Young children and singing: music as a language that encourages home/centre understanding in early childhood

This paper is about a music project in an early learning centre that has a strong arts program delivered by specialists and generalist early childhood educators. In 2011 a children's choir had been established in the centre. The children had explored the roles of singers in the choir, percussion accompaniment, conducting and performance. Children's spontaneous play events were the initial trigger for the choir which was then jointly organised by adults and children, with many parents displaying a high level of interest. In recent years early childhood curriculum has emphasised parents and collaborative partnerships in early childhood educational settings. In this project we have responded to the literature that has called for centres to establish shared practices that extend on traditional parent involvement activities by giving parents an informed and active voice in the research. The data and discussion presented here explores the parent's role in this music initiative, their response to the choir and their reports of home activities that potentially complement or extend the centre's music program. The data is taken from a parent survey that sought direct information from the parents on their perceptions of the choir and impact on the child's home music activities. By sharing the music program with parents through noticeboard displays, shared music plans, performances, parent' visits to the centre and inviting comment through a survey this research has given parents a comprehensive role that we will build on in future music projects. Results from this survey indicated the majority of parents were enthusiastic about the music program and had much valuable information to share about home activities.