What is it about a piece of music that can magically transport you back to a time and place? Tonight a new TV advert came on – the product for which I very frustratingly can not remember – however I can remember that this song featured on my wedding day and more prominently on the DVD for my wedding. I just have to hear the opening bars and I’m transported back to that time and place. I can feel and hear everything as if it was only yesterday (not some six years ago!). I remember the people (which is a good job because I’m still married to him), the food, the weather, and the feelings and emotions. A powerful mix! But it can be the same with a smell. I only have to smell winter-spiced cinnamon and I’m reminded of America at Christmas and being in Fargo over Halloween … you get the idea – a smell, a taste, a sound, it invokes a memory…
From my days as a soft-skills author, I know this to be NLP (neuro linguistic programming) which is a technique not to be overlooked or, worse still, underestimated. It’s a useful tool for relaxation, confidence-building and indeed improving one’s brain power.
Whoops, I slipped into corporate mode there!
Anyhow the sentiment is the same. A sound, a smell, a taste, a feeling – it all has the power to take you back in time. So imagine my surprise when “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” came onto an episode of the X Factor and my youngest yells out “Bubbles!” as that’s the song I was at that time using for bubbles!! It made me realise the impact Tiny Acorns classes can have on our children. I say this not as the owner of Tiny Acorns Ltd but as a Hertfordshire Mummy of two beautiful girls. I find it delightful when they recognise something or finish the line of a song. I love it more when it’s a Tiny Acorns song obviously, but I’m equally impressed when it’s Robbie Williams or a Disney theme tune.
Take class last week – my music went onto the next song before I muted the iPod and before I knew it 20 children had hit the floor faster than I could say Dingle Dangle Scarecrow. Ironically, so did their accompanying adults!! It makes me realise that children (and adults, it seems) like repetition, they like familiarity and from this combination they like the comfort from knowing what’s coming next
Let’s be honest, as human beings we often resist change. We like to have an idea of what’s coming. So being able to remember the past, be it a memory or a feeling, we take comfort in that familiar feeling. It’s why I structure my baby, toddler and dance classes the way I do, with enough repetition and familiarity for everyone to feel comfortable and like that they know what’s coming, but with enough variety to keep everyone interested.
I do this because it comes naturally to me, because an element of NLP once it has entered your life is impossible to shift, but more importantly than this I do it because I know it works. My returning client base tells me I’m doing something right… Let’s be honest, if people didn’t like Tiny Acorns classes, would they return?
Your children respond to routine and repetition so harness this delight early on and attend Tiny Acorns classes regularly. Give them the repetition they crave, the familiarity they adore and the comfort of being in an environment they know and trust and in which they can grow, develop and mature. But don’t expect this to happen overnight. Remember this is a tool to be developed. You wouldn’t expect to learn to tap dance in one class, so give your child time to learn, trust and develop and before you know it they’ll be recognising songs and in the future hearing songs which reminds them of their happy time with Tiny Acorns.
In return I promise not to put “Dingle Dangle Scarecrow” on just to watch grown men and women hit the floor……at least, not that often!
Laura
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