ask a question, use the Q-and-A panel. You can ask questions via the Q-and-A panel; type your question in the box and click on send. We'll see your question. And we'll address it as we go. If you are on the phone, the lines will be unmuted in a couple of...a few seconds. And just jump in. If you have any questions, submit them via the Q-and-A panel. Thanks.

[Phone sounds]

Joes: Hi, sir. Now, unmute it.

[Phone sounds]

Female: What is the echoing? Where's the echoing?

Laura: One comment just for Dr. Britt. Thank you; this information was extremely useful. You'll let us know if you have any questions, too. Thank you, for that comment. We know this is a lot of information, as it relates to your work.

[Silence]

Jose: There are no questions. I have muted all the lines.

We have a few more minutes to share today, and we're going to end today's event with another interactive experience. This one is called "Airplane." If you've brought baby dolls or stuffed animals with you today please take them out now so you can join in with Maria as she shares this experience with you. Maria?

Maria: Thank you Laura. This experience incorporates imagery, movement, and singing. We're going to take the baby on an airplane ride, incorporating directional movement.

Maria: Esta experiencia incorpora imaginación, canto y movimiento, llevando el bebé en un viaje de avión, agregando direcciones.

Begin by picking up the child and cradling her in your arms. Depending on the comfort of the child, she can be looking up at you or down to the ground.

Empiece con el bebé en sus brazos. Depende del bebé, esta posición puede ser mirando hacia al piso o mirando hacia usted.

You can open the lines now please. We're going to begin by swaying side to side while we sing: ♪

Airplane, airplane, wings so wide, airplane, airplane, side to side.

Muévase de un lado al otro cantando esta canción, ♪ Avión, avión, con alas extendidas, avión, avión lado a lado.

Any bilingual folks out there help me sing. Let's begin moving through the space. Move any way you want as long as you're not bumping into anyone or anything. Help me sing! ♪ Airplane, airplane, wings so wide, airplane, airplane, side to side.

Ahora empecemos a mover por el espacio. Muévase como quiera mientras no choque con nada o nadie.

¡A ver, ayúdenme a cantar!

You can sing in English or in Spanish, whichever one you're getting.

♪ Avión, avión, con alas extendidas, avión, avión lado a lado.

This time we'll add a dip at the end of the song, meaning bend your knees to bring the baby down and up. Here we go. In English. ♪ Airplane, airplane, wings so wide, airplane, airplane, side to side. And dip.

Esta vez vamos a agregar un sube y un baja al final de la canción, agachándose subiendo y bajando el bebé. Acá vamos. [In Spanish] ♪Avión, avión, con alas extendidas, avión, avión lado a lado. Y dip.

Let's do it again, this time adding a dip and a turn. Help me sing. ♪ Airplane, airplane, wings so wide, airplane, airplane, side to side. And dip and turn.

Vamos a hacerlo de vuelta agregando el sube y baja y dar vuelta en un círculo. Ayúdenme cantar. ♪

Avión, avión, con alas extendidas, ♪avión, avión lado a lado. Y dip y la vuelta.

Finally, we're going to add a bounce after the dip and the turn. Here we go. Help me sing. ♪ Airplane, airplane, wings so wide, airplane, airplane, side to side. And dip, and turn, and bounce.

Finalmente vamos agregar un brinco después del dip y la vuelta. Acá vamos. ♪ Avión, avión, con alas extendidas, ♪avión, avión lado a lado. Brinca, dip, y la vuelta.

This time, as I sing, make the dip, turn and bounce any time you wish during the song. You don't have to wait until the end of the song to incorporate the sequence. One last time, here we go; help me sing ♪ Airplane, airplane, wings so wide, airplane, airplane, side to side.

Esta vez mientras cantamos, haga el dip, la vuelta y el brinco cuando usted quiera, no tiene que esperar hasta el final de la canción para incorporar la secuencia. Una vez más. Ayúdenme a cantar. ♪ Avión, avión, con alas extendidas, avión, avión moviendo lado a lado.

These are movements that we like to use; you can move any way you like as long as you and the baby feel safe. [Inaudible] The important thing is to make these experiences your own.

