The Music House for Children - Library Rhyme-time and Musical Storytelling
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The partners were: Shepherds Bush library rhymetime providers and The Music House for Children’s trainee and early years specialist
The participants were: Drop in families involving babies, toddlers, mums, dads, grandparents, nannies, childminders and friends
Total approximate number of attendees at each session:
Babies – 11
Toddlers and young children – 13
Adults – 22
Sessions: Took place once per week for 40 minutes
Consultation/involvement: A pre-start meeting involved key participants to define appropriate participation, observation and support for the group.
A pre-start training introduction was given to rhymetime leaders to give them ideas to put into practice within current sessions.
Overall response from pre-start training
Repeated comments included:
- The need for top-up training each year
- Explore musical improvisation on known songs
- Involve groups (children and adults) more fully in musical storytelling and singing
- Learn how to use instruments more fully and appropriately
By offering a pre-start training we hoped to:
- Raise the profile of music making and the benefits to library groups
- Demonstrate the accessibility of music with storytelling
- Increase confidence and improve quality of musical links with storytelling
By working with the rhymetime leader throughout the 10 week project we encouraged active input and shared ideas and skills. The rhymetime leader’s skills were significant in that they brought together the group, were effective in engaging adults and children, and supported fully the idea of combining the art forms – including drawing about the stories that they heard after the session.
Whether or not training support continued we were able to encourage the rhymetime leader to continue using ideas that were offered to her, including other ways of using instruments, body percussion and increased range of vocal activity.
Observations noted within reading in public spaces
- Reading can be done together, in a group, out loud and alone. Reading involves speaking, pronunciation, language, nuances (of speech and sound), linking visual assurance (of the spoken word) and the physical link (to the spoken word), enjoying pictures with story, imagining story with own pictures (in the mind), enacting a version of the same story.
- Reading in groups in a library often takes place within a circular group. The space is often squashed, yet comforting. The environment is often not entirely suitable yet always accommodating and adaptable. The reader always has good intentions – that is to reach out to the group, chooses good and age-appropriate stories and tries to engage the group for the time allocated.
- Rhyme time and singing within the same group is often separate from the reading since it is classified as ‘rhyme-time’ then ‘story-telling’. Rhyme-time is often delivered by librarians with little or no experience in music making, although many come with a wealth of traditional songs and rhymes to share. Material is not always age-appropriate. Links between art forms such as movement, drama, props (such as puppets, scarves), is not extended or explored. Delivery is not always consistent with ability of very young children. Encouraging adults to join in is not evident in sessions observed.
Observations noted within reading in public spaces
- Reading can be done together, in a group, out loud and alone. Reading involves speaking, pronunciation, language, nuances (of speech and sound), linking visual assurance (of the spoken word) and the physical link (to the spoken word), enjoying pictures with story, imagining story with own pictures (in the mind), enacting a version of the same story.
- Reading in groups in a library often takes place within a circular group. The space is often squashed, yet comforting. The environment is often not entirely suitable yet always accommodating and adaptable. The reader always has good intentions – that is to reach out to the group, chooses good and age-appropriate stories and tries to engage the group for the time allocated.
- Rhyme time and singing within the same group is often separate from the reading since it is classified as ‘rhyme-time’ then ‘story-telling’. Rhyme-time is often delivered by librarians with little or no experience in music making, although many come with a wealth of traditional songs and rhymes to share. Material is not always age-appropriate. Links between art forms such as movement, drama, props (such as puppets, scarves), is not extended or explored. Delivery is not always consistent with ability of very young children. Encouraging adults to join in is not evident in sessions observed.
Project unfolds
After the pre-start training and introduction with all rhymetime leaders from Hammersmith & Fulham borough we worked specifically with Shepherds Bush library and two rhyme time leaders present each week.
The Music House trainer and rhymetime leader shared weekly sessions followed by a brief consultation. A trainee from The Music House monitored each session before participating in the last three sessions of the pilot project.
The music treasure basket (with appropriate instruments for this age group) was offered during the seventh week and used thereafter as part of the interlinked training/delivery and session outline
Overall response
From the outset it was clear that as a pilot project I needed to come into the librarian’s space and to share, learn and gently feed in ideas from ground level. Our intention was not to dictate, nor to remove genuine skills at engaging the drop-in group through all the rhymes, songs and stories chosen.
By turn taking Wendy (rhymetime leader) was able to observe the instant response and participation (vocally and physically) by both children and adults. Without demeaning Wendy’s own delivery, I (Music House trainer) extended what she did, by making my own delivery just a little larger, a little more animated, slowing delivery down and choosing deliberately to repeat songs, sometimes three times – unlike her usual once-only rendition. Wendy was able to view different ways of delivery familiar songs, and extending participation through engaging sounds, moves and visuals without being told.
