EXPOSE YOUR KID TO MUSIC AT ANY AGE- IT IS PIVOTAL
Singing and music play an important role in our culture. You’ll find music present in many aspects of our lives: theater, television, movies, worship, holidays, celebrations, and government and military ceremonies. At home, music can become part of our family cultures—a natural part of our everyday experiences.
From birth, parents instinctively use music to calm and soothe children, to express love and joy, and to engage and interact. Parents can build on these natural instincts by learning how music can impact child development, improve social skills, and benefit children of all ages.
It was not long ago that music education in schools was thought to be a luxury, and music classes were cut from the curriculum to make room for more time to prepare for standardized tests. Currently, there is more and more information available that shows how crucial music integration is to creating well-rounded, well-prepared learners and leaders.
Math and Music? Never disconnect one form the other.
According to Saloni, Shah. (2010) “music theorists, like experts in other disciplines, use mathematics to develop, express and communicate their ideas. Mathematics can describe many phenomena and concepts in music. Mathematics explains how strings vibrate at certain frequencies, and sound waves are used to describe these mathematical frequencies.”
More here about Dr. Saloni’s Study
Music and Brain’s development?
In the two-year study by researchers at the Brain and Creativity Institute (BCI) at the University of Southern California shows that exposure to music and music instruction accelerates the brain development of young children in the areas responsible for language development, sound, reading skill and speech perception.
More here about BCI’s Brain and Music Program
The study of 6-7-year-old children began in 2012, when neuroscientists started monitoring a group of 37 children from an underprivileged neighborhood of Los Angeles. Thirteen of them received music instruction through the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles Program where they practiced up to seven hours each week.
Eleven children were enrolled in a community-based soccer program and another 13 children were not involved in any training program at all.
The researchers compared the three groups by tracking the electrical activity in the brains, conducting behavioral testing and monitored changes using brain scans.
The results showed that the auditory systems of the children in the music program had accelerated faster than the other children not engaged in music. Dr. Assal Habibi, the lead author of the study and a senior research associate at the BCI, explained that the auditory system is stimulated by music and the system is also engaged in general sound processing. This is essential to reading skills, language development and successful communication.
Counting, rhythm, scales, intervals, patterns, symbols, harmonies, time signatures, overtones, tone, pitch. The notations of composers and sounds made by musicians are connected to mathematics. The next time you hear or play classical, rock, folk, religious, ceremonial, jazz, opera, pop, or contemporary types of music, think of what mathematics and music have in common and how mathematics is used to create the music you enjoy. Thinks as well how your brain is processing the experience. Think about the powerful of music in your child’s brain and executive functions. THINK IN YOUR CHILD AND THE FUTUIRE
Maria E. Ruiz-Merroth, M.Ed
