Making School Readiness Fun: How Music Can Help Your Child Thrive
If your little one is preparing to start school, you’re probably thinking: Are they ready? It’s a big step, but the good news is, there’s a fun, easy, and powerful way to help your child feel confident and prepared: music!
At Boogie Mites, we’ve spent over 20 years supporting children through the transition to school. Time and again, Reception teachers tell us how much of a difference our music programmes make in boosting school readiness, and how much the children love it.
Why Music Works
Music isn’t just fun (although it really is!) – it helps your child build essential skills for school success:
- Attention and listening skills
- Group skills
- Language and vocabulary
- Self-regulation
- Maths foundations
- Gross and fine motor skills
- Pre-Literacy skills
And the best part? These skills are all wrapped up in engaging, high-energy music sessions that get everyone moving, laughing, and learning together.
Boogie Mites Secret Sauce: The ABCD of Do-Re-Mi
We use our ABCD Music Methodology to supercharge early learning through music. Here’s how it works:
A = Active Attention
Young children learn best when they’re having fun, especially when the grown-ups around them are having fun too! Our original Boogie Mites songs cover a range of musical styles and themes that capture both children’s and adults’ attention.
From dancing with scarves to shaking homemade shakers, we keep every session active and exciting. No need to buy fancy instruments, we encourage families to make their own props at home using recycled materials. Children love using what they’ve made themselves!
The patterns and sequences of Boogie Mites music provide a calming and rewarding activity, satisfying the brains drive for predicting what comes next. As the songs become familiar, they hold attention for longer, promoting a joyful environment for learning together.
By holding their attention in these joyful moments, we naturally boost language and communication skills.
B = Brain Boost
Music fuels brain development. Approximately 80% of children’s early brain development is stimulated via the ear, so we need to consider how to optimise the sound environment that we provide for children. Neuroscience evidence tells us that regular involvement in music making activities ‘hit the jackpot’ when it comes to developing sound processing, impacting cross brain development of memory, attention, social/emotional skills, cognition, sensory integration and motor responses.
Boogie Mites’ rich and varied range of music activities are all underpinned by a strong steady beat (hence the tag line: Can You Feel The Beat?); they provide the content for their tried and tested music session format. Every Boogie Mites session includes a range of sound experiences, varying pitch, tempo, dynamics, timbre, lots of movement, sequencing of actions and words, making sounds and singing, percussion instruments, rhythm and rhyme, role play and expressive gestures.
Music activates the brain’s “magic triangle”, connecting auditory processing, movement, and visual processing – key elements in learning to read, write, and problem-solve.
C = Community Cohesion
Music brings people together. Singing and moving in time with others builds bonds, trust, and joy. Group music-making releases feel-good chemicals like dopamine and serotonin, helping children (and adults!) feel relaxed, happy, and connected.
We love seeing how music crosses barriers too. Parents who don’t speak English as a first language often find themselves singing, smiling, and connecting with others by the end of a Boogie Mites session. It’s magical.
D = Daily Dose
You don’t need to be a musician to help your child grow through music. You just need to join in! Children love hearing your voice, seeing you move, and sharing the moment with you.
That’s why we encourage parents to make music part of everyday life. Sing in the kitchen. Dance in the living room. Shake your homemade instruments while tidying up!
To make it super easy, we offer digital music packs with fun, themed songs and video guides to support music time at home. They’re low-cost, simple to use, and a great way to turn screen time into meaningful, educational fun. Explore the collection here: Parent Music Resources
Try It Free – FREE Song – Let’s Tap A Word
Boogie Mites are sharing FREE access to an original song which supports key skills for school readiness. including:
- Listening and attention
- Speech rhythm and pronunciation
- Vocabulary growth
- Motor coordination
- Group participation and turn-taking
All of these feed into strong communication, which is a big focus in Early Years education, plus, it supports early phonics outlined in Letters & Sounds Phase One and links beautifully with the Boogie Mites School Ready Programme. It’s fun, it’s easy to follow, and you don’t need to be a trained musician to take part.
Parents can sign up to access the Boogie Mites Let’s Tap A Word song completely FREE here: https://ex246.infusionsoft.com/app/form/lets-tapa-word
Boogie Mites Parent School Ready Programme
Boogie Mites School Ready music programme is designed for parents to support school ready language and listening development, linking to Phase 1 phonics activities.
This digital programme contains:
- 18 fabulous digital songs based on well loved themes – such as jungle animals, under the sea and food – for all the family to enjoy together.
- A video of each song with the instructor sharing ideas on how to get the most from the music activity.
- Practical ideas for getting the most out of each song to support listening skills and language development.
- Lyrics for every song.
The School Ready programme has been developed for use by parents and their pre-school children aged 3 to 5 years. It provides a home link programme to support early literacy development activities followed in Early Years Foundation Stage settings.
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