This is your brain on music...

They say a picture is worth a 1000 words, but in this case, it’s an infographic that’s worth 1000 words, so we’ll keep this post brief and to the point.

At FinerMinds.com, the team explored the many effects of music on the brain, specifically those effects caused by playing and listening to music – things our Kindermusik families do every week in Kindermusik class and in their daily routines at home.

from "Minds on Music"

Need a pick me up?

Did you know that Music Stimulates 9 Parts of the Brain?

Music is such an important part of every culture around the world that no one can argue with the impact or benefits of music.  But what this infographic illustrates so vividly are those specific parts of the brain that are affected.  According to these authors, there are nine parts of the brain (nine – count them!) that are stimulated while playing and listening to music.  Astounding!

There’s no doubt that music makes a difference cognitively, physically, and emotionally.  And experts tell us that the younger a child is exposed to music and music-making, the better.
That’s one of the reasons why theKindermusik curricula are specifically designed to capitalize on those effects through a developmentally appropriate, whole-child based approach.  With that in mind, we leave you with this statement from psychologist Richard Davidson when he was a professor at the University of Wisconsin:

“The brain is the only organ designed to change in response to experience.  Musical training changes the structure of the brain and when it begins earlier in life the greater the influence.”

from Minds on Music

The Power of Your Touch

Music and movement are magical ingredients to learning for both the child and parent. A baby’s first communication is through movement. A toddler immediately responds to lively music with silly gyrations and flailing limbs – and while these movements usually make us giggle, to him they are serious attempts to coordinate movement with rhythmic patterns. The preschooler seems to be constantly moving – leaping off couches, rolling down hills, and spinning around and around 

Movement is fundamental for the development of the central nervous system, and science proves it. But what’s more, movement and rhythm are also essential for the development of the soul. These are things that can’t be measured with research and studies.

When a parent moves with her infant, a special bonding takes place that is key to social and emotional growth. When a parent sings to her child, not only are language skills being developed, but also a sense of love, comfort and harmony. The special touching, laughing, and rhythmic moving that takes place in a music and movement class lays a very strong and much needed foundation for a happy, healthy and joyful life!

Here are just a few of the ways that Kindermusik children learn through the interactive music and movement activities of the Kindermusik classroom:

• Intentional touch is designed to provide stimulation of the nervous system, relaxation and bonding.
• Activities involve unilateral, bi-lateral and cross-lateral movements that help develop the brain and muscles.
• Movement and dance steps allow the caregiver and child to experience different rhythms and locomotor movements.
• Synchronized dances develop sequencing, provide reassuring repetition and social interaction.
• Expressive movement provides variety, creativity, and opposing feelings such as fast and slow, high and low.
• Rocking and swinging stimulate the vestibular system, which is so important to balance and even eye movement.
• Props, such as the “humongous” scarves and parachutes, provide tactile and visual stimulation.

So put on your Kindermusik CD at home and don’t worry about performing the dances “just right.” Don’t even worry about right and left! Simply move to the music and have fun! It all makes a difference.

Source

Complexities and Predictability

Have you ever wondered why a child will ask you to read the same book over and over or perhaps never tires of rolling the ball back and forth? A newly published study may shed some light on this learning technique of young children. Nicknamed the “Goldilocks effect”, the study examines the attention span of infants in relation to the complexity of the world around them. The results showed that infants focus only on situations that are neither too difficult nor too easy.

“The study suggests that babies are not only attracted by what is happening, but they are able to predict what happens next based on what they have already observed,” says Kidd, lead author on the report. “They are not passive sponges. They are active information seekers looking for the best information they can find.” Children who are engaged in a sensory rich learning experience are best equipped to receive and retain new information. The repetition of a fun activity likely yields new information each time for your child and provides an opportunity for them to test their predictions based on their latest observations.  ”Parents don’t need to buy fancy toys to help their children learn. They make the best use of their environment. They are going to look around for what fits their attention level. Kids learn best from social interaction,” reminds Kidd.

from Minds on Music

Music and the Whole Child

Source: blogs.scientificamerican.com

We know music has many benefits, especially for the way kids learn and how a child’s brain develops. So we get excited about supportive research like this study recently published in the Journal of Neuroscience:

Even A Few Years Of Music Training Benefits The Brain.

