Sing

Sing- the purpose of Sing is to promote phonological awareness--the appreciation of the sounds of our spoken language. The emphasis in this practice is really more about listening, not necessarily looking. While there are a ton of great YouTube videos of songs, when a child listens and sings along with a song, the child is hearing the sound and rhythm of our English language. A child is also learning to comprehend what is being said. And, a child is learning to discriminate between words--where a word ends and another begins.

Singing along with songs helps with word segmentation. Every note associates to a single sound or syllable. Clapping along with the song accentuates the breakdown of words into their sound parts.

Since most children's song have a rhyming structure, children's songs can also help with finding sound patterns (similar ending sounds generally have same ending spelling). This is the onset/rime skill a child will need in order to spell. (ex. B-and vs. H-and--of course this is really more a phonics skill.) So, look for songs that tell a story. Many children's artist, like Laurie Berner and Dan Zane tell a story through song--and they are also pleasing to the adult!

So, while the Internet has proliferated with YouTube songsters and songstresses presenting their songs in a visually appealing manner, Sing is still, first and foremost, the practice of listening. It is singing without necessarily seeing. This of course is not a "rule". There are songs that are enhanced by visual understanding. This is merely a consideration to diversify experiences--in this case, focusing on developing great listening skills...and giving one an eye break from the mobile device!

There are video song I have seen that do display the words used in the song. Two examples that comes to mind that are catchy and fun are Pharrel's "Happy", and Todd McHatton's "I Think I'm a Bunny" where the word "happy" and "monster" are written out, respectively in the song videos.

Recommended Children's Song Artists:
Bari Koral
Laurie Berner
Liz Buchanan
Dan Zane
Todd McHatton
Brian Vogan and His Good Buddies
They Might Be Giants

Next up: a brief summary on Read