Singing plays an important role in children's learning, and when working with parents to support that learning, then families' own musical memories and repertoire of rhymes and songs can also be powerful resources. Just how powerful has been revealed through 'Time to Play', an action research project where creative play practitioners worked with mothers and children in settings serving predominantly Muslim communities in Oxford, Birmingham, Bristol and Southampton.
The project was managed by PEEP (Parents Early Education Partnership), in Oxford, and evaluated by Susan Young from Exeter University.
Research shows us that singing can have a rich variety of meanings for babies and very young children and that these depend on the sound worlds that they experience from birth - and even before. From around 20 weeks' gestation the foetus can hear the voices of their immediate family and will have become acquainted with the sonic 'scape' of their home.
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