A team of researchers at Northwestern University, including the well-known Nina Kraus, share findings on the benefits of early childhood music education.

“…Childhood music instructionhas strong linguistic benefits and improves performance on everyday listening tasks. Since we live in an inherently noisy world, the better we are at focusing on sound and perceiving different sounds, the better. This can be particularly important for children with learning disorders or those for whom English is a second language.”

Through this study and other research, here are some known benefits of music training:

Improves hearing

Bolsters brain function

Strengthens reading skills

Increases math abilities

Improves social development

Helps people become better team players

Supports self-esteem

Our mission at Kindermusik, to instill a lifelong love of music and a foundation for learning in children, completely aligns with this research. We are especially thrilled about the quote from Nina Kraus, supporting the concept that even little exposure to music as can go a long way…

“Based on what we already know about the ways that music helps shape the brain, the study suggests that short-term music lessons may enhance lifelong listening and learning,” said Kraus.

from Minds on Music

STEADY BEAT

Photo "A STEADY BEAT is an unchanging continuous pulse. This is different from the Rhythm Patterns of a specific song. The ability to keep a steady beat is developed over time, and can be started with very young children. Such skills are not that difficult to learn for persons of any age, but developing a sufficient level of competence requires support from knowledgeable adults as guides, and plenty of opportunities for practice. A well developed steady beat is required for walking, talking, using a pair of scissors and bouncing a ball, as well as many other abilities. Feeling and moving to steady beat develops a sense of time and the ability to organize and coordinate movements within time." -Debbie Mondale

Hearing Patterns

Photo "When children drum along to the rhythms in a song or to their own name, they practice careful listening and pattern recognition. This is one way children hear sounds in words – a skill necessary for word recognition, speaking, reading, and writing. Each time a child is exposed to a new object or experience, new neural connections are made in his brain. Turn a plastic bowl or empty oatmeal container into a simple homemade drum. Let babies learn the cause and effect by just banging on the drum. Allow your toddler to drum away – to a favorite recording or just to the song in his heart. You can also play an easy “Echo Me” game where you chant a short, simple rhythm and they tap it back to you on their drum. You can up the challenge for your preschooler or big kid by asking them to tap back the rhythms in a favorite song or the rhythms of some fun words. -Theresa Case

Multisensory Equals More Memory and More Skills!

Photo "Children learn through their senses. Each sense activates specific neurons in the brain; therefore, multi-sensory activities generally provide more lasting learning opportunities than single-sensory activities. Each child is unique and brings to class his or her own learning style which determines how he or she understands and organizes information.... So joyfully accept your child as he is, and work with him to make the most of his abilities as they relate to his learning style. We think it is worth restating the following quote this week in the context of our multi-sensory focus. 'Short-term memory has the ability to hold about seven bits of information. But when patterns and related groupings of information are bound together as a unit (as in our multisensory play) the volume of material stored increases.' -Rhythms of Learning by Chris Brewer and Don G. Campbell. Source

Organize and conquer

"The brain’s job from birth to 7 is to organize itself. And that music is the only activity that simultaneously stimulates every area of the brain, thus helping the brain to organize all the sensory information it’s taking in.... Music is full of structure and patterns and logic, which is exactly what your brain needs to help organize all that information.... [Albert Einstein's] mother was told by his school that he was stupid, and that she should withdraw him. Instead, his mother bought him a violin, and we know him as one of the smartest men in history. To what does Einstein credit that? Yup. The violin. (His momma should get some of that credit, too.) He said that he worked out problems that he was stuck on by playing his violin. He loved the music of Mozart and Bach the most.... "Classical and Baroque music in its composition is very structured and organized. One of the rules is that you don’t repeat a theme over and over again. Instead, you have a theme, and then variations on that theme. Dr. Michael Ballam of Utah State University says, “The human mind shuts down after three or four repetitions of a rhythm, or a melody, or a harmonic progression."... Now, no promises that your house will magically declutter itself if you put some Bach or Haydn on. But if you [and your child] need to start thinking clearly, give it a try." -Miss Analiisa

Unusual recipe for learning success!!!

