It’s Up to Me is from our collection of music that builds confidence in children.

If you were to visit my preschool classroom, you would hear children singing this song several times during the day. We use it as a cue that it is time for us to plan our work and day. The High Scope curriculum that we use encourages children to plan their work, do their work and then review or reflect on what they have done for the day.

We began using this song at the beginning of the school year and I have watched in amazement, as we teachers usually do, how the children have internalized the key message of this song. At the beginning of the year the children started by bebopping to the music and singing the chorus, “What to choose, What to choose, what to choose.” Now that the school year has progressed, they can sing the entire song and constantly reference the key message of the song in their daily activities. 

Recently I overheard this conversation in the library area where two children were deciding on a book to read for story time. The older of the children said, “Well you choose- it’s up to you.”

The younger child stopped and looked at the other child and said, “Like our song we listen to during planning time, ‘What to choose, what to wear, what to be.’ I choose the book for me.”  The little boy was quite delighted with the rhyme he made and very confidently chose a book, brought it to our together time square and announced, “I chose this book because I like dinosaurs and when I grow up I will be one!” 

Research shows that as a child grows in awareness, his developing self-confidence reflects his positive interactions with his environment and his growing trust in both others and himself. These confident children grow up to be adults who make a difference in their communities.

“What to wear, what to wear, what to wear?” 

Self-confidence is a beautiful accessory to any child. My little guy will probably not grow up to be a dinosaur but he already has a belief in his/her own abilities and has the confidence to be whatever he wants to be.

“What to be, what to be, what to be
What could be my dream come true?
To make a choice I think it through
I use my voice, I make my choice
What’s it gonna be? It’s up to me”

-Sharon Boh

Sharon Boh is a certified Montessori pre-primary teacher and a Master Teacher at Children, Inc. She holds a CDA national credential and an Associates Degree in Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education. Sharon is also a Devereux Local Program Mentor, specializing in building social-emotional resilience in young children. She recently earned her Kentucky Trainer’s Credential from UK’s Training into Practice Project.