make a little music - cpin · body in learning, read carla hannaford's smart moves: why...

Make a Little Music"Oh, we don't have time for music in the classroom anymore," a preschoolteacher tells me. "We're too busy preparing the children for kindergarten."

"We can't play music and sing in the classroom anymore," a kindergartenteacher reports. "Our district learning standards no longer allow it."

WHY SHOULD WE CARE that suchstatements are being made more oftenthese days? Why does music matter?

In addition to the fact that youngchildren truly enjoy music, the rea-sons children should have manyand varied musical experiences arenumerous. Among them is the beliefthat when music is part of their lives,children have a greater motivation tocommunicate with the world. Perhapsmusic provides their first exposureto the existence and richness of theirown culture as well as the heritageand culture of other peoples andregions of the world. Music is a non-verbal form of communication and canbridge the cultural divides betweenpeople of different backgrounds.

Music is vital to the development oflanguage and listening skills (Miche2002). Both music and language artsconsist of symbols and ideas; whenthe two content areas are used in com-bination, abstract concepts becomemore concrete. For example, the wordslow has only so much meaning to achild when he reads or spells it. Whenhe hears slow music, however, themeaning of the word expands. Andwhen he moves as accompaniment tothe music he's hearing, he fully com-

prehends the word (Pica 20Ü7). Musicactivities can improve attention spanand memory and Increase vocabulary(Bayless & Ramsey 2004). Accordingto Isenberg and Jalongo (2000),

The child who learns to sing "ThisOld Man." for instance, has learnedto focus on a task, sequence mate-rial, and link words .. . with actions.Musical experiences, such as creatinga tune at a keyboard, can developall the higher-level thinking skills ofapplication, analysis, synthesis, andevaluation.Shaw (2003) reports that children

in music training score significantlyhigher in spatial-temporal reasoning,which is the kind of reasoning usedin higher levels of science and math.Moreover, evidence indicates thatmusic activities engage both the leftand right hemispheres of the brain.In fact, studying music involves moreright- and left-hrain functions than anyother activity measured (Hahermeyer1999).

All of this information points to theconclusion that music can help chil-

dren meet early learning standards,including those in literacy and math-ematics. But perhaps the most impor-tant role of music in education is whatit offers children aesthetically—that is,the development of an appreciation forbeauty. If we can help children developtheir aesthetic sense and thereby sig-nificantly enrich their lives, isn't thatreason enough to include music in theearly childhood curriculum?

Joanne Greata writes.

When studies show that music doesenhance children's ability to learn, itis tempting for music educators to usethis information to boost their pro-grams. However, others warn that weshould not lose sight of the fact thatmusic should not be taught just for itsability lo enhance other subjects—inother words, as a means to an end.Rather, it should be taught for its ownworth. If we want to educate the wholechild, the arts, including music, mustbe part of her education. Althoughthere is evidence that music can affectcognitive development, music is worthteaching and learning for its own sake.If other benefits are realized from ourmusical experiences, that's wonderful.(2006,29)

To DO MOREIt is impossible to think of music and

movement as completely separate enti-ties. For young children, experiencingmusic is not limited simply to the auditorysense (Haines & Gerber 1999; Isenberg &Jalongo 2000; Bayless & Ramsey 2004),as evidenced even by infants' whole-body response to music- This means thatmovement, another topic too often elimi-nated from the curriculum, also must be apart of a child's education.

When children tiptoe to soft music,stamp their feet to ioud music, move instow motion to Bach's "Air on the G String"and then rapidly to Rimsky-Korsakov's"Flight of the Bumblebee," sway to a 3/4

2,3

Rae Pica is the author of numerous books on movement in early childhood and iscofounder and host of "BAM! Body, Mind, and Child" (www.bamradionetwork.com)and cofounder and cohost of NAEYC Radio. You can contact Rae at raepica@movingandiearning.com.

This column is available in an online archive at www.naeyc.org/yc/columns.

74 Young C/i/Wren* November 2009

meter and then skip to a piece in 6/8, theyare experiencing music on many levels.Each child is not only listening but alsousing body, mind, and spirit to expressand create. Because a child is using amuitimodal approach, what she or helearns will make a lasting impression. Andwhat the child learns is considerable,

A simple place to start is with a gamelike Statues. Asking children to move inthe way the music makes them feel isbound to be an intimidating request formany. But making a game out of puttingmovement to music can free chiidren ofinhibitions. Statues is a great game forthis purpose. It develops listening skills,helps children differentiate between soundand silence, and offers practice with start-ing and stopping (self-regulation).

Instruct the children to move in any waythey like while the music is playing. Whenthe music stops (as you press the pausebutton), they must freeze like statuesand stay that way until the music beginsagain. To take children by surprise andto inspire a variety of responses, varythe time you allow them to move beforepausing the music. To expose children toa variety of musical styles and rhythms,use music with a different feel—a march,a waltz, rock and roll—each time theyplay the game.

If your school or program discouragesor disallows music and movement, turn tothe research to show school officials thatmusic and movement enhance children'slearning. Or use short breaks throughoutthe day to incorporate music and move-ment, emphasizing proven research onthe value of taking breaks to stimulatechildren's learning.

To LEARN MORE

Any of this article's references will addto your knowledge of music in early child-hood. Also excellent are Learning throughPlay: Music and Movement, by EllenBooth Church (Scholastic, 1998), andfrom NAEYC. the DVD Music Piay: BahBah Bebop. Beethoven (South CarolinaEducational Television, 1999).

To learn more about the role of thebody in learning, read Carla Hannaford'sSmart Moves: Why Learning Is Not AHin Your Head (Great River Books, 2005)and just about anything written by EricJensen! Of particular significance are

Music with the Brain in Mind (The BrainStore, 2000) and Learning with theBody in Mind: The Scientific Basis forEnergizers, Movement. Piay. Games, andPhysical Education (Conwin Press, 2000).

ReferencesBayless, K.M., & M.E. Ramsey. 2004. Music: A

way of life for the young child. Upper SaddleRiver, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Greata, J. 2006. An introduction to music ineariy childhood education. Clifton Park, NY:Delmar Learning.

Habermeyer, S. 1999. Good music, brighterchildren. Roseville, CA: Prima.

Haines, B.J.E., & L.L. Gerber. 1999. Leadingyoung chiidren to mu.sic. New York: Merrill.

Iseiiberg, J.P., & M.R. Jalonf>o. 2000. Creativeexpression and play in early childhood.Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Miche, M, 2002. Weaving music into youngminds. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Learning.

Pica, R. 2007. Jump into literacy: Active learn-ini¡ for preschool children. BeltsvJlle, MD:Gryphon House.

Shaw, G.L. 2003. Keeping Mozart in mind. 2nded. Si. Louis, MO: Academic Press.

Copyright © 2009 by the National Association for theEcfucation of Young Children. See Permissions andReprints online at www.naeyc.org/yc/permissions.

Join co-hosts Rae Pica andNAEYC Executive Director MarkGinsberg and guest contributorsas they discuss a different topiceach month on BODY, MIND, ANDCHILD. This online NAEYC Radioshovi/ developed by early childhoodprofessionals presents the bestand latest knov\/ledge and insightsof interest to listeners.

T u n e in at :

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Young Children • November 2009

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