Some of my favorite services to offer are developmental music classes for babies and their caregivers.

I just love the developmental stage when babies are reaching milestones in different areas. (My little one is 5 1/2 months so we are knee deep in this stage!)

Wholesome Harmonies provides developmental music classes for babies at the Brockway Memorial Library and at various branches of the Miami-Dade Public Library System. We also provide individual developmental music classes for babies, toddlers, and their caregivers.

One of the main areas we target in our sessions is language development.

When providing sessions to little ones and their caregivers, I like to incorporate piggyback songs as much as possible. A piggyback song is one in which the words of a familiar song have been changed. I like piggyback songs for a few reasons:

• Caregivers are usually familiar with the song’s melody, and if provided with lyrics can start singing in the session right away.
• Because the melody is familiar, caregivers can sing the songs at home with their little ones which is incredibly valuable

Here are two ways I address language development using piggyback songs:

Sing bilabials to the tune of “Farmer in the Dell”
For example:
Ba ba ba ba ba ba
Ba ba ba ba ba ba
Let’s all sing together now
Ba ba ba ba ba ba

Sing bilabials to the tune of “Are You Sleeping?”
For example:
Ma ma ma ma
Ma ma ma ma
Ma ma ma, Ma ma ma
Let’s all sing together, let’s all sing together
Ma ma ma, Ma ma ma

Very simple, yet very effective.

Caregivers are able to jump right in and sing AND they are able to sing these songs at home. I sing these very songs with my little one when I’m changing her diaper, dressing her, or when we’re just hanging out enjoying each other’s company.

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