Dr John Feierabend, the US the psychologist and music educator, has made a disturbing finding. He has interviewed people of different ages, and asked them what songs they sing to children. The older the person interviewed, the more songs they remembered. With each generation, we are losing repertoire. The art of singing and rhyming with children is dying out.
When it came to music, we used to be a participation culture. We sang around the piano, danced together, and used singing and rhyming in games with children.
These days, we prefer to watch other people singing and dancing. We are moving from a participation culture to an audience culture. As for the kids, we think we can out-source all that to "childrens' entertainers".
Parents are told that certain CDs and DVDs are "educational", but Feierabend found that they are actually making our children dumber. Rather than stimulating the brain and turning our babies into famous scientists (as one product seems to imply) they cause the viewer's brain to enter a zombie-like state.
What can we do? It wouldn't be a bad start to ask Nanna what songs she used to sing as a child. Encourage her to pass them on to your children. These valuable "heritage" songs link the generations.
You go, girl! I am so much in agreement with this post. It is sometimes hard to convince parents how beneficial singing is to them and their children. Thanks for this blog!
ReplyDeleteWishing you a song in your heart,
Miss Leslie @ Music with Miss Leslie