March highlights Music in Our Schools! Music supports early learning, at home and in early care and education settings

March is Music in Our Schools month! Music is also a vital part of early childhood, at home and in early care and education.

There is so much joy in the connection and bond that listening to music with young children brings. As early as infancy, children’s brains begin to prefer certain musical patterns and recognize musical “favorites.”¹ But did you know it’s more than just fun? When adults actively participate, music can help grow early reading and math skills, reduce stress for children and caregivers, and promote positive child development.

Early Literacy

Music can be used to teach listening skills, as well as build children’s vocabulary. Asking things like, “Can you hear the drums? Listen close,” teaches children to listen for and separate different sounds, similar to how they tell the difference between sounds in a word. Teaching children to hear different musical sounds promotes skills they need to hear, sound out, and write words. For example, a child learning to read needs to be able to separate the “c” “a” and “t” sounds in the word “cat” to be able to read and write the word. This skill is an essential part of the science of reading and can be refined using musical instruction. Singing songs with babies and toddlers or playing games to point out objects can help children’s early language and vocabulary development.^2-5

Early Math

For children to understand and generalize about numbers when they get to elementary school, such as if 4 comes after 3, then 24 must come after 23, they first need to understand that concepts can be grouped in expected ways. Music can help young children learn about patterns and adults can help them learn this using rhythm, melody, and rhyme. As young as infancy, brains begin using grouping mechanisms, another important pre-math skill. By talking about concepts like same and different, or more and less with music styles, adults give children vocabulary for future math learning.^6-7

Stress Reduction and Child Development

As early as birth, music can lower stress levels in children and similar stress-reducing effects of music have been found in adults. Not only can music in early childhood calm both children and caregivers, but it can also promote positive child development. Regular exposure to adult-led musical activities using singing and musical instruments can help young children to have better self-regulation skills and self-control.^8-11

So, during the month of March and throughout the year, think about how you can promote music in the lives of the children you know!

For more information, check out these resources:

Beyond Twinkle, Twinkle: Using Music with Infants and Toddlers | ZERO TO THREE

5 Ways to Better Use Music in Early Childhood Classrooms | Harvard Graduate School of Education (examples for practitioners)

By Elizabeth Hessler, Think Small Community Engagement Coordinator

 

References

¹Ilari, Beatriz, and Linda Polka. “Music Cognition in Early Infancy: Infants’ Preferences and Long-Term Memory for Ravel.” International Journal of Music Education, vol. 24, no. 1, 2006, pp. 7–20, https://doi.org/10.1177/0255761406063100.

²Gerry, David, et al. “Active Music Classes in Infancy Enhance Musical, Communicative and Social Development.” Developmental Science, vol. 15, no. 3, 2012, pp. 398–407, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2012.01142.x

³Gromko, Joyce Eastlund. “The Effect of Music Instruction on Phonemic Awareness in Beginning Readers.” Journal of Research in Music Education., vol. 53, no. 3, 2005, pp. 199–209, https://doi.org/info:doi/

⁴Trainor, Laurel J., et al. “Effects of Musical Training on the Auditory Cortex in Children.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 999, no. 1, 2003, pp. 506–13, https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1284.061

⁵Fernald, A., & Weisleder, A. (2011). Early language experience is vital to developing fluency in understanding. Handbook of early literacy research, 3, 3-19

⁶Acker, Aleksandra, et al. “Early Childhood Music and Maths: The Language of Patterns.” Australian Journal of Music Education, vol. 56, no. 1, 2024, pp. 3–15.

⁷Geist, Kamile, and Eugene A. Geist. “Do Re Mi, 1-2-3 That’s How Easy Math Can Be: Using Music to Support Emergent Mathematics.” YC Young Children, vol. 63, no. 2, 2008, pp. 20–25.

⁸Thoma, Myriam V., et al. “The Effect of Music on the Human Stress Response.” PloS One, vol. 8, no. 8, 2013, pp. e70156–e70156, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0070156

⁹Schwilling, D., Vogeser, M., Kirchhoff, F., Schwaiblmair, F., Boulesteix, A. L., Schulze, A., & Flemmer, A. W. (2015). Live music reduces stress levels in very low‐birthweight infants. Acta Paediatrica, 104(4), 360-367.

¹⁰Thoma, M. V., La Marca, R., Brönnimann, R., Finkel, L., Ehlert, U., & Nater, U. M. (2013). The effect of music on the human stress response. PloS one, 8(8), e70156.

¹¹Brown, E. D., Blumenthal, M. A., & Allen, A. A. (2022). The sound of self-regulation: Music program relates to an advantage for children at risk. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 60, 126-136.