GUEST POST BY AMANDA HENDERSON
If you are an educator or parent, you likely think of books, stories, and phonics as tools for improving literacy in your children. However, one of the most helpful tools in helping children learn is one you use every day but may have never even thought of using in the classroom: music. In fact, music can be used in so many ways to improve thought processes, enhance comprehension, and connect you with your children. Here are a few ways music can make a noticeable difference in your children’s education.
Music Can Tell a Story
When you think of music, you may think about the melodies and how they make you feel. But the lyrics to your favorite songs are actually a form of poetry. Music may, in fact, be the most prolific form of poetry and writing in our society, so it makes sense to use song lyrics to help kids learn how to read. Put together a playlist of some popular kid-friendly songs. Have your students or children go through the lyrics and sing them aloud, and then use them to practice pronunciations. But the connections between music and literature do not stop at lyrics. Music and scores in movies also help tell a story. Background music can connect viewers to emotions, characters, and moods. Use some of the most brilliantly scored movies to help your kids connect with storytelling, and inspire them to improve their reading and comprehension skills. Ask them to focus on the score and talk about the way it made them feel.
Instruments Can Improve Skills
If you are thinking of introducing an instrument into your children’s lives, you are on the right track to enhancing their development. Studies show that children who learn how to play a musical instrument have several advantages over their peers. Playing an instrument is a way to train the brain and enhance key functions involved with reading and learning. Reading music creates new connections within the brain that can enhance the musician’s ability to absorb and comprehend written information. Instruments also have other health benefits, such as boosting concentration and confidence, both of which are essential to literacy. You can find used instruments or beginner’s models that are fairly inexpensive for your children. However, if you are not ready to take the plunge and buy an instrument, children can learn music online instead by picking up a kid-friendly laptop (Chromebooks are usually very kid- and budget-friendly). There are tons of great online music programs and apps that allow your child to learn an instrument from their laptop, as well as boost their reading skills with music.
Songs Can Help Us Feel
One of the reasons music is so important to us is that it has the power to evoke emotions. You may feel happy when you hear the latest summer hit or a bit morose from listening to one of the saddest songs in the world. Music has the power to make us feel all sorts of emotions. You can use this power to improve critical thinking, comprehension, and creativity skills. Play a highly emotive song for your children, but before you do, ask them to really listen to the music and think about how it makes them feel. When the song is over, you can ask each child to use words to describe their emotions. Or, if it is more comfortable, have children write their emotions into a story. Provide a list of fittingly descriptive words for them to use, and encourage them to be as creative as possible. Using music to inspire writing and learn new vocabulary words surrounding emotions is a powerful way to improve literacy through listening.
Helping children enhance their literacy and critical thinking skills can take some practice. By using music as a learning tool, you can make the process more fun and exciting for your kids, and maybe even help them learn something new. So, use these tips to bring the power of music into your kids’ lives.
About the Guest Writer
Amanda Henderson of safechildren.info is a mom to two wonderful, active boys and a preschool teacher. Her hope is that she can combine the knowledge and experience from both to educate others and keep our kiddos safe.