Run! Read! Sing!

I honestly believe that there are only three things that are worth stressing about when educating young children. You must read, you must get outside as much as possible, and you must include music whenever possible. If those three things happen every day, your child will thrive. They will learn everything they need to know before formal education begins. Their brains and bodies will meet their full and beautiful potential. Over the years, my philosophy and convictions have grown SO strong and I can’t keep it all to myself anymore. So here’s hoping it helps some of you!

There is a tremendous body of research supporting this theory of mine. I always feel so much better when I know that what I’m doing with my kids is well-backed by sound research. If you’re into finding high quality research that supports (or sometimes doesn’t!) your ideas, we’ll explore a few of the major studies. Across the board, the high-quality studies all support what we're doing here.

Essentially, reading aloud is absolutely critical to children’s development. The more reading we do with our kids, the more successful they are in school and in life and even in their social lives. Additionally, all the current research encourages us to get outside as much as possible. Be in green spaces and do less structured things in those green spaces. The physical benefits abound, and the mental and academic benefits are equally profuse. The same is true of music education…the brain benefits and correlations with future success are incredible. Kids need books, kids need nature, and kids need music.

I’ve compiled some links to current research and writings for you here, in case you enjoy totally geeking out about research like I do. I love when I’m doing something outside with my kids (or reading or singing to them) and I end up with a tidbit of a particular study floating around in my head and I think to myself “wow - what I’m doing with my kids RIGHT NOW is having THIS specific benefit on them.“ The research also usually motivates me to pick up the book or get outside when I’m tempted to give in to the inertia of 7am after nursing the baby all night and just be a bump on a log on my couch.

While those three goals, reading, music, and outside playtime, sound simple, I “get” that sometimes they aren’t. Sometimes it’s hard to get enough reading time in with very young children. Sometimes they don’t want to listen (or they don’t appear to). If you’re looking for strategies to engage your child in read-alouds, stay tuned! I’ll be writing about that in a few days. It can be as simple as reading to your baby while you’re nursing or giving a bottle. It can be as tricky as trusting that they are listening even if their bodies look like they’re doing anything but! Another of my favorite strategies is rotating books. 

If you need some motivation to continue to squeeze as much written word into your child’s day as humanly possible, stay tuned for an upcoming blog.  It’s the single most effective way to help your child be successful for the rest of their lives. It’s also FREE if you utilize your local library or start a swap with some other moms of littles. 

Spending time in nature is also free and well-backed by a whole lot of research that basically all says the same thing: spending time outside, doing literally anything, is beneficial for your child. Their physical and mental health will improve, their sleep will improve (can I get an AMEN?!), and they will move their bodies in important ways that support vestibular and proprioceptive system development. Briefly, your vestibular system has to do with your inner ear and controls your sense of balance. Your proprioceptive system is controlled by neurons in your muscles, joints, and your spinal column.

Integration in the brain of our visual, vestibular, and proprioceptive systems helps us figure out where we are relative to the things around us, where and how we are moving, and how we are accelerating. This is all essential for coordinating body movements. Children who have strongly developed vestibular and proprioceptive systems are calmer and more in control of their bodies. They can spend less time thinking about how their bodies are moving, and therefore have more brain space freed up to learn and enjoy other things.

All of the sensory input that results from being surrounded by nature is just so amazing. Children’s blood pressures will actually be lower. Honestly, your toddler will likely even seem more human outside and less like a feral raccoon. Your babies will cry less. Your big kids will argue less…with you AND with each other! This is particularly true in my current season of life. My two-year-old is just not an indoor pet at the moment. He is a tiny tornado of fists and emotions pretty much every second…until we take him outside. As soon as we step outside, it’s like some magical switch flips and he’s my sweet boy again.

I’m not saying he’s perfect or the best listener ever outside…but he’s so different than when inside. He’s calmer, better-regulated, happier, better at communicating…all the things you want for your toddler. As an added bonus, my six-month-old stops squirming and fussing when we follow his brother and sister outside. He stares up at his favorite tree as though it is the most interesting thing in the universe. He can stare at that tree for hours. And all of a sudden with my sweet little hooligans settled, I can take a deep breath. It resets all of us and nine times out of ten, the whole rest of the day is more positive. 

Regarding music, let me clarify that I am not in any way a music educator. I do not have the training or background. I do, however, have a whole body of research telling me that I should be making music part of my child’s lives in order for their brains to maximize their potential! I have played the piano for most of my life, but this is truly not necessary for you to give your child the gift of music. I taught myself the ukulele a couple of years ago and it was honestly really easy! Now my six year old is learning the ukulele, as well, and is looking forward to starting piano lessons. There also are millions of ways to include music in your kid’s life that don’t require  you to learn an instrument. Explore classical music together, identify instruments in songs, play a huge, broad variety of genres for them and talk about how they sound! Most importantly, sing to them. It doesn’t matter if you can’t carry a tune in a bucket, truly it does not matter. Your young children won’t know you can’t sing well, nor will they care. 

The best part is that all of this is also true for you. All of the benefits your child receives from reading and being outside and incorporating music into their lives…you ALSO receive. Raising healthy, happy people requires YOU to also be healthy and happy. Reading to your kids, singing to them, and spending time outside will genuinely improve your mental health, and that’s a hugely important part of being a good caregiver. I tend to feel like I’m doing these things for my kids (which is fine, great, admirable) and then after the walk in the park or the several chapters read and enjoyed or even just standing in the sunshine watching them drive trucks around the driveway, I feel better. I feel more energized, less anxious and stressed. I enjoy my kids more.

I’ve also made some really great friends living this life - there are always mamas at the library and the parks, and I’ve met a lot of great neighbors on our walks and explorations! You can also have a ton of fun joining a music class with your infant, toddler, or preschooler. Music for them and parent friends for you! We didn’t evolve to do this alone, and finding a village is hard. Pursuing the trifecta of nature time, music education, and building book-lovers can help you find a like-minded village. Do this for your kids but also do this for yourself. It’s such a huge win-win!

Although I do believe that literacy, music, and nature are the big three, there is obviously more to raising children than reading them a book, singing them some songs, and tossing them into the backyard. If you care to poke around on my website, sunshineandstorytime.com, you’ll find more resources that may be helpful to you. I’ll be adding to these over time. Raising healthy eaters and promoting strong self-regulatory skills are incredibly important, as is the teaching of virtuous and empathetic behavior. I’ll share some ideas and information towards those ends, as well.

Let me also clarify that I’m referring mostly to the first five years of life. After that, there is great value in many other things - organized sports, more formal education, STEM…but honestly, much of what we hope to accomplish can be tied back to reading, music, and nature play in the early years. Covering those bases will set your child up for success in all other domains.  In the end, I still believe that at the end of the day, if you’ve read, sung or shared music. and gotten outside, you can call it a win. Take that and run with it, because heaven knows when you’re a mom with little ones at home, those wins can feel few and far between! Don’t forget you can check out my website for more help and info at www.sunshineandstorytime.com.