Mother’s songs in daycare for babies

This chapter was initially submitted as a research report to The Froebel Trust, which funded the study. The report was peer reviewed and approved for publication by the members of the Froebel Research Committee. The chapter appears in slightly modified form in The Routledge International Handbook of Froebel and Early Childhood Practice: Re-articulating Research and Policy (Bruce et al, eds.) The chapter describes and reflects on a research and development project, which sought to introduce baby room practitioners who work in English Early Years settings to Froebel's philosophy and his 'Mother Songs' and to explore these practitioners' views about the role and place of singing within their infant and toddler pedagogies.

The study suggested links between singing and the 'performance of care' and the infrequency of use of singing (lullabies in particular) as a means to support the development of professional intimacy in carer-baby relationships. Connections are made to constructs of professional practice in contemporary policy and to the stated purposes of singing in the current curriculum for children from birth to five.