Music education in public schools

Northwest AEA Fine Arts Blog

Volume 2 Number 6

Marlin Jeffers, Educational Consultant

Music Web Site of the Month   www.americansforthearts.org

Feed Your Kids the Arts
The arts are enriched with the stuff kids need to succeed. Just like kids need to have good nutrition on a daily basis, kids need to have their daily serving of the arts. Studies have shown that involvement in the arts helps kids increase test scores and promotes academic achievement. Kids who are involved in the arts are:

• 4 times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement
• 3 times more likely to be elected to class office within their schools
• 4 times more likely to participate in a math and science fair
• 3 times more likely to win an award for school attendance

Chances are, though, that your kids are not getting enough art—in or out of school. "The Arts. Ask for More." public service advertising (PSA) campaign is designed to educate parents and citizens on why the arts are essential to a child's development and empower them to get more art into kids’ lives, both in and out of school.

Article of the month:

Music education curriculum in public schools

Budget cuts in schools across the country have slashed music education curriculum from public schools. Researchers found music adds in children's mental development.

Across America schools are cutting their budgets and one of the programs being left out is music. Reading, writing, and arithmetic are the important subjects according to many taxpayers. They don't see the value in music education even though researchers have found a correlation between music and development of children's mental abilities.

Studies prove that listening to music at a young age helps a child do better in math and science. Music has a powerful and positive influence on the brain. Sharon Begley wrote about this in the July 24 issues of Science and Technology. Music promotes connective ability. It isn't just a means of recreation. It increases brainpower.

What does music teach other than an appreciation for rhythm? I'm speaking of classical music here, not rock and roll. Measurement, proportion, and pattern perception are some of the positive affects of music education. I'm a former teacher, mother, and piano player so I am biased in favor of music education. It gives me great pleasure when my son visits and we play our keyboards together. And when I go to his house he has tambourines, drums, and other percussion instruments.

When I taught kindergarten music was always an activity that all the children enjoyed participating in. As a group activity it is great. Children pay close attention to the words of songs and love to join in. This helps increase their ability to listen and learn. Musical instruments add to the pleasure while teaching children a sense of rhythm.

Experts such like Jeanne Bamberge, MITprofessor have done studies to prove the positive affect of music on children's learning abilities. She is the designer of programs for the Graham and Parks School in Cambridge and she supports the integration of music into the school system.

There is a correlation between early language skills and music. Certainly we all have observed how young children love music. They dance naturally, and humor sing along. In preschool and kindergarten, children quickly learn the words to the songs. They sing along, clap in time to the music and thoroughly enjoy this portion of this day. They don't realize they are learning. Martin Gardiner at the Center for the Study of Human Development at Brown University reported a connection between early language skills and musical ability.

Children as young as three can remember words to songs they've heard repeated. This is a great contribution to their ability to retain information. It expands their memories. There is so much more music adds to children's lives. What are they? According to the experts in education musical studies help children to develop independent work habits. Music is so important that it is now being promoted even for babies. There is a series of music CDs called BABY GENUISES for different age groups from birth through kindergarten.