My kids' school, Patterson, has piloted a music program this year that has K-6 graders in music twice a week and 4-6 graders in band or orchestra AND choir. They're classes and not pull-out sessions. When I heard about it I was ecstatic! They provide scholarships and work with a lending program to help with instruments. This video explains why I'd be devastated if they didn't continue the program. What would the U.S. look like in 30 years if this whole generation of elementary school kids got a music education?
She talks about how music stimulates and uses 3 areas of the brain simultaneously and how the bridge between both hemispheres is thickened. How newborns use their music areas of the brain when listening to mom's voice, concluding that humans are musical from birth, and the music therefore just needs to be nurtured to develop a talented musician. She talks about how children who have a music education do well in school and have many opportunities for careers later in life. She talks about how much more beneficial it is when the children get the education before they're 7 years old.
The video is about 17 minutes long, but it's a great reinforcer that music education is essential for all children. I love how she has summarized all the research from the last 20 years. Such good stuff!
Showing posts with label benefits of music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label benefits of music. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Monday, October 22, 2012
Let's Play Music with Kristi Ison: 10 Ten Reasons for Learning Primary Chords
Miss Kristi in East Mesa, published a list of Top Ten Reasons for Learning Primary Chords on her blog!
Let's Play Music with Kristi Ison: 10 Ten Reasons for Learning Primary Chords: Red , Yellow and Blue .
She says:
In Let's Play Music, each of the primary chords gets assigned their own color. This greatly helps our young students learn these all-important chords without having to go into explanations of I, IV, and V or tonic, dominant and sub-dominant. We put a lot of emphasis on recognizing, playing, singing, and understanding these chords in all their forms.
WHY is this?
I have a list of Top 10 Reasons!
I give credit for these to Dave Meadows, a Let's Play Music teacher in Phoenix.
Let's Play Music with Kristi Ison: 10 Ten Reasons for Learning Primary Chords: Red , Yellow and Blue .
She says:
In Let's Play Music, each of the primary chords gets assigned their own color. This greatly helps our young students learn these all-important chords without having to go into explanations of I, IV, and V or tonic, dominant and sub-dominant. We put a lot of emphasis on recognizing, playing, singing, and understanding these chords in all their forms.
WHY is this?
I have a list of Top 10 Reasons!
I give credit for these to Dave Meadows, a Let's Play Music teacher in Phoenix.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Music and Your Toddler or Preschooler (ages 1-3)
Children learn by moving! Music bonds parent to child! And lessons can "increase brain power"! This article from babycenter.com talks about the benefits of music on children between the ages of 1 and 3. It mentions what types of music are especially beneficial, and whether learning an instrument is beneficial.
Music helps you bond with your child, too. It'll move you to dance a jig or belt out a tune, much to the thrill of your little one. Imagine the joy you'll share swaying to the beat of a lovely melody (try Stevie Wonder's "You Are the Sunshine of My Life"). Or how much fun he'll have jumping with you in an energetic musical number ("The Chicken Dance" will leave you rolling on the floor with laughter).
How can listening to music benefit my child?
Toddlers and preschoolers have lots to gain from listening to music. It's fun, for one thing, and it also encourages movement, which is important for young children who are perfecting their motor skills. "Kids learn through movement," says Rosalie Pratt, a professor of music medicine at Brigham Young University. "When you see them at play, they're not talking, they're moving. This is how they pick things up."Music helps you bond with your child, too. It'll move you to dance a jig or belt out a tune, much to the thrill of your little one. Imagine the joy you'll share swaying to the beat of a lovely melody (try Stevie Wonder's "You Are the Sunshine of My Life"). Or how much fun he'll have jumping with you in an energetic musical number ("The Chicken Dance" will leave you rolling on the floor with laughter).
Find more information on this great program here.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Hand-Clapping Songs Improve Motor and Cognitive Skills
Remember those hand-clapping songs you played on the playground? Well, they show up at just the right time in a child's development in emotional, sociological, physiological and cognitive areas. Here's a cute one I remember doing in about 3rd grade.
http://esciencenews.com/articles/2010/04/28/ben.gurion.u.research.confirms.hand.clapping.songs.improve.motor.and.cognitive.skills?=
Hand-Clapping Songs Improve Motor and Cognitive Skills
A university in Israel conducted studies of hand-clapping songs which revealed a link between those activities and cognitive skills development in children, young adults, and university students. Practicing motor skills while singing and staying on beat helps develop auditory processing, visual processing, and attention. Children—particularly those in first through third grade—who participated had neater handwriting, better writing skills, and made fewer spelling errors, too! One researcher stated, "There's no doubt such activities train the brain and influence development in other areas." Even adults benefit by becoming more focused and less stressed. Who knew the songs weren't just for fun? Read the article in the link above for more!
http://esciencenews.com/articles/2010/04/28/ben.gurion.u.research.confirms.hand.clapping.songs.improve.motor.and.cognitive.skills?=
Hand-Clapping Songs Improve Motor and Cognitive Skills
A university in Israel conducted studies of hand-clapping songs which revealed a link between those activities and cognitive skills development in children, young adults, and university students. Practicing motor skills while singing and staying on beat helps develop auditory processing, visual processing, and attention. Children—particularly those in first through third grade—who participated had neater handwriting, better writing skills, and made fewer spelling errors, too! One researcher stated, "There's no doubt such activities train the brain and influence development in other areas." Even adults benefit by becoming more focused and less stressed. Who knew the songs weren't just for fun? Read the article in the link above for more!
