Why music?

Here's a quick follow-up to Monday's post about the song anchor charts.  Since nearly a third of my professional time is given to music at the earliest levels, I wanted to just share a little blurb that I wrote for my parents a while back, expressing the need for such instruction.  Really, I think that each of our specialties are inter-related, and the more we collaborate, the more easily our students can connect what they receive from each of us. 

Music is an important part of early childhood interactions and play.  It is one of the art forms which serve to make us human.  This means that we reflect on the world around us, and express our feelings about it through the arts.  If children receive early experiences with music, it will likely provide them with a lifelong means with which to create, explore and enjoy the world in which they live.  The aim is not to one day make our students professional musicians, but rather, we hope that our students will become thoughtful, expressive, creative people. 

In addition to being an aim unto itself, music education for young children can serve to enhance and strengthen other learning goals as well.  In the preschool years through informal exposure and play, concepts of opposites are reinforced such as fast and slow, loud and soft, and high and low.  Since children should be permitted to move to music, motor skills and body awareness are reinforced.  Many children’s books involve a musical element, creating a thread between music and literacy development.  Songs, chants and nursery rhymes aid in language development as well.  Words set to usic also heightens the level of context for English language learners.  These are just a few of the many reasons why music is an indespensible part of early childhood education, as well as education at every level. 

Happy teaching!