Early years music education
Opportunities for music making in early years (0 - 5 years) settings are vitally important. In order to use and build upon the learning that has already taken place in the home and its immediate environment, early years education should provide children with a rich variety of activities and other experiences in a stimulating and challenging environment.
Free resource: Musical Development Matters by Nicola Burke
Musical Development Matters, created by Nicola Burke and published by the British Association for Early Childhood Education, is a guidance document with an accompanying online resource. The overall purpose is to support practitioners, teachers, musicians and parents to see the musical attributes of young children and to offer ideas as to how they can support and nurture children’s musical development by offering broad musical experiences. The free online accompanying resource can be found on Youth Music's website.
Early Education online resources
Early Education also offer a number of free-to-download resources for anyone interested in the early years, from parent to practitioner.
MERYC England
MERYC England (Music Educators and Researchers of Young Children) is a registered charity committed to advancing the musical education of children aged 0 - 5 years in England.
Other resources and courses
- Early years music regional networks: A list of early childhood music networks across England
- Early Years & The Arts: Why an arts-rich early years matters: Briefing paper from the Cultural Learning Alliance and the Centre for Research in Early Childhood (CREC)
- CREC (Centre for Research in Early Childhood) CME Course: A flexible, part-time, distance-learning qualification in early childhood music
- CREC (Centre for Research in Early Childhood) MA Early Years Music
What’s next for early years music?
In this session from the ISM Trust's music education conference in November 2021, we discussed the value and potential of early years music, and look at how we can support music teachers and leaders to offer excellent and accessible provision for all.
Chair: Vanessa Stansall
Panellists: Nate Holder, Katie Neilson, Dr Jessica Pitt, Aimee Toshney, Dr Susan Young
The ISM is:
