Learning through Music in Early childhood

​It has been proven that learning music and rhythm early correlates with higher achievement in grade school. (i) This is nature’s way of telling us that music plays a very special role in human life.  

BOOM BOOM, BOOM BOOM, BOOM BOOM, swish, swash, muffle,…BOOM BOOM… 
These sounds are the background music in your womb- a soothing blend of interior and exterior riffs working to the rhythmic base of your pumping heart. The saying ‘music is within us’ is more true than we think. In fact, it’s both within us AND around us from the moment our hearts start beating inside mom’s belly.  
 
It has been proven that learning music and rhythm early correlates with higher achievement in grade school. (i) This is nature’s way of telling us that music plays a very special role in human life.  
 
For adults and babies alike, music brings joy, peace, mental-stimulation, and so much more (which is why our classes at Little Beats are designed to be an experience that caregivers can equally enjoy!). But in the early childhood years especially, music is the best tool for learning because it engages young ones with their world using language, social/emotional, cognitive, AND physical experiences.
 
Here are some examples of how music is helping our children grow every day at Little Beats: 

• Self-Regulation:
  • Using start and stop exercises with our instruments and through games like freeze dance, children gain self-regulation skills by asserting control over the instrument in hand (or your body).
• Confidence:
  • Lots of bonding happens in shared musical experiences whether it’s forming special memories with your caregiver or making new friends. A grown-up who sings to their little one repeatedly and frequently fosters trust, love, and communication that builds self-esteem from babyhood.
  • Especially in the classroom or studio setting, providing consistent musical cues  (like the “Clean Up Song”) during class transitions allows children to mentally prepare for and anticipate what’s next. When they are aware of what’s happening, they feel confident, calm, and engaged, which sets the stage for learning. 
• Problem Solving
  • When children interact with instruments during circle time, they are exploring the cause-and-effect relationship between their bodies, the instrument, and the sound it produces. This promotes fine motor and cognitive skill building. (ii.)
  • In addition to producing music, receiving it also requires all areas of the brain. Even when listening to music as babies, our brains are stimulated and challenged to make sense of rhythmic patterns, pitches, volumes, tempos, lyrical rhyme schemes, and melodies. (Learning rhythm is difficult and the sooner you start exposing it to your children, the better which is why we begin our class with a rhythmic “Welcome Rap.”) 
• Language development:
  • Musical patterns help us remember things more easily! How do we learn the alphabet? ‘The ABC’s’ song. How do we learn our animal noises? ‘Old MacDonald! ‘How do we learn our body parts? ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes!’ Emulating and filling in sounds and words to familiar tunes help babies puzzle together the earliest pieces of their vocabularies. (iii.)  Pairing imagery with songs as we do during 5 ‘Little Speckled Frogs’ also reinforces vocabulary.

 
At Little Beats, we aim to foster this natural instint that children have for music and use it for physical and mental growth.  As Marc Trachtenberg, founder of Rock-A-Baby says, “Music is a part of us, and I don’t think enough people are talking about that… It’s just there in us ready to ignite.” (From Rhode Island NPR article 2014)