Grammy read a couple of CCS Rhythm Storybooks (with rhythm syllables) to the three older grandchildren. She then declared that she was going to write music. She pulled out a piece of staff paper, decided out loud that she would write a story in duple meter, chanted 4 bars in rhythm syllables, writing while chanting, and then read out loud what she had written—all with the children watching. She did the same with another 4 bars and then read the whole "story" she had written. She then gave each of the children a piece of staff paper, inviting them to write a story in duple meter.
Each child took pencil to paper, but proceeded quite differently from each other. Grandchild #1, 4 years, 11 months, had become aware that noteheads were circles rather than the slashes Grammy used to notate her story, so his first attempts at writing rhythm reflected this awareness. His deliberate writing produced very few notes, but he proudly "read what he had written” by chanting in duple meter whatever was on his musical mind, just as a four year old might "write" and "read" an original "story" in words. Grandchild #2, 4 years, 1 month, was not nearly so confident about her music writing, but made an attempt to write and “read” what she had written. Grandchild #3, 2 years, 2 months, enthusiastically “wrote” line after line of squiggles, chanting in syllables in duple meter throughout at least two pages of staff paper, impressing even his older brother! The two year old then proudly “read” his “story” to Mommy, chanting in duple meter.
Children repeatedly witness adults writing a shopping list, addressing a card, or writing a note or letter. A child imitates, scribbling on paper and "reading" what he has written. His scribbles don't necessarily look like distinct characters in language or music, but the child is demonstrating his understanding that knowing, whether in language or music, can be represented on paper, and that his marks on a page have meaning.
