This week Alexa is joined by an author, educator, presenter, and vocal coach who specialises in teaching the child singer. She is the founder of Born 2 Sing Kids and mentors other voice teachers in working with this particular demographic. Dana Lentini joins us from New York to tell you all you need to know about teaching children to sing. 
KEY TAKEAWAYS

Often it is said that kids shouldn’t take private voice lessons: Many well-intentioned experts recommend choral and group singing as the only means for children to learn singing proficiency, pushing their individual learning to instruments like piano and violin. While choral singing is a great experience for kids and offers a broad understanding of good singing techniques, what it doesn’t offer is the opportunity for singers to recognize their own uniqueness. And other instruments, while wonderful to learn, do not teach children how to become empowered with one of the most important assets they will use throughout their entire lives: their own voices.
Private voice lessons offer the young singer freedom to uncover their own personal growth and ability. And unlike other instruments, children use their voice all day every day - why not help them learn how to use it in a healthy manner, with techniques designed just for their age and ability? Under the guidance of a well-educated and knowledgeable vocal expert - one who understands the differences between teaching voice to a child versus an adult - these experiences can be a wonderful opportunity to explore their own range of singing possibilities.
Through a systematic, customised approach, young singers learn the foundations for a healthy singing technique that will support them throughout their lives. Born 2 Sing Kids offers a positive, nurturing environment where kids can learn to grow and express their voice.
Dana's book Teaching the Child Singer is an indispensable resource for teachers who work with kids in the voice studio. Coming soon is Level 1 of her Kids' Singing Songbook series, designed to take the guesswork out of repertoire and make learning music fun.
Research has proven that structured music lessons can positively affect all areas of child development, including higher academic performance, cognitive and memory skills, confidence, focus, self-expression, language and listening skills, task completion, enhanced creativity, and so much more.

BEST MOMENTS
‘I always want to grow and become a better version of myself’ 
‘I use lots of props in my lessons to make it fun’
‘Think about teaching as a life skill’ 
EPISODE RESOURCES 
BAST Training 
Guest Website:

www.danalentini.com 
www.born2singkids.com

Social Media: 

Instagram: @lentinidana 
Facebook: @Born2SingKids

Relevant Links & Mentions: 

Zoltán Kodály Method/John Spencer Curwen Solfege Hand Signs 
Teaching the Child Singer: Pediatric Pedagogy for Ages 5-13 by Dana Lentini: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dana-Lentini/e/B08DD7DD28/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1
Kids’ Singing Song Book Series - Level 1 by Dana Lentini: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dana-Lentini/e/B08DD7DD28/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1
Teaching Singing to Children and Young Adults by Dr Jenevora Williams: https://jenevorawilliams.com/book-and-dvd/
Teaching Children to Sing by Kenneth Phillips 
Full Voice Music (Nikki Loney): https://www.fullvoicemusic.com/
Voice Teachers for Young Singers Facebook Forum
The Full Voice Podcast with Nikki Loney 

ABOUT THE GUEST
Dana Lentini is a US-based mentor, author, presenter, and educator specialising in working with the child singer. After cultivating techniques as a singer, performer, and music educator, Dana Lentini created Born 2 Sing Kids to nurture the development of young singers through a systematic, yet customised approach. Through various forms of mentorship, she helps teachers learn about the unique differences in teaching singing to children and how to build their own successful studios. 
Dana has been sought after as a presenter for universities and profes