Music with Ms. Jennifer

The following in an excerpt from a recent article presented in Early Childhood Connections, a journal for early childhood education.

• Music is language and children instinctively recognize & try to imitate spoken language & communication. 
• Music evokes movement, and children delight in and require movement for their growth and development. 
• Music engages the brain while stimulating neural pathways associated with higher processes such as abstract reasoning, mathematics, and empathy. 
• Music’s melodic and rhythmic patterns provide exercises for the brain and help develop memory. 
• Music is an aural art and young children & babies are aural learners.  Since hearing is fully mature well before birth, infants begin responding to the sounds of their environment in the womb & continue to do so throughout their early development.   
• Music is perfectly designed for training listening skills.  Good listening skills and school achievement go hand in hand. 
• Developmentally appropriate music activities involve the whole child – the learning of language, the desire to move, the brain’s attention to patterns, the ear’s role in communication & response to sounds, as well as the eye-hand coordination associated with playing musical instruments specially designed for little hands. 
• Making music is a creative experience which involves expression of feelings. Children often do not have the words to express themselves and need positive ways to release their emotions. 
• Music transmits culture and is an avenue by which beloved songs, rhymes, and dances can be passed down from one generation to the next. 
• Music is a social activity which involves family and community participation.  Children love to sing & dance at home, school, in the car, and at church.  
• ...and, unlike cribs, strollers, and clothes, children will never outgrow music and its many benefits!