Music Education equals Happy People

[Michael DeVore]

I would like to share some facts about toddlers from the scientific studies and research that have been done so far, breaking it down into categories such as; Educational, Cognitive, and Social areas of development. Toddlers show strong connections between rhythm skills and pre-reading abilities in toddlers (Educational). Music enhances the toddler’s fine motor skills, or the ability to use small, acute muscle movements to write, use a computer, and perform other physical tasks (Cognitive). Infants recognize the melody of a song long before they understand the words. They often try to mimic sounds and start moving to the music as soon as they are physically able. Toddlers love to dance and move to music. The key to toddler music is the repetition of songs which encourages the use of words and memorization. Silly songs make them laugh. Try singing a familiar song and inserting a silly word in the place of the correct word, like “Mary had a little spider” instead of lamb. Let them reproduce rhythms by clapping or tapping objects.

And as children do, they grow up to be teens. Students who take music in middle school score significantly higher on algebra assignments in 9th grade than their non-music counterparts (Cognitive). Dinorah Marquez, Program Director of the Latino Arts Strings Program says, “Our school has created a culture that considers the music education part of our programming, as a real partner in the full development and academic achievement for our students.” One teenager is quoted as saying, “Music is my life. It’s a safe haven.” Considering the stresses of today’s modern world and the increasing rates of violence and suicide in children, I feel music education is a possible solution for some in aiding them deal with their modern challenges. In the past, secondary students who participated in a music group at school reported the lowest lifetime and current use of all substances (tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs). Most likely, keeping oneself challenged and fulfilled in healthy ways will stem straying towards destructive behaviors in general, in my humble opinion. I teach music privately to the West Seattle area and reach me at michaeldevore88@hotmail.com.

Facts in this article are from:

Woodruff Carr K, W.-S.T., Tierney A, Strait D, Kraus N. , Beat synchronization and speech encoding in preschoolers: A neural synchrony framework for language development. , in Association for Research in Otolaryngology Symposium. 2014: San Diego, CA.

Forgeard, 2008; Hyde, 2009; Schlaug et al. 2005, “The Effects of Musical Training on Structural Brain Development A Longitudinal Study,” The Neurosciences and Music III: Disorders and Plasticity: Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1169: 182–186 (2009).

Arts Education Partnership, 2011

2015 Program for Early Parent Support (PEPS), a 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization

Helmrich. B. H. (2010). Window of opportunity? Adolescence, music, and algebra. Journal of Adolescent Research. 25 (4). – See more at: http://www.artsedsearch.org/summaries/window-of-opportunity-adolescence-music-and-algebra#sthash.BvS0RoHP.dpuf

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[kenicohen]

“Mode” is a magical gift to West Seattle! My daughter Sophia performed in the video and I would like people to know that her teacher is Richie Jenkins, the sweetest man I know and a gifted teacher. Sophia and Sophia ( Ellis twin sister) will be playing at Starbucks on Capitol Hill I think on Pike street on October 25th at 6-7 presenting original material.

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