Over the last few decades, both educational & neurological researchers have studied the affect that music has on the development of young children. Since the Mozart Effect theory became popularized in the 1950’s – that is the theory that listening to Mozart’s classical music can temporarily improve cognitive performance – researchers have studied the effects of music on a child’s learning ability. While theories can be widely debated, there has been plenty of strong evidence that ongoing music education does indeed help young children across a wide range of criteria including academic performance.
The benefits that music can create in early learning give a significant advantage to preschoolers and students who are introduced to music, instruments, and singing at a young age. Many research studies have shown a significant increase in mathematical abilities, memory, reading & literacy, intelligence, and even social skills in children who take music lessons regularly.
At Kids ‘R’ Kids Avalon Park, we spend a great amount of time on teaching kids music appreciation. We know that teachers & caregivers play an important role in incorporating music into learning & play, so we include exposure to music in our award winning curriculum. By enticing a preschooler’s inner musician, we can enhance the learning process by promoting language development, coordination, creativity, and listening skills.
Teaching your preschooler how to appreciate music can be as simple as singing fun, easy to remember tunes or popping in a classical CD in the car on daily outings. Preschoolers love to dance, swing, and sing. Fun nursery rhymes and children’s songs are a great thing to sing together. Songs that play “follow-the-leader” and ask children to jump, twist, clap their hands or swing are the perfect way to engage your preschooler and have them excited to listen to music.
Musical instruments also fascinate young children. It’s important to remember that your little one does not need to learn how to play a concerto on a violin or piano in order to gain the benefits of music on learning. Encourage your preschooler to make their own music with maracas, bells, drums, xylophones or even spoons, pots, or coffee cans.
Over time, your child will realize that music can communicate a variety of things such as feelings, ideas or stories and will begin to explore a wide variety of musical sounds. Utilizing music regularly in education can help young children understand concepts like fast and slow, high and low, and start and stop. Not to mention, listening to music can bring joy & mood improvement for people of all ages. Early exposure to music will play a fundamental role in a child’s development, both in education and social development, so introduce your preschooler to plenty of diverse types & styles of music early on.
Contact Kids ‘R’ Kids Avalon Park today to find out more about our preschool programs & award winning curriculum. We value each and every student and strive to go above and beyond “standard” learning criteria in order to foster a fantastic learning environment for our students.