Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School social currency - popular music

awesome - I just overheard some of the girls talking about Katy Perry and had a freak out! I'm all chilled now.

To be honest I could do without then knowing some of the songs they learn at schoolbut it is not that big a deal. I am just not the soet of person who has music on at home so they don't hear much.

I feel the same way.

No! You have a golden opportunity to help her develop her ear and hone her own good musical taste. Please, don't encourage her to listen to Katy Perry or other shrieking tarts. There is no redeeming value--either in terms of musicality or content-- to the over-produced, hyper-sexualized tweenie-bopper genre. Let her be a trendsetter by developing her own unique style. At that age, kids listen to what their parents like and will be receptive to new sounds if a friend recommends them.

Get that girl some Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra, Foo Fighters, Dream Theater, Audioslave, Piano Guys, Pentatonix, Yo-Yo Ma, Carlos Santana, Tiesto, AC/DC, etc. Sample widely across genres. Have fun!

ITA with aquinas. We played all kinds of music for ours beginning from when they were in utero (not on purpose; it's just what we like). #1 was probably the only 4 yo in preschool who liked prog rock and could sing a blues note...and now #1 code-switches easily. Pop music is rather unavoidable, but the range of quality music from across genres needs more deliberate exposure at home. It's a bit like learning the majority language; children raised in it will become conversant in it one way or the other, but if you don't protect the home language, it's highly likely to be lost.

Ha...

DD taught her kindergarten class the lyrics to "I Wanna be Sedated" last year (which she had learned to play on the piano)... and the other kids actually loved it... her teacher was less happy.

She translated the lyrics to Bastille's "Pompeii" into Spanish and sang it incessantly. Her favorite bands are the Beatles, Of Monsters and Men, the Clash, Spoon, Neutral Milk Hotel, Katy Perry, and Shakira. So yeah. It's a mix.

She has invented a game called "Punk or Funk" that she plays with her friends where she quizzes them about the genre of songs that she puts on during playdates.

I met her mother when both of us were working in radio... so...

The Beatles, yes! Don't forget them!

I mean, we don't ever listen to commercial radio here, because we hate it, but DD is free to listen to it on her MP3 player (it has a radio) if she wants to. You don't want to be that parent who forbids The Popular Music, IMO. We have music on a lot of the time and the kids have developed interests and preferences, DD in particular. Her very cool music teacher says she has the best taste of any her students. (excuse me while I kvell)

Anyway, what I was going to say is that music is kind of a non-issue at this age but you might want to make sure she's seen Frozen, etc and the standard popular movies. It might be good to have some vague familiarity with popular iPad games, too. I mean, if this kind of thing concerns you. We try to make sure the kids know about some of this stuff so they're not just totally off in our own personal family nerdworld at all times. Of course, we still don't have cable.

+1

Most kids around that age do not know how to talk music. I wouldn't worry about your DD standing out in a negative way because she likes classical music or pop music from a different era.

From what I've seen, social currencies in K/1 are movies (and its soundtrack so that's where music sort of comes in but not really), TV shows, and iPad games. LEGO and Minecraft tend to kick in around age 8.

Generally speaking, 5/6 year olds don't have in-depth discussions or form cliques based on social or cultural identities. DD has a friend who is a huge fan of Disney princesses. DD loves Frozen but she doesn't like or really know other princesses. Nevertheless, they still manage to play all day long together and the difference in their taste has never been an issue.

I wouldn't say music particularly matters either, at least not till kids are older. Among older (maybe 4th/5th grade, middle school, etc) kids, there is actually a subset of kids to whom Piano Guys are very much a thing. No one would listen to the classical music station or anything, but definitely a step up from Lady Gaga-type.