Example:
Hand to ear – “ooh, what can you hear?” (sing song). “ooh, did you hear that?” (make a little whistle sound), “ooh!” (children begin to lift hand up, look surprised, turn to their adult with a questioning look, look amazed). “What can it be?” (sing song) (whistle again, wiggle my finger). “ooh!” (child) “Bird!” or wiggle finger back at me. Look at adult who affirms this. “can you whistle too?” (to adults who all immediately whistled, to the delight of their child)
“off we go” (wiggling my fingers in time) “two little dicky birds sitting on a wall” and the group participated completely, with warmed voices, warmed, wiggly fingers for their birds and children understanding just what the song was all about. At the end, the birds ‘kissed’ – thereby allowing adults to kiss their child, or encourage child’s fingers to meet and ‘kiss’.
(All comments taken from weekly monitor reports)
Observations on rhymetime delivery
No warm up either in voice, body or welcoming song. Launching straight into songs and rhymes that were well known and perhaps slightly worn. No starting note provided.
Very little singing by parents and no sounds/words by children except the odd ‘anchor’ word.
Songs and activities delivered at high speed. Approximately 36 songs were delivered in the 25 minutes!
Pitching extremely low and shifting every time a new verse on the same song was sung
No links were made with any songs apart from two counting songs in a row.
The story was read without pausing on those movement based activities involving sound that could have been offered by the group with an invitation.
Sometimes the voice was very quiet and hard to hear.
Key words were often swallowed, not allowing children to repeat.
Vocal introductions to each song, story or activity not used – instructions such as “now, we’ll sing a song about a worm” etc.
Input by Music House
From the first session and once Emma ‘had a go’ at an activity, Sandra’s voice became more animated when she observed/shared Emma’s second story read with lots of sing-song questions such as “what can you hear?” “can you hear the…” encouraging the group to participate so that they could move the story on.
Emma did not allow a ‘them and us’ approach by simply acknowledging and participating fully with Sandra and Wendy, and giving them space to deliver and develop at their pace.
In the second week and once Emma had suggested that she introduce a welcome song, the participation was immediate – lots of silly warm up sounds, waving, “yooo hooos” and ‘warming up’ with “brrrrrs” etc. then a “hello everyone song” really got the children and adults singing, AND the library leader, for a moment at a loss, then understanding and participating fully.
The same ideas were delivered week after week to warm up and get the group going. This was taken on board and delivered by Wendy very soon, and led naturally into physical warm up songs such as “shake your sillies out”, “everybody do this”, “roly poly up up up”.
Wendy and Sandra began to relax into the ‘new ideas’ and to begin to initiate them, as encouraged by a ‘hand wave’ or movement/sound from myself. Importantly they began to surprise themselves. Sandra was in fact only at the sessions twice since she covered for Wendy during those times. Our focus is on Wendy who had no training in music, nor practiced instrumental skills.
Week two saw songs being rushed through as if their lives depending on them. There was a moment where Wendy was looking across to Emma for affirmation. This was quickly rectified at the end of the session with a chat about both parties being okay to work together, and to find a common ground BEFORE starting.
As time went by the change in Wendy explored more use of sounds to link songs, the suggestion of themes to create an underlying educational link in learning, together with sound links to words (splish, splosh, splash to water, seaside, pond animal songs). Children were attentive, they wanted to share the ‘silly sounds’ linked to the next activity.
Sessions began to flow from one familiar song to another, and into less familiar song which were age appropriate, and allowed for easy learning due to their repetitive nature and strong pulse with linked actions. See examples below:
- By allowing young children with their families space to explore sound, stories (responding to), visuals, instruments, words, songs and activities at their pace enrichment in learning and shared participation will follow.
- By allowing time for families and their babies to engage with the rhymetime leader we are able to see, pick up and give back what young children are trying to do, or linking into – whether it is one word, sound, picture, image, story or action. All the senses are enabled with more space and time. If neither is offered, release of creative energy is then restricted to the strongest or most immediate sense – usually visual.
- This sense then becomes not only dominant, but other major senses (motor/movement/aural) become static because they are unable to take in, absorb, then feedback response at their pace
- Many activities offered to families and their young children are delivered at an inappropriate pace that often occurs as a result of the deliver’s fear of a child being bored, or losing interest. The deliver can be a parent, carer, nursery staff, librarian. Equally there is the concern that families will feel short-changed – even if an activity is free – with less songs and activities on offer.
The Music House for children
April 2010