Music is a Natural Link to Children's Growth and Development
Date :
Monday, August 30 2010
Source:
Autourina Mains
We may not realize it but music plays a tremendous role in our daily lives. Music exists everywhere we go…in grocery stores, shopping malls, elevators, restaurants, movies, clubs, churches, etc. Music is used to calm and relax as well as alert and arouse the senses. It puts us in the mood…..when you hear holiday music it takes you back to your favorite holiday and puts you in the “Holiday mood”. Music inspires us, motivates us (when cleaning house or exercising) and creates bonds (father, daughter song). Beyond these, music helps with cognitive growth and development. Numerous research has been done on the affects of music in early childhood and the results show that music works on all domains of development; social/emotional, physical, and cognitive.
Preschoolers love music because it allows them to express themselves and brings out their creativity. Put on some classical music and watch the little ones move freely to it. They love to sing and dance and sway to music. Classical music has been shown to have almost magical affects on putting the brain in a relaxed state also known as the alpha state. When the brain is in this relaxed state, optimal learning happens. I often play classical music during free play because that is the time my preschoolers are learning the most. Early childhood research has linked music to improved memory, improved reading and math skills.
Children will learn anything that is put to music. You want the preschoolers to learn days of the week or months of the year then put it to music. As a matter of fact many advertising agencies write simple jingles to help folks remember their products. I am sure many of you have heard the simple jingles like “Credit Report, Folgers in Your Cup…etc”. Early childhood professional use simple songs and rhymes as a teaching tool. Children learn body parts through music (the “Hokey Pokey song”. They learn the alphabet when they learn to sing the ABC song. My preschoolers love to sing “One Two, Buckle Your Shoe…” which teaches them math concepts.
My favorite book to read/sing to the little ones is “Do Your Ears Hang Low” and a little guy I had in preschool loved it too. All I had to do was say “Hey Joey….Do Your Ears Hang Low….” And he jumped up and down with excitement and helped me finish the song. No matter where I saw him, all I had to do was start the song and he lit up like a fire fly and carried on the song… that was our song and it had helped us bond. My youngest daughter and I had a special song as well. After we dropped off her older siblings at school, I sang “You and me and me and you no matter how they toss the dice it’ll always be the only ne for me is you and you for me so happy together……” She is twenty years old now and still sings that song to me every now and then. Music does have an almost supernatural way of bonding two people (which falls under social/emotional development).
Preschoolers really enjoy playing musical instruments as well. I have a hard time with very loud noises or loud music indoors so I take all my musical instruments outside. They can be as loud as they want outside and truly enjoy playing and exploring their instruments. Simple instruments such as the kazoo, harmonica, tambourines, symbols, recorders are easy instruments to introduce to preschoolers since they cannot read music yet. I had a little guy one year that built his own drum set out of card board boxes. He had a couple of painting sticks he used to play his drums….what an imagination. That took a lot of creativity on his part.
Music is not only enjoyable for your preschoolers but research tells us that it truly is beneficial and instrumental in their growth and development. It helps develop their math, language, and cognitive skills. Many speech/language therapists realize the important role music plays (especially classical music) in language development:
• It teaches listening skills
• Has structure and rules (like language)
• Rhythm and rhyme
• Makes connections to improve memory
• Improves math and reasoning skills
So take time to enjoy music with your preschoolers because you are helping them develop skills necessary for present and future academic success and you are building lifelong bonds with them.