Photo Carla Hannaford (award winning author and eductor) writes, “Movement is essential to learning. Movement integrates and anchors new information into our neural networks. Every time we move in an organized manner, full brain activation and integration occurs, and the door to learning opens.” "Combine movement, which fully activates the brain, and creates and strengthens neural networks, with music, which is the only activity that simultaneously stimulates every area of the brain, and you have a recipe for successful learning. As a home schooling mom, here’s some things that we’ve done that combine music (or the components of music like rhythm and meter) that assist in learning. (You don’t have to home school to do these things. You are your child’s first and most important teacher!) 1. While singing learning songs or poems and chants, we have a small indoor trampoline for jumping on... Jumping really seems to make the just inputted information stick in brains better. 2. My children all sit on exercise balls. I’ve noticed that when new or more difficult concepts are being learned, their ability to sit still decreases. All that electrical energy in their brain is going towards creating new or stronger neural pathways. An exercise ball allows them to have the movement they need, without being distracting, so that brain energy is spent focusing on learning, rather than using that brain power to sit quietly.... 3. When learning to spell difficult words or ... counting by 2’s, 5’s, etc., we get up and bounce a ball back and forth, taking turns counting or giving the next letter in a word. The kids love it, and they learn faster and better. 4. Playing background music is great, too. One suggestion – during homework or school time, the best music to listen to has no words. 5. Be sure to give your children plenty of get up and play breaks to rest and refocus eyes, and allow the brain to process everything they just learned. Otherwise, the information really will be in one ear and out the other." Source What a revolutionary learning technique for academic information!!!

Mozart is amazing!

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A study from 1998 at the Univ. of Wisconsin in Oshkosh shows that, "Music exposure initiated at an early age enhances spatial performance in rats similar to results found in humans." This study compared the effects of minimalist music, noise, and a Mozart Sonata to test rats' performance in a maze. Of course, the rats who consistently listened to Mozart performed faster and completed the maze more easily. Our children need exposure to high-quality music starting at an early age with order and predictable rhythm. Crazy noise and irregular beats, too much monotony, and, of course, the often questionable lyrics of many popular rock songs are not conducive to intelligent thinking and learning. You are making a great choice by involving your child in great musical experiences that will create a much better environment for their long-term development!

Source

Singing our way to speech!

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“Singing ability is related to the ability to control speech fluctuations, and speech activities appear to help develop tuneful singing skills. The ability to sing and the ability to converse with expressive speech are closely related. Playing with rhythm speech (chants, poems, rhymes, etc.) as well as simple tonal melodies helps the child develop both singing and speech skills.” (adapted from McDonald and Simons, 1988)

"Tips for parents: So what is the best resource for learning (or remembering!) those all-important songs and chants that help your child become a better speaker and a better singer? You’ll learn a ton of great music and activities in your Kindermusik classes, but you can also borrow from Mother Goose, pull from your childhood memories, or make up your own songs and chants. Piggyback songs, where you adapt a song by substituting your own words, are also lots of fun." -Theresa Case

Scrub a dub dub and teach in the tub!

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Baths or showers for adults are usually just practical and straight-to-the-point. But for a child, baths can be fascinating experiences to teach physics, biology, songs, stories, and other lessons through toys. Try adding new songs to your child's bathtime that relate to these areas. You can look up educational songs about the body and/or water online depending on your child's level or just add your own lyrics to their favorite tunes. Answer your child's questions about their bodies and how water behaves (waves, droplets, tornado effect in drain, etc.). Have fun with this!

Source

Words and more words...