[Inaudible] Estos son movimientos que nos gusta usar a nosotras [Inaudible] pero usted puede moverse como quiera mientras usted...La cosa importante es hacer estas experiencias personales. Muchas gracias.

Laura: Thank you Maria! That was wonderful, and we could hear you out there too. We are reaching the end of today's webinar. I want to take this opportunity to thank all of our presenters: Dr. Donna Britt, Valerie Bayne Carroll, and Maria Tripodi and everyone else who participated in bringing this webinar together today and for you in the audience, as well, for your participation today, as well as your ongoing dedication to infants, young children, their families, and our communities. We're very pleased to have these opportunities to share information together.

I also wanted to remind you that this webinar will be followed by a call in Spanish, en Español, on January 29 at 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. We hope that many of you will join us on that date. The next webinar in the series is scheduled for March 17, at 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. We look forward to it, as we continue to explore this exciting content together, as part of the "Little Voices for Health Choices" Initiative. Thank you, very much.

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Building a Dynamic Brain: The Influences of Music, Movement, and Nutrition | ECLKC

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Building a Dynamic Brain: The Influences of Movement, Nutrition, and Music The Second Webinar in the "Little Voices for Healthy Choices" Series‌ Laura Annunziata: Good afternoon everyone. My name is Laura Annunziata, and I am a senior training specialist at the Early Head Start National Resource Center at Zero to Three.

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Music can help children build their strength, coordination, balance, body awareness and regulation. Music also has powerful effects on brain development and helps with setting a good foundation for academic skills like reading and writing later down the road.

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It's important that YOU USE YOUR VOICE to sing with children.

Even if you're not a great singer.

Even if you're still learning the song.

Even if your first language isn't English.

USE YOUR VOICE TO SING!

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Alesi Group, Phoenix, Arizona. 962 likes · 48 talking about this. Leaders in innovative, multidimensional training and education

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Nursery Rhymes for Kinder Times by Raffi & Lindsay Munroe

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Nursery Rhymes for Kinder Times by Raffi & Lindsay Munroe

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This takes traditional (and inappropriate) songs like Baa, Baa Black Sheep and changes them so they are appropriate!

THE WORDS WE USE MATTERS!

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My email address:
www.alesigroup.com

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Alesi Group, LLC specializes in brain-based training, coaching and consultation. Our expertise aligns with current research in early childhood education and adult learning. What sets us apart is in our delivery of the research-supported information. We adhere to the philosophical foundation of the parallel process-do unto others as you would want them to do unto others.

In our work as trainers and consultants, we have developed an extensive understanding of how the brain acquires knowledge primarily from our work with young children. The field of early childhood education embraces an experiential, play-based approach to learning, in an emotionally safe climate, where learning includes an active exploration of real materials and relevant experiences supported by teachers who help children expand upon their current knowledge and understanding. As a field, we embrace children's natural curiosities and believe that through their active exploration, analysis and discovery that they will become proficient learners with the ability to create new ideas and concepts.

Here's the problem, as we see it: Many of us believe, given what the research says, that learners need to be actively engaged. We stand up for that as educators. Yet, we consistently create professional learning experiences for adults that do not align with how the brain learns best. There's so much available in terms of professional development. But, most continue to simply be informational sessions rather than sessions that are transformative--where the learner is asked to reach deep into the core of what they believe (their values, beliefs, and practices) and get real with who they are in relation to both children and the adults they interact with.

We must touch the heart in order to shift the mind.

In order for transformative and systemic shifts to occur, we must be willing to have the difficult conversations, to delve deeper, and to understand who we are in the presence of others if we hope to create the experiences young children need to thrive in this world.

We believe that age has little to do with best practices. Whether you're four months, four years of age, 14 or 40, we all need to feel safe, connected, and loved,....only then can we truly learn.

Alesi Group aims to be the catalyst for the transformation of beliefs and practices.

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Alesi Group, LLC specializes in brain-based training, coaching and consultation. Our expertise aligns with current research in early childhood education and adult learning. What sets us apart is in our delivery of the research-supported information. We adhere to the philosophical foundation of the parallel process-do unto others as you would want them to do unto others.