Tuning in - you have to learn how

Listening - it's easy, isn't it? Well, only if you have learned what to ignore.

Babies learn language by paying attention to other people who are speaking. To do this, they need to tune into speech sounds and tune out the everyday background noises. This is not easy in our noisy world! Think of a busy supermarket, loud older siblings, a busy preschool or a telly blaring in the background at home.

When my children were very little Mum showed me the book Babytalk. It has lots of ideas for helping your child to develop language. One of the main suggestions is to spend at least a little time each day with your child, in a quiet place away from too much background noise, and simply talk with them.

I know, it's another thing on your "to do" list. But it can easily be incorporated into your day. I used to chat to my baby while I prepared his food, talking about what I was doing. I also used to do a running commentary when I took him out in the pram. Admittedly, people used to walk past and think I was losing it...

It's good just to be aware of the effect that background noise is having on your child. It can be quite a problem later on. Some school-aged kids are so used to tuning out to all the background noise in their life, that they habitually tune out when their teacher talks.

Well, anyway, this is a music blog, so let me relate these ideas to early childhood music. Music classes help children develop and fine-tune their listening skills. Kodaly teachers include lots of activities where children are asked to respond to a musical event with their bodies or voices. Some examples are:

• Noticing the difference between sound and silence (starting and stopping)
• Waiting for a special sound or place in the music
• Hearing the different tone quality of various instruments
• Learning to tell the difference between high and low pitch
• Responding to fast and slow music
• Responding to different parts in the music (eg verses and chorus or AB structure)
• Noticing different elements in the music

There are a lot of things you can do to help your child learn to listen well. Some ideas are:

• Spend one-on-one quiet time with your child.
• Read a book to them or sing a song.
• Go for a bush walk or go into the garden and notice the different sounds.
• Lie down with your child and listen to the noises around your house.
• Turn the telly and the radio off for a bit and savour the quiet.