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"Exposure to a variety of movement words helps children link movement and language at a time when word acquisition is occurring at a fast pace. Between the ages of 18 months and 4 years children are comprehending an average of one new word for every hour they’re awake. By age 4 most kids know around 10,000 words." -Cheow Yu Yuan

Nothing can replace your role as a parent in talking to your baby or child. TV does not even come close to teaching words and language the way your conversations do. Don't let life get too busy that you don't make some time regularly to sit eye-to-eye and talk with your little one - but mostly LISTEN (and help expose them to a few new words at a time)! Dancing together also accomplishes great strides in vocabulary acquisition if you describe the movements you are making together - it is priceless!

Bilateral integration

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There is a reason we provide and encourage two instruments, one for each hand. It relates to your child’s fine motor development. We are encouraging bilateral integraton which allows your child’s eyes to track a ball or the words on a page. Bilateral functioning helps keep balance while sitting, standing, and moving. It allows eyes and hands to work together to complete a variety of tasks.

To achieve bilateral integration, a child must first engage in bilateral play which requires holding two similar items, one in each hand. Holding one item would alter his interaction with the instrument and not encourage bilateral exploration, but rather focus on unilateral play.

As fine motor development progresses, a child will move his or her arms simultaneously (like patting knees or drumming hands together). Then he will move both hands symmetrically (think of clapping hands or tapping bells together.) After that is well established, he will begin to alternate like movements (one and then the other in a repeating pattern). The ultimate goal of this integration is to be able to use both sides of the body in non-symmetrical movement cooperatively. Examples of this are holding paper and cutting with scissors or holding strings down with one hand and strumming the strings of an instrument with another.

So many choices!

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Giving Choices: "Despite appearances to the contrary, toddlers wield very little power. Allowing them to make decisions in the course of the day's events helps them feel independent, proud, and in control. Whenever possible, give choices - but not open-ended ones...You'll sharpen decision-making skills and avoid minor battles of will." -Christina Frank, "How to Talk to a Toddler", Parenting. April 1999.

Would they like peanut butter and jelly or macaroni for lunch? Never ask them a question in which "No" is unacceptable, such as: "Shall we go to bed now?" Instead ask them which book (from an acceptable pile) would they like to read before bed. Which sleeper do they want to wear to bed? Asking the question tells them they have an option. When we don't allow options the child can be frustrated. Offering choices demonstrates respect and strengthens the relationship, which counts for a lot when the child has to accept a choice the adult must make.

Literacy

So much of the intelligence children will ultimately have is developed before they even go to kindergarten.  When you read to them, you are building pathways in their brains needed for successful reading experiences.  They will develop auditory perception that allows them to think about how words sound.  Listening to stories helps children enhance their vocabularies and use longer sentences.  Another wonderful benefit of reading to children is that it increases their attention spans and ability to focus on what is being said.  More than anything else, reading to young children gives them a desire to read (Gisler and Eberts). 

You're safe

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Learning occurs only when children feel safe. "From the birth canal babies are looking for attachments, their brains acutely attentive to the care being received. If essential needs are being met and healthy bonding (lots of touch and “face” time!) is occurring there is a positive outcome.... A stressful environment (angry or emotionally violent, exhibiting relational/marital conflict) signals to baby a lack of safety....
In our Kindermusik classes our first and primary goal is to signal “this is a safe environment” to all children. From the welcome song where one discovers he or she not only “belongs” to this community, but is recognized as a valued individual, to the snuggle time where we turn back to receive the gentle care of a loved one, we sing and dance and snuggle our way to a place where learning can thrive and happy neurons connect at an alarming rate! - Miss Colleen, Kindermusik educator in Seattle

Memorization

One fabulous way to help children memorize facts is to put them to music! You can teach the days of the week, months of the year, your address/phone number, countries, steps to doing laundry, words in a foreign language, of course the alphabet, etc. Try inventing a song or two or find them on Youtube.com. You will be surprised how much more your child can remember when a song is coupled with difficult words. It's really fun to impress family and friends with your child's singing and memorization. And they see it as a game that they get lots of great attention for playing!

1. Experiences Build Brain Architecture

Part One in Three Core Concepts of Early Development
by the Center on the Developing Child by Harvard University.





This is why we do what we do in Kindermusik!