Regular practice of music and movement in early years builds strong foundations for communication, language and literacy.
Music is language; it uses an overlapping neural processing system. Developing rhythmic awareness alongside sound processing skills is key to building strong foundations for communication, language and literacy.
Music and movement activities are a most efficient and effective way of developing sound processing and rhythmic awareness and auditory/motor neural pathways in early childhood.
We are delighted that our recently launched Boogie Mites App: Building Strong Foundations For Language and Literacy Through Music, has been recognised in the Teach Early Years Awards 2023.
This will help us raise awareness of the importance of sound processing and rhythmic awareness with parents and home educators.
Please share this information with your parents:
Within the inner ear is the vestibular system, which connects the sound-processing system to the whole body. This is significant because changes to sound processing can impact on global development.
Problems with sound processing will impact communication, language and literacy skills.
Rhythmic awareness is often the missing link for children with language and/or reading delay. Rhythm is an integral part of both music and language, and the rhythm of spoken language is a crucial cue to understanding.
Musical training, with its emphasis on rhythmic skills, can exercise the motor/auditory system, leading to less neural jitter and stronger sound-to-meaning associations that are so essential to learning to read.
Traditional music and nursery rhymes are great, they harness some of the benefits evidenced by neuroscience and research studies
To harness all of the benefits we need to:
● Include lots of rhythmic activities, keeping the beat and playing with tempo and different rhythms… Best achieved through use of recorded music written for this age group and purpose.
● Include lots of melodic activities, playing with dynamics, pitch, hearing harmonies, different instruments… Best achieved through use of recorded music written for this age group and purpose.
● Engage and motivate all involved, the teachers, parents and children… Best achieved through use of recorded music written for this purpose.
Boogie Mites App: Building Strong Foundations For Language and Literacy Through Music
Boogie Mites have collaborated with artists to produce new music activities to link with our original action, themed and percussion songs, to launch this new digital product for home education for 2–5 year olds.
The app focuses on building strong foundations for communication, language, phonics and literacy.
There are three categories of music activities:
Musical poems
We have collaborated with world-renowned children’s author Michael Rosen, writing songs for 10 of his recently published poems.
They provide a wonderful combination of rhythm and rhyme, featuring beautiful word play put to a catchy tune, and are performed by a Boogie Mites teacher, who interprets them through role play or dance.
They can be enjoyed together or as engaging educational entertainment for children to follow on their own.
Topical tunes
We have selected five original Boogie Mites songs for each of six themes. They include actions songs, percussion and role play songs that are loved by children and adults alike.
They are performed by Boogie Mites teachers, who introduce them with ideas for props, instruments and discussion around the theme being explored.
They provide parents/educators and children with musical activities to explore exciting topics together at home.
Phonics fun
Boogie Mites have written a song for each letter of the alphabet; the pure sounds are included in short stories written by our partner in India, Nutspace Ed Tech, and performed by amazing storyteller Rohini Vij.
They provide parents and educators with a way to explore letter sounds at home with their children, to strengthen foundations ready for phonics at school.
In total, there are 66 Boogie Mites song videos that will inspire children ages 2–5 years to participate in singing, dancing, keeping the beat and following actions.
Boogie Mites musical activities are based on neuromusical evidence that shows us how music can train the brain ready for school. In the words of neuromusical researcher Dr Anita Collins:
“Neuroscience evidence show us that music learning before the age of five has a causal relationship with strong language development and phonological awareness, building the cognitive foundations needed for pre-literacy (learning to read and write) by strengthening the connections between the auditory, visual and motor neural networks of the brain.”
Home educators, childminders and parents can sign up to trial 18 of the music activities for free for the first month here.
We are currently developing a teacher training version of this product with licence for use in public settings. If you would like to be part of the product development project get in touch: sue@boogiemites.co.uk
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