Information » Articles
Welcome to our Reading Room. Here you will find some interesting articles about the many benefits of using and teaching music in early childhood education.
By Rene de Monchy MD, Psychiatrist
The relationship between music and movement has been observed probably as long as the human being walked on this earth. It only takes us to look at (almost) any child and their natural reaction to the sound of music, in which movement follows the perception of music practically immediately.
And for the normal development of the child it is of paramount importance.
This simple but essential human phenomenon of "movement on music" finds its expression in the many dances of every culture in the world; and in artistic forms in ballet, eurythmy etc, Increasingly it is also acknowledged and developed as an important therapeutic tool.
But how and why does the hearing of music lead to movement?
The relationship between music participation in childhood and the later development of mathematical abilities has been known for a considerable time.
Clarifying and researching the neuro-physiological pathways of the relationship between music, the brain and movement is only in its infancy, yet showing promising results. New brain-imaging techniques indicate a distributed neural pathway comprising locally specialized cortical areas, both receptive and expressive, which are involved in these processes.
Therefore there is an increasing body of knowledge underpinning the beneficial effects of active participation in music and movement in childhood on the healthy and balanced development of the human being.
Endeavours and initiatives like Kids Music Company strive to achieve exactly that ideal of balance.
by LC Edwards, KM Bayless, ME Ramsey
See www.education.com/reference/article/four-important-reasons-including-music/
by Janet Channon, Director Kids Music Company Ltd (Higher Dip Tchg, Grad Dip Orff Schulwerk (Melb), ANCOS Orff Level 4 Teachers Cert. (Australia)
The following article was published in "Tomorrow's Schools" magazine for NZ primary schools in 2004.
In an age when there are so many pressures on teachers to teach a variety of subjects to children, music is often pushed to the side and seen as not important. How can we be so far from the truth? I challenge any teacher to find another subject that teaches coordination, language, concentration, confidence, team skills, tolerance and understanding of other people and other cultures, while
developing mechanical and artistic sections of the brain at the same time. When subjects are being cut and budgets trimmed we often ask "What should we leave out?" The answer is: not music.
Music is important to be taught for music's sake, as an art form and a form of expression. Music is the statement of the culture of a country or of a generation, it is a means of expressing joy, excitement, praise, love or sorrow. To truly understand what it means to be human, every child needs the opportunity to be involved in musical activities.
Beyond this, music is a medium for a whole host of other learning. When a child is very young musical activities involve him in group activities where he learns to take turns, share, offer creative suggestions for actions or rhythms, and accept the ideas of others. Children learn to coordinate their hands, feet and bodies in actions that are not normally part of everyday life but develop extensive connections across the brain. When a child walks around the room, in time with the music and playing a drum he is engaged in a wide variety of activities: He listens to the music and coordinates his walking in time with the music; he plays his drum with his hands while coordinating his feet; he develops his spatial awareness by walking in free space through other people in the group who are also moving; he sings, using his ears to aid him in tuning his voice to match the song; he develops his memory by learning the sequence of events in the song (for example the drum plays verse one, then the shaker plays verse two); he develops his linguistic capabilities by learning the words, with the aid of the rhyme and rhythm; he develops social skills by moving with the group and sharing the space where no specific person has "right of way" and all must move without colliding with another. All this, from enjoying a simple song.
Once older, children start to build on the skills developed in early childhood and begin to play instruments together, in ensemble. Playing a musical instrument uses more parts of the brain at one time than virtually any other activity. For example a pianist will coordinate left and right hands in a physical workout of different movements in different directions, performed simultaneously; he will read notes written vertically on a score and translate them to a horizontal position on a keyboard; he will read the music before it is played, store it in the memory to play it a few seconds later in real time, while still reading ahead to the next few bars; he will listen to what he is playing and keep in time with the rest of the ensemble; he will feel the beat and divide it into fractions to create rhythms; he will add elements of interpretation to develop feeling and expression; all this, often in front of an audience while gaining confidence and the ability to perform under pressure. I have lost count of how many possible brain functions are being performed at one time.
There is a lot of research into the value of children's involvement in music pursuits and the subsequent flow on into other critical areas of a child's development. A leaflet published by the Australian Music Association lists them, with supporting research references, as:
The Australian Music Association goes on to say: "Research studies show music achievement and academic achievement go together at all stages in schools. Schools with strong music programmes notice these substantial positive effects on other academic performance and on social behaviour."
As adults we owe it to our children to involve them in musical activities. We are doing them a great injustice if we don't.