How Music Lessons Help Children
Children love to sing and make noise. Some of their earliest learning takes place through music as they sing the ABCs and "Old MacDonald." Since the Mozart Effect became popular in the 1950s, the general public consensus has been that exposure to music makes kids smarter. Recent research by Northwestern University and others shows that kids who receive musical training at an early age benefit from that instruction in a variety of ways. Even brief periods of instruction can result in lasting benefits.
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Effects on Literacy
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Children who receive formal music lessons gain an understanding of rhythm and beat that helps them become fluent readers. Singing songs enriches vocabulary and reinforces grammatical concepts, such as proper use of tense and plurality. Playing instruments and creating music strengthens children̵7;s auditory skills, which will help them differentiate between the sounds of letters and phonemes and make connections between sounds and meanings. Recognizing the subtle differences in sounds made by music helps kids recognize the subtle differences in sounds found in speech and text.
Effects on Memory
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Music stimulates brain activity and is believed to improve memory. According to Education.com, the Mozart Effect, defined in the 1950s, suggests that people who listen to Mozart (or other classical music) experience improvement in memory and increased IQ. Music is thought to stimulate the right side of the brain, while academic learning stimulates the left side of the brain; having both sides engaged may make our brains process information more efficiently, according to the University of Phoenix. Children who listen to music regularly and attempt to make it themselves may see improvements in memory.
Effects on Behavior
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Musical training requires practice, concentration and discipline, traits that are useful in other areas of learning as well. Music also reduces stress and helps people relax by reducing the amount of the stress hormone cortisone produced by the body, according to Missouri Western State University. Music comes in many forms, and there are many different options for early music education. It is important to find music lessons that your child enjoys, or the benefits of musical education will not be as pronounced.
Effects on Musical Ability
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Doctors at the University of California found that almost everyone they studied that had perfect pitch, or the ability to identify any tone they hear, started musical training as a child. They believe genetics plays a role in auditory development, but that early musical training will help hone a child's ear for sound recognition. Music combines words, numbers and movement in a unique and fun way. Kids often do not realize how much they are learning when they are learning music.
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Language development in infants who are raised in bilingual homes is not much different from language development in infants from single language homes. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association says that there are many ways in which to teach
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Children with autism commonly exhibit a number of unusual behaviors, including a variety of postures not often seen in neurotypical children. These postures include differences in hand gestures, stances and behavioral patterns. Toe Walk
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Children should be encouraged to work on their literacy skills from a very young age and as often as possible. The more they practice reading and writing, the quicker their progress is going to be. This is why it is important that, in addition to wor
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