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Nice Corpus Callosum!
This little conversation from our teachers' forum about how awesome musicians' Corpus Callosums are is classic! You seriously must read it. It's Great! Enjoy!
Jodi says:
I'm always "browsing the web for games to play at my private piano lessons, or good ways to explain things to students and parents - etc - and I came across a blog that explained SO WELL what playing music does to increase a childs mental capabilities...
"To demonstrate the proposition that children’s piano lessons [Let's Play Music in our case] increase mental powers, we need to look at the human brain itself. The brain, divided into two sides, controls each hand with the opposite side of the brain. The left brain controls the right hand, while the right brain controls the left hand.
The two sides “speak” to each other via a huge superhighway of nerves and ganglia called the “corpus callosum.” The reason the piano is so beneficial for children intellectually is that the piano, in having both hands work together in similar ways, forces the brain to use both halves of the brain simultaneously. There are very few activities on earth that excite the “corpus” like music and piano.
And so piano activity demonstrably produces better handwriting, better math skills, better abstract skills and higher self-esteem, all through having the two sides of the brain talk to each other, over and over until the nerve path is physically thickened.
That’s right, there is a PHYSICAL result in your child’s brain as a result of playing the piano, even attempting the piano! It is a known medical fact that the “corpus callosum” (that nerve path between the brain’s two sides) of musicians is up to 90% larger than that of people who are not musicians. And starting piano at an early age begins those benefits early in life.
So if your child is not destined for Carnegie Hall, they may still be destined to enjoy, appreciate and create music. And have a thicker corpus callosum!
The saddest part of music education today is that piano lessons are, as they always have been, designed to produce candidates for Carnegie Hall, not fully rounded and nurtured individuals who try to play piano to the best of THEIR ability."
Shelle responds:
OH!!! I LOVE it!!! AWESOME!
In this same vein, sightreading music on piano uses more brain capacity than ANY other activity! Think about it, eyes see notes and translate into data, that data is processed into muscle signals that the brain sends to very intricate hand and arm muscles, the fingers produce the sound and the ears then process the sound as pleasing or not! THEN (as if this weren't enough) the brain produces an emotional reaction to the sounds just heard by the ears produced by the fingers produced by the brain produced by the data that the eyes collected!!!!
CAN YOU SAY BRAIN WORK?
Jodi then says:
Shelle - You must have a MASSIVE corpus callusum.. Hee hee - what a compliment!!
Cindy, the blog I quoted that from is:
http://pianobynumber.wordpress.com/a-childs-point-of-view/
Once you get there, click on the right hand side on: Children, piano & brains.
Here are a few more of my favorites:
http://musicmattersblog.com/2008/11/14/this-week-in-photos-7/
http://laytonmusic.wordpress.com/
http://www.susanparadis.com/
I'm always "browsing the web for games to play at my private piano lessons, or good ways to explain things to students and parents - etc - and I came across a blog that explained SO WELL what playing music does to increase a childs mental capabilities...
"To demonstrate the proposition that children’s piano lessons [Let's Play Music in our case] increase mental powers, we need to look at the human brain itself. The brain, divided into two sides, controls each hand with the opposite side of the brain. The left brain controls the right hand, while the right brain controls the left hand.
The two sides “speak” to each other via a huge superhighway of nerves and ganglia called the “corpus callosum.” The reason the piano is so beneficial for children intellectually is that the piano, in having both hands work together in similar ways, forces the brain to use both halves of the brain simultaneously. There are very few activities on earth that excite the “corpus” like music and piano.
And so piano activity demonstrably produces better handwriting, better math skills, better abstract skills and higher self-esteem, all through having the two sides of the brain talk to each other, over and over until the nerve path is physically thickened.
That’s right, there is a PHYSICAL result in your child’s brain as a result of playing the piano, even attempting the piano! It is a known medical fact that the “corpus callosum” (that nerve path between the brain’s two sides) of musicians is up to 90% larger than that of people who are not musicians. And starting piano at an early age begins those benefits early in life.
So if your child is not destined for Carnegie Hall, they may still be destined to enjoy, appreciate and create music. And have a thicker corpus callosum!
The saddest part of music education today is that piano lessons are, as they always have been, designed to produce candidates for Carnegie Hall, not fully rounded and nurtured individuals who try to play piano to the best of THEIR ability."
Shelle responds:
OH!!! I LOVE it!!! AWESOME!
