Sounds of Intent in the Early Years explores the musical development of children from birth to five years of age. Observational evidence has been utilised together with key literature on musical development and core concepts of zygonic theory (Ockelford, 2013) to investigate the applicability of the original Sounds of Intent framework of musical development, intended for children and young people with learning difficulties, as an assessment model for all children in the early years. One hundred and twenty five observations of 58 children (aged 10 weeks to five years) engaging with music were taken in the form of video recordings over a six-month period within an early years children’s centre. These observations were analysed using the original Sounds of Intent framework to determine whether the types and levels of engagement with music could be framed within the existing model and to identify areas of potential mismatch. A preliminary framework has been designed from which practitioners and parents can gauge their children’s level of musical development in order to support them effectively.
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