Music: A Way of Life for the Young Child

by Kathleen M. Bayless, Marjorie E. Ramsey

This long-awaited revision of this best-selling book has been completely updated to meld the classic content of previous editions with the latest in music theory and research, and contains a fresh focus on multicultural music. National music standards are teamed with the comprehensive survey of professional research previous users cherish, and linked to a wealth of activities for using music-including, in this edition, opera, classical music, and folk music-and movement experiences with children from birth to age six. Sections on developmentally-appropriate practice present concrete experiences and activities for sharing music with "all" children in an inclusive environment in which the enjoyment of music is seen to be paramount. Reference sections, at the end of each chapter provide more than 90 new, current references to professional literature and help back up chapter content with the latest information on theory, appropriate musical content, activities, and more. "Music from Around the World" sections in every chapter highlight the exceptional diversity of music-and music's potential for encouraging cross-cultural awareness and sensitivity. Extensive appendices of songs, books lists, glossaries, keyboard diagrams, fingering charts, and ideas for creating classroom-made instruments constitute an invaluable source of background and resource information for teaching music-and make it easy for teachers-to-be to create a rich, nurturing musical environment in their very first classrooms. For pre-service and in-service elementary school music teachers.

Genres: Music

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

Reviews

[Jenn]

This book was very educational and had lots of great information for breaking down the hows and the whys of music and movement with young children. Most of the content is broken down by age group and ability levels. I liked how several songs and sheet music were included in each chapter, and how national standards for formal learning expectations are discussed as well.

Chapter 1: the beginning the music and movement journey
Chapter 2: m&m for young children
Chapter 3: m&m for children with special needs
Chapter 4: m&m for infants and toddlers
Chapter 5: m&m for 3 year olds
Chapter 6: m&m for 4 year olds
Chapter 7: m&m for K and early primary
Chapter 8: m&m an interdisciplinary approach

[Tandava Graham]

This didn’t turn out to be as useful for me as I’d hoped. I don’t particularly need convincing that music is important to teach kids, and I don’t care about “standards,” though information on typical development stages is certainly good. There are some songs and activities to pull out, but it’s not the focus of the book. Also, much of the book is on infant and pre-school years, which isn’t relevant to me. So I just ended up skimming a lot of it.

[Ching Li Shan]

clear explanation with plenty of practical suggestions

This book is short and concise. Suggestions given are practical. Suitable for teachers working in kindergarten setting.Although it is a little pricey, but generally its worth reading.

[Callie]

Tons of children's songs, complete with sheet music. Great resource for nursery rhymes and music and movement songs.

[Alicia]

For a textbook this is a pretty good read! It had a lot of creative music ideas for children and a great breakdown by age as to what to expect from them as well as music activities they would enjoy.