My husband loves music; there’s always something on in our house. His enthusiasm is contagious, and Molly has announced that “her own iPod” is on the top of her Christmas list. Which she’s started. In September.
I’ll admit I’m not crazy about the idea. I envision her wearing her ear buds all the time, tuning us out. She’s promised she won’t do that, and that she’ll still talk to us! Even at dinner time!
Listen To Your Buds , is a campaign sponsored in part by the American Speech Hearing Association (ASHA) that helps parents and teachers learn more about volume levels and portable music players. From the site I learned that kids should wear earbuds that fit outside the ear rather than the kind that you cram in your ear. There’s other good information there too, about loud noises and hearing loss and how the ear works.
What will Molly listen to? Mostly Camp Rock songs, I think. And a handful of other pop music that she’s heard — Hannah Montana, and (gasp!) a Talking Heads song she heard during Nim’s Island. At least that’s something the whole family can dance to!
Parents’ Choice released a Spring 2008 Audio Award Winning CDs
which might be a good place to start looking for music to load on an iPod, although 8 year old girls are interesting. Most days she seems to be 8 going on 15 and wouldn’t be caught dead listening to “baby CDs.” As Molly puts it: She likes “real music.”
I’m going to dig around some more and do some research on audio books for kids (I’m familiar with AudibleKids , but their prices seem high!) before making a final decision. I’ll let you know what I find out.
About the Author
Along with her background as a professor, researcher, writer, and teacher, Joanne Meier is a mom. Join Joanne as she shares her experiences raising her own young readers, and guides parents and teachers on the best practices in reading.
Publication Date
September 16, 2008