Engaging Latinx parents in their children’s learning through music during their first few years of life is the primary focus of Desde el Principio (from the beginning), a project developed by the Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS) and the School of Music, which recently was awarded a $12,050 Collaborative Centers Grant through the Global Arts + Humanities.
It is widely known that music plays a significant role in identity and ethnicity from a very young age. Listening and interacting with music captures the attention of young children, improves empathy, cooperation and reading skills and leads to positive socioemotional outcomes, while at the same time decreasing parents’ stress levels and improving understanding of their children’s needs.
With 117,000 Latinx children enrolled in Ohio’s K-12 public schools, many face early challenges due to parental immigration status, socioeconomic hardship, language barriers, and unfamiliarity with the U.S. education system. These factors often limit parental engagement in their children’s learning.
This project, led by Eugenia Costa-Giomi, professor of Music Education, and Leila Vieira, assistant director of CLAS, hopes to change that dynamic by offering in-person and on-line infant music classes designed to celebrate the culture of Latin America, support the musical development of infants to 36 months of age, and empower parents to actively shape the musical and cultural environment of their young children. The classes, offered through the Ohio State Community Music School, will be held during the summer of 2025 and provide participating parents with the tools and resources to integrate culturally relevant songs, rhymes, and children’s music games into their daily family routines; initiate and sustain music interactions with their infants; observe, describe, and modify their child’s musical and nonmusical behaviors; and validate their music knowledge and experiences by sharing them with their children and other parents.
“There are limited resources in Columbus accessible for families with infants as current community programs are designed for young children rather than infants and toddlers,” Vieira said. “The importance of the first two years of life in children’s development and the unique needs of parents with infants make this program valuable for the community.”
Two groups of up to 12 Latinx parent-child dyads or families with children 0 to 36-months-old will participate in Desde el Principio. Each group will meet for 50 minutes weekly for six weeks during the summer. These classes will be taught by Natalia Moreno, a graduate student in Music Education in the School of Music.
The program will provide resources for structured and unstructured music-making at home, encourage creative and improvisational activities, facilitate social music interactions, and create a supportive community for music learning. Parents will receive materials to take home to facilitate music engagement with their children.
The online class will register up to 20 Latinx parent-child dyads. Like the in-person option, this group will meet weekly for six weeks during the summer, but each meeting will last 30 minutes. An additional 20 minutes of optional music and talk time will follow each weekly meeting to allow for spontaneous and guided individual and communal exchanges.
The development of a robust infant music program will also have an impact on Ohio State students. “Music education students’ involvement in the program through observations and teaching will provide them with first-hand experience – and state required field experience hours – with a population that is not currently part of the pre-K-12 curriculum or teacher training curriculum,” Costa-Giomi said.
“We envision creating a service course in the future centered on Desde el Principio to promote music and cultural engagement in infancy open to students in music education, early childhood education, Latin American Studies, and those in related disciplines such as social work, nursing, Spanish and Portuguese.”
The materials developed for Desde el Principio will be curated and available to educators on the Latin-American Music Integration and Educational Enhancement website.
Families interested in participating may contact communitymusicschool@osu.edu or clas@osu.edu.