Bookstart Rhymetimes Development project
Bookstart Rhymetimes - installing music and books at the heart of the parent and child relationship at home, raising the awareness of the links between sharing songs, rhymes and stories and the positive impact that this has on parent and child bonding, infant and parent mental health, speech, language and literacy development.
Bookstart in Scotland is pleased to announce that following the highly successful pilot Bookstart Rhymetime project, funded by the Scottish Arts Council and Bookstart in Scotland in 2007/08, we will be working in partnership with the Scottish Arts Council’s Youth Music Initiative (YMI), who are investing a further £149,000 to roll out the project to a further eight local authorities in Scotland.
We are looking for eight local authorities and their partner health boards to become involved and to showcase their forward thinking approach towards the impact music, rhymes and books can have on children’s development and on parental skills.
By being involved you would have the opportunity to provide your staff with free training and mentoring with some of the country’s leading music and early years educationalists, to aid them in providing the highest quality Bookstart Rhymetime sessions for families within your authority.
If you are interested in applying to take part in the training programme, please click here for a short application form.
This should be returned to rosalyn.mcglynn@booktrust.org.uk by Friday 29th of August 2008.
Background
Bookstart Rhymetime sessions have been a great success in many authorities in Scotland since they were introduced as an extension of the Bookstart scheme. These are generally being held in libraries, delivered by the local Bookstart coordinators, library assistants and health workers, amongst others, and are aimed at parents and children aged 0-3 years.
However it was not possible to provide in-depth training to all local authorities keen to run Bookstart Rhymetimes, as Bookstart Coordinators in some areas did not have the relevant musical expertise to roll-out this facility to their parents.
Therefore, in 2007, the Scottish Arts Council’s Youth Music Initiative commissioned Youth Music UK to develop the Bookstart Rhymetimes Development project with the Bookstart in Scotland programme.
Over 100 staff took part in the training and a full evaluation was undertaken under the auspices of the University of Aberdeen and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. The evaluation was overwhelmingly positive and demonstrated the large skills base that staff had developed, the improvement to local authority provision for birth to threes and the enjoyment of parents and children attending sessions.
Reasons for Local Authorities to Come on Board!
Bookstart Rhymetime sessions offer significant benefits to local authorities and their health board partners, particularly in relation to the Early Years Framework. The benefits of Bookstart Rhymetimes come at no cost to the authority, or to the end-user.
The early years are a period of rapid development and can have a major influence on the rest of a person's life. The early years provide the first and best opportunity to set children off on the right trajectory and reduce the need for later interventions that are more costly in both financial and social terms. Early Years and Early Intervention: A joint Scottish Government and COSLA policy statement, March 2008 |
Benefits
- Every child is born musical and should be given every opportunity to explore and develop his or her musical skills.
- Reading together can help the development of the child/parent relationship and of parenting skills.
- Parents/carers are the most inspiring music teacher for their child. The home is the perfect place for learning.
- By working together, Bookstart and the Scottish Arts Council are providing a stronger and more coherent understanding of the joint developmental benefits of books and music for babies.
- Music making for early years is currently under resourced in Scotland, with a lack of suitably trained practitioners to deliver programmes.
See the Nation Youth Music Strategy (Scottish Arts Council, 2006)
- Involving 0-5 year olds in music-making activities improves children’s personal and social development and has positive effects on their numeric and communication skills.
See Turning Their Ears On (Youth Music 2006)
- Prior to this project, there was little support or training available for Bookstart Rhymetime deliverers in Scotland.
Funding
- £149,000 has been awarded by the Scottish Arts Council Youth Music Initiative
- £52,836 has been awarded by Bookstart (Scottish Government)
Important documents
Where are my nearest Rhymetime sessions? Type in your postcode in our Event Calendar to find your local Rhymetime event. |  |
Rhymetime sessions are fun and free sessions for parents and babies that combine books, rhymes, singing and movement to engage and enliven babies and parents.
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