Young students can learn basic skills in fun ways with music, teachers can use music with teens to develop critical thinking skills and engage them emotionally.
by Daniel Kobialka, D.M.A.
Public school is a great melting pot of young people. Many parents wonder if their children will "measure up", whether they are preschoolers, slow learners, or early primary children with any variety of abilities and backgrounds.
Numbers, colors, the alphabet, and body awareness are all important learning skills that can presented in a happy, rhythmic teaching program, at home or in school, that includes music. Those early years is truly a time when learning can be made even more fun with music.
Especially for children who are mostly kinesthetic learners, multi-sensory teaching that mixes large muscle movement with lyrical auditory input can be most effective.
Older students can also benefit from music included in the curriculum. In many cases, music is one of the most important parts of youth culture. Songs can be brought into the classroom as a timeless expression of the human experience. They express history, ideas, and people that have shaped our diverse society.
Song lyrics can engage, excite, and motivate young people in instances when it seems that nothing else can. They can be used in the development of essential research, writing, critical thinking, and media literacy skills.
Teachers know that if they can create an emotional connection between students and curriculum, the battle is almost won. Music and learning are therefore a perfect match.
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