I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing

During several of our recent GGK Preschool trainings we’ve been showing the video the Long Reach of Early Childhood (beautiful, culturally diverse video by the way – here’s the link if you’re interested: https://youtu.be/SSwpPfjmqBo ). In the video there is a section where a Latina mother is singing a traditional lullaby to her baby and every time we play it, several of the Latina participants in the training have started to sing along. They shared that this is a very important part of their culture. Most cultures have traditional lullabies that are used to soothe babies, but have you ever wondered if there is any science behind that? This past week, one of the GKI founders and Board members, Betsy Dew shared some recent research that we thought you might find interesting. The research was conducted at the University of Montreal and their findings indicated that babies remained calm two times longer when they were listening to a song than they did when listening to someone talk (Corbeil, Trehub, & Peretz, 2015). The researchers were interested in finding out how singing affected babies’ emotional control in comparison to spoken words. In order to assure that the infants were not influenced by other factors like their mother’s voice, facial expressions, tone of voice, or the words spoken, they used recorded voices in an unfamiliar language (Turkish) while the mother sat behind them so the baby could not see her face. So here’s how it worked. With the mother seated behind the baby, they waited until the baby was calm, and then they played the Turkish recordings (normal adult type speech, baby talk, or singing) until the baby made a “cry-face.” Here’s what they found: when they played the Turkish song, babies stayed calm, on average, for about nine minutes. Corbeil said that “For speech, it was roughly only half as long, regardless of whether it was baby-talk or not”(AlphaGalileo Ltd, 2015).  “The lack of significant distinction between the two types of speech came as a surprise to us,” she added. (AlphaGalileo Ltd, 2015) They then also repeated the conditions with mothers using a familiar language (French) and got the same results. The researchers explain that this research leaves little doubt about how effective singing nursery rhymes is for keeping babies calm for longer periods. Researcher Peretz claims “These findings speak to the intrinsic importance of music, and of nursery rhymes in particular, which appeal to our desire for simplicity, and repetition.” (AlphaGalileo Ltd, 2015) The researchers believe that singing could be particularly useful for the parents who are challenged by adverse socio-economic or emotional circumstances. “Although infant distress signals typically prompt parental comforting interventions, they induce frustration and anger in some at-risk parents, leading to insensitive responding and, in the worst cases, to infant neglect or abuse,” Peretz said. “At-risk parents within the purview of social service agencies could be encouraged to play vocal music to infants and, better still, to sing to them.” (AlphaGalileo Ltd, 2015) Thanks Betsy for sharing this research with us. So Home Visitors…what do you think? There is speculation that Western mothers in particular speak more than they sing to calm their babies. Do you think their babies might be missing out on the emotion-regulating properties of singing? How might you incorporate these findings into your work with families? As always, feel free to email any topic suggestions or questions to danabroadway@greatkidsinc.net . Be sure to add Great Vine ideas to the subject line of the email.

Works Cited

AlphaGalileo Ltd. (2015, October 28). News Release – All Regions. Retrieved from                  AlphaGalileo.org: http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=157788&CultureCode=en

Corbeil, M., Trehub, S. E., & Peretz, I. (2015). Singing Delays the Onset of Infant Distress. Infancy.      doi:DOI: 10.1111/infa.12114      

Recent Posts

Riding the Child-Led Play Train

“Choo! Choo!” my nephew Scotty* called out, “Auntie, come get on the train!” As I made my way into the family room, I saw Scotty instructing my sister where the ticketing line started, eager for us to hop aboard the train. As we each sat in our assigned seats, our train grew longer and longer as we all joined in on the fun! 

read more

Becoming Trauma-Informed, Becoming Resilient

Since I moved into my own home several years ago, the season I look forward to most is Spring. The previous owner left many lovely plants, trees, and bushes, including a coral azalea that brightens the view outside my office window for a few brief weeks each year.

read more

Becoming a Parent Changes Your Brain

Don’t you love crawling into bed each night? The weariness of the day seems to soak away as you snuggle under the covers and feel the comfort of your bed envelop you.

According to researchers, our bodies and brains need sleep as much as breathing air and drinking water, but the amount of sleep required differs from person to person.

read more

Nurturing Traditions

Upon opening the door to my grandmother’s house on a Sunday afternoon, you are delighted with the sweet aroma of buttery biscuits and the sound of joyful family laughter greeting you. As you enter the kitchen, you will find us all working together to prepare the Sunday Dinner, a treasured tradition that has been passed down from my grandmother’s generation. Childhood memories often play a profound role in shaping our adult lives. These moments have taught me more than culinary skills. They have passed down values, cultural connections, and a sense of togetherness that will last a lifetime.

read more

Playing Together

The other day, I was walking by a local playground. I stopped for a minute to notice all the happy children running around and playing with each other. It brought back such sweet memories of when my own kids were little and played on this playground with my community’s playgroup. Seeing how much the kids loved playing together and their parents bonding was such a heartwarming experience. Playgroups had a significant role in my parenting journey, and I’m so grateful for the memories they helped create.

read more

Imagination in Adults

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you picture “playing pretend”? Maybe you conjure up the image of a toddler using a recycled cardboard box as a racecar, or perhaps a preschooler mixing up a questionable potion from rarely used kitchen spices and tap water. I must admit, I have quite a bit of personal experience with the latter. For many adults, I think, we can quickly put together a colorful picture of a young child tapping into their imagination and transforming the world around them into one of their own designs. It’s more difficult, though, to find a similar picture for ourselves as grown-ups. When was the last time you activated that creativity?

read more

Growing Great Kids®

Why Choose Great Kids?

Never any recurring licensing fees

Proven Success

Over 37,000 people have been trained to use the Great Kids curricula

Protective Factors – GGK Constructs

Research informed constructs embedded in the Protective Factors Framework

Alignment with Head Start

The Growing Great Kids Home Based Curricula Series exceeds all Head Start Curriculum requirements

Evidenced Based Research

As evidenced by seven independent evaluations, the GGK Curriculum produces outstanding results

Specialized Training Programs 

On-site and virtual training options available

Healthy Families America

The Growing Great Kids curriculum aligns with and builds upon the HFA model approach