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Music in our classrooms helps children learn

Music in our classrooms helps children learn

I remember the listening center that I set up in my primary classroom like it was yesterday. It was my first year of teaching, and I was so proud of that blue jean bean bag and cassette tape listening station that I had set up to teach Spanish to my second graders. I had decided not to subject the seven-year-olds to me singing a cappella on the tapes I made at home, but I did incorporate some rhythmic beat to facilitate learning. I sang the vocabulary word first in English and then in Spanish and repeated the pair again, allowing time for the student to repeat the words out loud.

It worked! The little darlings begged me to make more and more tapes every weekend, thinking that I had no life other than being their teacher. (For those of you who are teachers, you can relate to that sentiment!) And so it was, back in the early 1980s, I was carrying on the tradition of what generations of parents and teachers had been doing, which was introducing new concepts to children with rhythm and singing.

Why does this technique work so well that even as adults we remember a cute tune our French teacher taught us to learn the colors in French or that silly little chant our science teacher sang to us about the Solar System so we never forget? the order of the planets while we could recite our little rap out loud? There are many studies, some recent and others from years ago, that explain how music works so well in the learning process.

As adults, we intuitively realize that students who have had the opportunity to study music tend to do better in school and in life, and much research has been done over the years to back up those sentiments. It has been proven that children who study music perform better in exams. There have been many studies where the conclusions point to children who participate in music programs show better academic performance and better social skills.

It is even more surprising to note that a study by the College Entrance Examination Board reports that students with experience in music performance or music-related courses scored more than fifty points higher on the verbal section of the SAT and more than forty plus points on the verbal section of the SAT. math section. As a parent and teacher, that means a lot to me and my vision of the arts in my children’s education.

Music engages children and allows them to learn concepts that are sometimes difficult without the rhythm or beat of a song. It allows children to remember important facts, whether in history, science, math, or language arts. Imagine the feeling of success a child experiences once they master their ABCs thanks to that ditty set to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. You’ve seen the delight on many a toddler and preschooler’s face who has mastered that twenty-six song! letters!

Music helps many children develop a level of confidence that they would never have experienced if it hadn’t been for the music. Children are nourished by music in their classrooms, in their homes, in their daily routines. Sometimes that kid who feels like he’s not succeeding academically in school is finally introduced to music with that special teacher and the rest is history (no pun intended!). Dropouts can become new thanks to a little rap, a simple piece of jazz, or a classical tune played during art class for inspiration.

Exposing children to other cultures, other people, and other lands far from their own is often accomplished through music. What a nice way to listen to what the new student in the school listened to daily, appreciating and playing the music of his country during his first week of classes. Imagine the impact the teacher has on this new student’s success by embracing this new student’s culture, inviting them to bring a CD from home or a book of songs from their childhood. The stimulation that it gives you as a new member of this society along with the experience of the world that it allows all members of the class to have are things that no textbook could provide with such feeling, such emotion.

Music is the universal language of our world. Whether you speak English, Spanish, French, Hindi, Mandarin, Farsi, or any of the thousands of other languages ​​of our world, you’ll always be connected to your neighbor, your co-worker, your new friend through music. And it’s that music that should continue to be a big part of the learning you expose your child to and insist that your school continue to incorporate it to bring learning to life and make learning fun.

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