I am a preschool teacher for the Village Preschool at Redwood Valley Rancheria. I have been a preschool teacher for about 10 years. One day this spring, a colleague of mine came into the pre-school while I was playing a Spanish song for the children. She asked me what kind of music I was playing. I told her it was Spanish music. She was surprised to know that I play Spanish music for the children. I told her I also play Native American music, Spanish music, American music, and Nursery Rhyme Songs for the children so they can learn about different cultures. She asked me if the music in general would change the behavior of the children. I told her “Yes, it would definitely change the behavior of the children.” She became interested and asked me if I would play Chinese music. I told her “Yes, I would.”

A few days later, she brought a Chinese music tape for me to play for the children. After I played the tape, I noticed that the children started to behave differently! One early morning, I played the tape as the children arrived. When the children came into the classroom, they sat down very quietly and the whole morning went peacefully as we did our morning activities. That morning we accomplished a lot. We did coloring, puzzles, and morning worksheets in a very nice atmosphere.

I also have 3 children who usually came into the classroom yelling and running with lots of energy. But, they slowed down when I played the Chinese tape and had a lot more work done for that morning. The music has changed children's overactive play to calm play.

The Chinese music that I have is very soothing and different so the children picked up on it very quickly. They even asked me what kind of music it was! One girl said it sounds pretty. One of my little active boys became calm when I said to him, “Listen to the beautiful Chinese music, the music is singing to you….”

Different types of music have different effects on the children's mood. One day I was playing some fast songs called Preschool Songs for Fun. When the music was on, the children went wild! We lost control of the whole group and I had to dance with them in order to regain control. It took them at least 30 minutes to calm down. We had to go outside to play and come back into the classroom in order to start all over again. I learned that this tape is not suitable to play in the early morning. I can only play it when it is raining outside so they can dance and move around inside the classroom. But, when the weather is nice, I play more calming music like the Chinese music or Native American music.

One day, I wanted to see what would happen if I didn't play any music when the children arrived. Surprisingly, the first child who arrived in the classroom said to me “ Teacher! You forgot to put the music on!”

Now, I don't play some of the children's music that I used to play. I only play four of my favorite tapes that sound soothing. These are Native American music, Spanish music, instrumental music, and Chinese music.

I have shared my experiences with other childcare providers about how the Chinese music made a difference in the children's behavior. If you choose the right kind of music, it will help children stay focused on what they are doing.

I don't know the name of the Chinese tape or what they are singing about. I only tell the kids that it is Chinese music when they ask. The kids enjoy it as much as I do. [Editor's note: It is a tape sung by children, called “wu hui nian fo” or Five Assemblies Recitation of the Buddha's Name, available at the CTTB Bookstore.]