In this same vein, sightreading music on piano uses more brain capacity than ANY other activity! Think about it, eyes see notes and translate into data, that data is processed into muscle signals that the brain sends to very intricate hand and arm muscles, the fingers produce the sound and the ears then process the sound as pleasing or not! THEN (as if this weren't enough) the brain produces an emotional reaction to the sounds just heard by the ears produced by the fingers produced by the brain produced by the data that the eyes collected!!!!
CAN YOU SAY BRAIN WORK?
Jodi then says:
Shelle - You must have a MASSIVE corpus callusum.. Hee hee - what a compliment!!
Cindy, the blog I quoted that from is:
http://pianobynumber.wordpress.com/a-childs-point-of-view/
Once you get there, click on the right hand side on: Children, piano & brains.
Here are a few more of my favorites:
http://musicmattersblog.com/2008/11/14/this-week-in-photos-7/
http://laytonmusic.wordpress.com/
http://www.susanparadis.com/
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Benefits of Music
These quotes were found on the back of an Honor Band recital program (Thanks Sanya):
-Music has always played a major role in society. It exalts the human spirit and enhances the quality of life.
LOVE this next one!
-Music helps students to develop and mature. Musical potential is one of the basic abilities that exists in every human being.
Music education with little humans :) increases that potential!
-Music uses one of the most powerful and complex symbol systems in existence, which can be used for the development of critical thinking skills in all students.
I also found this interesting jpeg from here, referring to a study published on nature.com about how science has proven music is good for us. Good stuff!
As a child, I had a poster of Albert Einstein up in my room that said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge". I loved it :)
-Music has always played a major role in society. It exalts the human spirit and enhances the quality of life.
LOVE this next one!
-Music helps students to develop and mature. Musical potential is one of the basic abilities that exists in every human being.
Music education with little humans :) increases that potential!
I also found this interesting jpeg from here, referring to a study published on nature.com about how science has proven music is good for us. Good stuff!
And then I found this cute image :) :
"In addition to being one of the greatest physicists of the 20th century, Albert Einstein was also an avid violinist."
Thursday, March 10, 2011
More Benefits of Music For Your Child
*Singing, dancing, playing Instruments & musical games encourage peer interaction, creativity & self esteem.
*Multi-sensory musical activities support intellectual, physical & social-emotional development.
*Songs, movement & listening activities build memory, language & thinking skills.
*Rhythm patterns, musical form, beat & melody crate neural connections that literally grow the brain.
Pretty cool, huh?! Let's Play Music takes it all to the next level with teaching 5-9 year-olds musical concepts and skills on the piano so they can continue to grow musically and receive even more amazing benefits!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Happy New Year 2011!
I hope everyone had a wonderful break!
I love Christmas for many obvious reasons, but one thing I especially love about the whole season is all the music that accompanies it. This is the time of the year when you really realize the impact a song can have on you. You can hear the same words spoken over and over, but when those words are put to music, that is when they touch the heart and really sink in. Since music is such a special part of Christmas to me, I always feel the spirit of Christmas more when it is integrated into the celebrations.
I hope your holidays were wonderful and bright and perhaps filled with music!
Now, onto a new year and a new Let's Play Music semester! Can't wait to see you all this week!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Freeze Dance!
pic from here
Carson, my parents, and I were playing a silly game a few months ago and I was reminded of it with this article on Kindermusik's blog. (I did Kindermusik with Carson for 2 semesters and loved it for toddlers.) I just love how babies and toddlers can get ANYONE to do ANYTHING as silly as it might be!! Tangent here. . . I was at the produce market with my 5 month old in the cart. She was blowing rasberries and flashing smiles to anyone who'd look at her. Before I knew it, someone razzed right back at her! In a crowded market! It's great fun to see what we'll do for the babies :)
Back to the awesome game. . . There was some great kids' music playing and Carson had both his grandparents up and dancing the way he was. Before too long, it was turned into a game! He'd yell "Stop" and they'd all freeze in whatever position they were in. I was cracking up!
I knew he was learning great lessons with this activity, just couldn't put my finger on it until I read this, "you'll be helping to develop your child's physical control and something called "inhibitory control," or his or her ability to start and stop behaviors (Kindermusik blog)"
By pausing the dancing and starting again, he was developing his inhibitory control! I'm getting the feeling we should play this game more often to help with his preschooler impulses and his ability to be in more control when he knows he needs to stop doing something.
Bring on the kiddy music and dancing!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Music strengthens family relationships
I found this as I was reading an insert to a baby DVD series I have called Classical Baby. It was written by Gene Beresin, a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, and father of 4 children.
"Sharing creative and loving experiences can help build what child development experts call a 'secure attachment' between your children and you..."
Attachment theories are normally associated with infants and toddlers, but in this instance I feel it can be expanded to apply to your children!
"...This fosters healthy intellectual, emotional, social and moral development. The process of listening, playing and learning together not only brings you closer to your child, but stimulates your child's self-expression, appreciation of arts, and motivation to explore."
As if you needed any more motivation to play music with your child :)
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