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by
Mary Thienes - Schunemann
 All
young children love to sing!
When I taught
kindergarten, years ago,
I would ask the children on the first day:
“Who
loves to sing?” Every child would
raise their hand and shout “Me!”
Needless
to say, this is not the case with all adults!
We so often are
robbed of this joy of song.
I have heard many heart wrenching stories from
adults who long to sing but feel they
no longer can.
There is a saying
from Zimbabwe: “If you can walk, you can dance, If
you can talk, you can sing!”
I encourage us to raise our voices
joyfully with these wonderful children in our care and keeping…they will
return this joy tenfold and we as adults can recover a birthright and deep
sense of connection to a higher part of ourselves we thought gone forever!
I remember as a child hearing humming and
singing around our home, especially from my grandparents. My grandfather
Alvyn had a special whistle he could do through his teeth! This happy
sound permeated the house
every time we visited him. It is my greatest memory of him! My grandmother
Gladys always had lovely songs to sing and was forever drawing us to the
piano to sing with her. All homes and hearts are so gladdened by song!
Singing is a gymnasium for a child’s body and
soul. Singing works deeply into our children’s physiology: deepening
breath and heart rate, altering brain wave patterns and strengthening the
immune system. It also releases endorphins, the body’s pleasure
hormones, into the brain and body. Singing also exercises all the muscles
in the head and neck, providing the pump action which empties the
Eustachian tubes, helping to keep children free from middle ear
infections! We all know how painful and damaging those can be for
children! Singing can also help to build a child’s confidence and
self-esteem, and can increase their capacity for self expression.
Recent
research also indicates that a wide range of early music experiences have
a powerful effect on the preschooler and kindergarten age child,
influencing their language development, as well as increasing
concentration, memory, visual and listening skills, spatial orientation
and physical coordination. For children, we know how important these are
as building blocks for their future learning and success in life. And
singing can be done in such fun and meaningful ways!
Many children today suffer from a wide variety
of ailments and imbalances,
from insomnia, to lack of sleep, to diabetes and depression. We now have
the second most highly depressed population of teenagers in this country,
second only to Japan. We must ask ourselves not only why is this
happening, but what can we do to help. Singing is one of the greatest
illness preventions!
“Children are also experiencing a tremendous
lack of sleep and rhythm in their lives. Sleep as we know, is of critical
importance to a child’s health, well being and inner balance. The more
we can establish a joyful rhythmic organization to their day and evening
before bed, it is more possible to have a peaceful, ‘rest-filled ‘
sleep. We can create a rhythmical; harmonizing mood by singing through the
day and evening with our children. In addition to having a harmonizing
effect on their physiological processes, singing lullabies before bed
supports our children emotionally, helping him or her towards balance
and peace.”1
Our
voice is our first and primary connection with our children. The baby in
utero begins forming the ear already at six weeks. In the mother’s
watery home, the vibration of voices and sounds rock and resound through
her growing, developing, tender body. In this way, we can help to form the
structure of her physical body, Studies
have shown that singing can also be tremendously calming to the unborn
child.
After birth, the child is like one great
listening ear. She listens with her whole body. She will be most highly
attuned to her mother’s voice. As she grows, the voices of those around
her become deep conveyors of love, warmth and connection. Through our
voices, out support and encouragement can resound through our children,
and become a healing balm for their bodies and souls.
In their first two years, children babble all
the sounds that exist on the planet. We allow a child great joy by
encouraging her to utilize her full vocal potential for as long as
possible without forcing her into exact words too soon. We can also have
fun imitating her at this age. It can be highly freeing for our voices as
well as very fun. When the child reaches the age of one and a half to two
and a half, she will focus on the mother tongue spoken around her, and
begin to imitate it more and more. It is through our human
interactions that
singing, speech and laughter begin. The child learns all of its vocabulary
and speech skills through listening to ‘live’ adult conversation!
A friend wrote me the other day: ”I get
teary-eyed each time I hear my children start to make up songs with silly
words. Finding the words to match the music is a very complex skill! They
delight in themselves with their silliness and at the same time they are
processing their world in a very special way! To sing about what happened
today or what is going on right now in the moment helps a child process
and develop their growing soul life. Yes, my children are always happiest
when they are singing. Musical transitions also make my children happier.
Songs are so subtle and deeply ingrained. I can call my children to the
dinner table as many times as I want, but when I start singing our
blessing song…Blessings on the Blossom, they move to the dining room
table almost unconsciously, and how much nicer an experience it is for
them.”
If we start singing with our children when they
are young, song will become a part of family life that can continue into a
child’s teenage years. These years can be particularly troublesome for
many children. It is not an easy time to be a young adult in the world.
What we can do as parents and teachers is to expose our children to the
best and highest music we can find, music filled with idealism, joy,
optimism and hope for the future. These are qualities they urgently need
to feel, and singing is an easy, accessible, joyful way to fill them with
these ideals.
Singing is one of our most direct ways to
access our deepest spiritual selves. All cultures of the world speak of
the spiritual significance of song and its deep health giving benefits. We
can find simple ways to integrate singing into out homes and classrooms
and create meaningful, deep memories for both children and adults. By
integrating singing into our homes and schools, we help to strengthen the health of our children and our children’s children! Do
not be discouraged if you feel you cannot sing, or have been told you have
no voice! The voice simply needs to sing to dust the cobwebs away! Our
voices are a God given gift and want to be sung!
Renew your friendship with your voice and the world of song again.
and sing, sing , sing with our children!
“Singing
is the best form of illness prevention, the easiest bridge-builder between
human beings and the most wonderful gift adults can give to their
children! Singing can help generations navigate the time and space that
separates them, thus weaving a bridge of love, health and joy around the
world!”2
1,2 Dr. Michaela
Glockler, M.D.
Pediatrician,
Dornach, Switzerland
 Mary Thienes- Schunemann
has a bachelor's degree in Psychology, a musical instructor for LifeWays
childcare trainings, is a Waldorf Teacher, music educator, singer,
composer, inspired mother and homemaker! She teaches singing workshops
around the country, and gives private music lessons in her home in
southeastern Wisconsin. She is the president of the Rafael Foundation for
New Impulses in Music, and is the director of the women's vocal ensemble
Avalon a cappella. She works out of the principles of the School of
Uncovering the Voice, and has studied singing extensively in Europe and
America since 1989.
Reprinted
by Expressed Permission
Click
on the links to read our articles by
and
about Mary Thienes-Schunemann
Nurturing
the Soul : Sing a Song with Baby
Sleep,
Children Sleep . . .
Lullabies
are Love Songs
by
Michaela Glockler M.D.
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