Pamela Walters

September 26, 2015

Partakian, R. (March 2010) Beyond twinkle, twinkle: Using music with infants and toddlers.
Young Children. Vol. 65 (2), p. 14-19.

When I was growing up, music was always a big part of my everyday life. As an adult
with four kids of my own, it is still present in my everyday life. With every song that I hear it
triggers a memory that my brain has connected to the music. As I looked through the articles of
choice this week, I saw this one and knew instantly that I wanted to know more. If using music is
a way to promote brain development in infants and toddlers, then as a future teacher and music
lover my curiosity was peaked.
In the article Beyond Twinkle, Twinkle Using Music with Infants and Toddlers, authors
Rebecca Parlakian and Claire Lerner give us a look at how the use of music can encourage the
growth of the different developmental domains. It also gives examples of how professionals in
this area can use it to add to the early learning process. (Parlakain 2010 pg, 14) Although this is
not necessarily a new concept, Parlakian and Lerner take it to a whole other level by
implementing it within a younger group and by targeting the different developmental domains. .
The article also tells that the areas that are most stimulated by the use of music are the
social-emotional, physical, thinking, and literacy. It affects the social area by allowing the
children to sing and dance together as a group. The physical area is affected in much the same
way a social-emotional in that dancing is a form physical activity. Thinking is about using things
like math in a song to encourage learning. It promotes literacy by the simple act of just singing

the words to the music. The authors state that music is easily adapted for a range of
developmental levels and abilities, making it perfect for mixed-age settings as well as family
child care programs(Parlakain 2010, pg.16). This basically means that despite the age of the
child music is the perfect fit.
All in all I thought the article was very informative and the use of examples were helpful
in getting the main point across. The one problem I have is that this idea is neither original nor
new. I remember my oldest child watching a show on PBS (Public Broadcasting Station) that
had a purple dinosaur that would sing and dance to songs that encouraged some type of learning.
Parlakain and Lerner may have taken it to the next level but the main concept is still the same.
The article did remind me of how music can be a valuable tool when encouraging
children to learn. It also left me wondering why? If music is proven to be a valuable tool, then
why arent more schools using it in the classroom? As a mother I have been in several classroom
settings where I thought that music would be beneficial to the lesson that was being given, but
was not being used. I even asked the teacher if it could be used and I was informed that the
school did not allow for its use in this particular setting. They said that it was disruptive to the
class so it was not allowed. I would like to see the use of music in more ways within the
educational setting. I hope that I can implement its use when I become a teacher.