In one bilingual school, music supports the unique needs of dual language learners

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Kindermusik International

The British American Preschool in Milan, Italy is devoted to the unique learning needs of young bilingual children. In addition to meeting the child’s changing language needs, the school is focused on helping children develop a balance of interests and skills — from studies in science to the arts.

  “Early childhood is a period of rapid mental growth and development,” according to the school’s Web site. “Young children need a rich foundation of stimulating experiences that will be essential for later learning, a strong sense of self-esteem, and excitement and curiosity for learning.”


Parents and children participate in ABC English & Me at the bilingual school in Milan, Italy
 
The school incorporates the Jean Piaget theory that “play is a child’s work.” Based on the school’s mission to learn through play and to develop a variety of skills, ABC English & Me is one of the programs that the school offers its students.

Here, the school’s director, Debbie Chilver, talks about how the music based activities in ABC English & Me help to develop English language skills, as well as the child’s attention span (in Italian of course! Scroll down for the English translation).

Debbie Chilver, Director at the British American Preschool of Milan – Italy

English and Me è un programma che coinvolge molto i bambini. E’ sorprendente vedere come bambini così piccoli partecipano alle attività. Si può notare facilmente che la loro capacità di attenzione viene sviluppata durante le lezioni e che esse sono finalizzate al raggiungimento di obbiettivi tipici degli “early years”.
Possiamo prendere un semplice gesto come su e giù, per esempio. Lo si fa nel rituale dei saluti e poi si ripete in altre attività, come in una delle storie o con gli strumenti. La lezione è strutturata in maniera tale da promuorere la consapevolezza di tutto il corpo.
Si può anche vedere che le lezioni sono ben pensate. Non appena i bambini sono in procinto di distrarsi l’attività cambia e ci si muove. Si può notare che gli obbiettivi e la sequenzialità delle attività volte al loro raggiungimento sono state testate.
Sento che la musica è uno dei più grandi veicoli per l’insegnamento. La musica è un eccellente forma di comunicazione per l’insegnamento di una seconda lingua. Cominciare presto, sviluppa nei bambini un apprezzamento per la musica che li accompagnerà per il resto della loro vita. E’ come piantare questo seme in tenera età e poi vederlo crescere.

 The British American Preschool focuses on the unique learning needs of bilingual children.

In English

ABC English and Me is a program that gets the children extremely involved.  It’s amazing how such small children participate in the activities.  You can see that their attention span is really being developed by this class.
After having looked at the scope you can see that it is very structured towards early years objectives.  We can take a simple movement like up and down for example. You do it in the ritual greating and then it is repeated in other activities like in one of the stories or with the instruments. The lesson is structured with full body awareness in mind.  You can also tell that the lessons are well thought out.
As soon as the children are about to get distracted the activity changes and they do a movement.  You can see that the scope and sequence of the lessons have been tested out also.
I feel that music is one the greatest vehicles for teaching. Music is a form of communication that is great for teaching language as a second language.  Starting children young will develop music appreciation for the rest of their lives.  You can lay this seed at an early age and then watch it grow.