Did you hear that?

An important part of the Kindermusik experience is practicing active listening. In class we've listened to environmental sounds, animal sounds, and parts of songs, and then we talk about what we heard.

“Active listening is a process that goes beyond the physical act of hearing. It is an intellectual and emotional process that integrates a full range of inputs in a search for the meaning of and an understanding of a sender’s message. It involves listening between the lines to hear what is not said as well as what is said.” Early Childhood Education: Blending Theory, Blending Practice by Lawrence J. Johnson, M.J. LaMontagne, Peggy M. Elgas and Anne M. Bauer.

The following thoughts on listening skills from Danielle, another Kindermusik educator made me laugh:

"I was just thinking about the necessity for developing our children’s listening skills. As I sit in my living room and hear a beep or chime, I ask my husband: Is that my phone? Is that your phone? Is that my phone’s battery dying? Your phone’s battery dying? Is that the answering machine beeping? Or is that the microwave? Is that the oven timer? Is that the security sensor? Is that the smoke detector? Or the smoke detector battery dying? Could that be the signal to change the filter of refrigerator, air purifier, coffeemaker? Or is that someone’s phone on the TV? Is that the front doorbell? The back doorbell? Could that be a construction truck backing up outside? Is that the ringing in my ears?

"Our little ones have lived with these sounds all their lives. And now they need to recognize different ringtones for persons on their phone lists. We’d better get busy honing their listening skills so they can make it through life without catastrophes!"

I like to talk about the difference between hearing, which is passive, and listening, which is active. It takes practice to be a good listener.