One day, you are doing dishes in the kitchen with the radio on as your preschooler is playing in the living room. A catchy pop song comes on, and you hear your daughter singing " I like it, like it, come on!". Oh, how cute, she knows the words to popular music. But then, you realize your three year old is singing along to Rhianna's S and M. Not really appropriate lyrics for your little darling.
This got me thinking, what kind of music should our children be listening to? I am pretty sure we listened to songs with questionable lyrics as children. We probably didn't even realize the words had meaning. Songs catch on, usually, because of a melody. Often we have no idea what the actual lyrics are, even as adults. I am pretty sure I am not scarred, or morally depraved from listening to music with explicit lyrics, but we would like to shelter our children as long as possible and keep them...children.
In our home, we listen to a lot of French children's songs. My kids love them. I know it can get annoying for adults to have to listen to " children's" muisic all the time, but we have come across quite a few artists who play catchy songs. There is quite a broad range of music I am willing to listen to, so I am fairly easy to please, but here are a few suggestions.
For the Francophones: My favourite, by far, is Shilvi. My daughter loves her too. She has a lot a jazzy influences, and she references various music styles, and famous pieces. She also has a lot of play on words, so linguistically the songs are interesting. Of course, Annie Brocoli is popular with the kids, and I don't mind her songs. Carmen Campange sings a lot of the traditional songs I remember learning as child, like Bonhomme, Bonhomme Sais Tu Jouer?, so there's the nostalgia factor with her. We also picked up a CD while in France, and it has songs like Une Souris Verte and J'aime La Galette.
If you are looking for free French music for kids, there is usually one or two cable or satellite channels that offer children's music in French or English. Also, Le Loup (Sudbury, Timmins, Chapleau) plays kids music in the mornings on the weekend. We also listen to Espace Musique, on CBC. It is not children's music, but it isn't generally pop either, so the lyrics tend to be more appropriate. Also, you coukd hear Spanish, Portuguese, French, and English music. It is a great way to broaden everyone's musical horizons.
For the Anglophones: We have been taking Kindermusik with our kids four several years, and I have a huge collection of CDs which my daughter quite often asks me to play. (Pas mon oncle Stef, maman! If I happen to have the radio on Le Loup between 3 and 6 pm. Sorry Stephane, she just doesn't find your stories as engaging as the rest of us.) The Kindermusik CDs are quite varied, and there are many different music styles, so my children are being exposed to classical, jazz, country, folk, as well as some traditional kids songs. I also like Here Come the 1,2,3s by They Might Be Giants. Quirky pop bands do great kids CDs. Barenaked Ladies is another great example. For the Kids Volumes 1, 2, and 3 also has kids songs sung by pop artists. And, another option is to listen to CBC Radio 2, for something other than pop.
I have also heard that Mini Pops do sanitized versions of many pop songs. Yes, Mini Pops are still around. Also, Glee versions are a bit "cleaner" too.
What do you listen to with your children? Do you have suggestions of your own?
No comments:
Post a Comment