The Benefits of Introducing Music to Babies and Young Children

Jenny Silverstone has a great blog about parenting called momlovesbest.com
link here to her blog post about the benefits of introducing music to children
She asked me to write a small post on my experiences with Music and Child Development so here it is...

There has been so much written about how music is helpful to young children and babies.  You only have to google the subject and hundreds of articles appear.  University and pediatric studies, focus groups and mom’s blogs all outline in detail the benefits of music on child development.
My experience has been from the perspective of a musician and performer. I am the founder of a children’s music program called We Kids Rock in the Delaware/Philadelphia area. The program consists of music classes for children from birth to 5 years old with their parents/care-givers in 3 locations as well as appearances in preschools, libraries and music venues. I teach guitar lessons for children to adults and have produced and recorded 6 CDs of kids/family music.
The first thing I think about when I see new babies and toddlers come to my classes with their parents is how valuable that time spent together is. We Kids Rock may be the very first activity in a long list to come that these parents and children will experience together. This class will hopefully be something that they will remember and cherish for the rest of their lives. I watch the children start out shy and maybe a little overwhelmed to fully participating. By the end of the session, they are clapping, moving, dancing (and singing for some of the older kids).   It’s great to watch the progress in such a short time. 
As part of our music program the participants receive a cd or an online playlist of our home-grown material which features originals and traditional children’s music.  After listening to the playlist at home or in the car with their parents, some of the kids have favorite songs that they must hear us sing in class.  Some know the words to the songs better than the teachers do!
Another thing about the classes that I love to witness is when the babies start to clap and make sounds that resemble singing.  It’s like they’re imitating the song in their own way.  It is magical and hysterically funny at the same time. Moms and dads send me videos frequently of their kids singing and rockin’ out in class or at home to our music.
While this may not be the most technical read about music and child development, the bottom line is that what I see from the parents, babies and toddlers in my classes is joy, discovery and so much love. I truly feel fortunate to be a part of their experience as parents and to be a positive force in the life of so many children.
My emphatic advice to all new parents is to include music in their children’s lives as much as possible in every stage of their development.

Bill Currier
June 13, 2018
www.wekidsrock.com

My name is Bill Currier and I'm a working musician and songwriter in the Greater Philadelphia area. I've played (and still play) original and cover material all over the country in several bands including “The Numbers” and “The Flamin’ Caucasians”. In addition to all of that I play music for small children and their parents.
That all started when my sons were toddlers and I took them to a local children's music class.
I was skeptical but soon saw how much they loved it and how they really wanted to go to the class each week. They got so much out of it and we really had fun together. It turned out that
I knew one of the teachers from playing in area bands and she offered me a part time job teaching the classes. I was really excited to do it especially after seeing the reaction in my boys.
A few years later I started my own program called We Kids Rock for small children and parents. Along with doing the classes I recorded 6 CDs of original and traditional Children’s songs arranged in classic rock ‘n’ roll, rhythm and blues, punk and reggae styles. I had a blast and got to play and record with allot of great musicians. Some I knew already and some I met through recording the material. The CDs were a huge hit with the kids and parents. We won 3 national awards and got some really nice reviews.
You can check out the CDs at http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/WeKidsRock. For more info go to www.wekidsrock.com let me know what you think.
The We Kids Rock band is me and 3, sometimes 4 gifted musicians that I'm lucky to be able to play with. Our main goal is to play the songs from our CDs live among others and put on the best show that we can for kids and families.
In addition to the songs on the CDs, we play songs by the Beatles Bruce Springsteen, Michael Franti and even the Black Keys. We love it when the kids get to see their parents have a little fun.
Please come out and see the band. We think you'll enjoy it.
Here are some of the people who played on the CDs.
Guest musicians on We Kids Rock's cds include: Johnny Neel (Allman Brothers, Johnny Neel Band), Skip Dennenberg (“Having a Ball” released and sold by the Philadelphia Phillies), Simon Illa (R&B Producer) and Marc Moss (production credits include David Bromberg, Nik Everett and Cliff Hillis). Cliff Hillis of Cliff Hillis and “In The Pocket” and one of the best songwriters anywhere. Wally Smith of Quinc and Hank Carter from George Thorogood and The Destroyers
We Kids Rock’s first cd, "Everybody Clap Your Hands" was released in January 2007. We Kids Rock's NAPPA award winning second cd, "Let The Sun Shine" was released in 2008. "There's A Train..." Released in 2009 Winner of NAPPA Gold and Parent's Choice Award. 2011’s 5 songs About Stink Bugs, Monkeys… is one brand new unreleased track “Stink Bug” and 4 of the most loved songs from our previous three cds. We released our 4th official CD called "Old MacDonald Family Band" in June of 2014 and a 4 song EP in 2016 featuring the classroom favorite “Don’t Touch The Guitar”
For Booking Info. Contact us at 610-490-0695
or e-mail at info@wekidsrock.com