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<< back to Early Education/Cognitive Development “Let’s Sing It Again: How Music Fosters Learning for Children” Consider for a moment why music is important to young children. Harvard educational theorist Howard Gardner identified "musical intelligence" as the earliest of the seven identifiable "multiple intelligences," innate strengths of children. Young children make up chants and melodies and move rhythmically to a beat in the course of their play. We can actually see singers and teachers convey joy as they sing with children. What is not so obvious is that teacher-musicians are fostering critical and complex developmental skills as they integrate music into an early childhood curriculum. Recollection of songs is an advanced information retrieval process by which the brain selects and groups information and recalls it for use by the child. Auditory discrimination is a cognitive skill fostered as children listen carefully to different pitches, rhythms and instruments. Children coordinate many senses as they learn new melodies, words and hand/body movements. Appropriate musical experiences Appropriate musical experiences for children take into consideration children's developmental levels. Such two year old activities as stepping in place, patting, laughing and focusing for limited periods of time all translate into rich musical activities at group time. Twos particularly enjoy action songs and moving to music. They learn short, simple songs with short, simple directions. They love experimenting with sound and instruments and are fascinated by turntables (remember?). Three year olds like to jump and walk to music. With their increasing self regulation skills they can listen for longer periods of time and follow directions using their bodies. As their language develops they become aware of words and humor in songs. Comparisons between fast/slow, loud/soft, falling/rising challenge children of this age. As children develop skills necessary for delayed gratification they can await their turns at adding to a group song. Songwriter Tom Hunter's "Rainbow Round Me" is an example of a song in which children "fill in the blank" with their ideas, a task that engages the creative process. "Old McDonald Had A Farm," in which children offer their own ideas for the animal, is another example of a musical experience in which children's own ideas are at the core of the song. Four and five year olds, whose language is developing rapidly, especially love rhyme. Singing fosters at least two early literacy skills: rhyme and predictability. Fours and fives are curious about how musical sounds are produced. With their well-developed small motor dexterity, fours and fives can construct rhythm and string instruments. When a child who has already constructed his own drum or guitar from cardboard, rubber bands and other recyclables, sees a real drum or guitar, he can make connections between his and the adult-made instrument. He has a deep understanding of what makes the instrument musical, because he has explored the mechanics of what produces the sound. For six and seven year olds who are beginning to read, music fosters memory and vocabulary, because music exercises both the right and left side of the brain. The right hemisphere of the brain contains musical memory; the left hemisphere initiates vocabulary. In the process of singing as in reading, both hemispheres are used, and the particulars become part of the whole. For eight year olds, music aids mathematical reasoning, particularly in the areas of linear and vertical decoding of information. And for high school students, musical instruction has been shown to be associated with higher SAT scores, regardless of socio-economic backgrounds of students. In addition to language and literacy, mathematical reasoning, and small and large motor skills, music fosters a more abstract concept-a sense of community. Children's singing creates a sense of group, where everyone's participation is valued. Moreover, as children listen to and sing a variety of ethnic music with various rhythms, instruments and languages, children develop an appreciation for the cultural diversity of the world. Music plays a valuable role in fostering learning for young children--and it's fun, too.! |
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