Category Archives: Science of Music

The Importance of Music for Happiness in Child Development

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This week marks the first official day of Spring, and for most people, Spring signifies awakening, renewal, and new growth. Most of us seem to be happier in Spring, and there is scientific evidence to support that. With longer and warmer days, the increased exposure to sunlight increases the production of serotonin “The Confidence Molecule” in the body, while decreasing the production of melatonin. That chemical change, along with the psychological change of being outside more, makes Spring a very happy time for most. As we would assume, happiness is very important for our emotional and physical health. But even more so, happiness in is key to healthy development in children.

While many factors contribute to the happiness of children, music is one factor that can have a very positive and lasting effect.

The Importance of Happiness in Childhood   

When most of us look upon childhood, we can remember a variety of events, activities, and people that evoke feelings of happiness, sadness, being frightened, or upset. While caregivers tend to put a great emphasis on the extent to which different influences or activities shape a child’s future success, research shows that memories of childhood are linked more to social events and activities than any solitary ones.

Adults are more likely to fondly remember social interaction at events such as a birthday party rather than the actual gifts they received. Happiness in childhood social interactions encourages kindness and good moral behavior, and helps to prevent tantrums, defiance and rebellious behavior. In addition, adults who reported higher levels of well being during childhood were more likely to report being satisfied with their adult life, including work, relationships and health. This should be no surprise, but caregivers often ponder over the best methods of providing children a happy environment. While the various factors are too many to list here, there is a distinct correlation between music and childhood happiness.

Music and Childhood Happiness

As we have explored in this blog before, music facilitates listening, learning, language development, independence, and initiative in children.

Music also helps reduce childhood anxiety and depression, while promoting healthy and restful sleep. All of these factors affect moods in children, and as a result, their developing outlook on life. Furthermore, early childhood music classes promote social interaction and cooperation, which as mentioned above is a key factor in memories of a happy childhood. Singing and playing together in a group provides the positive feelings of shared community and teamwork. Music increases the release of endorphins and dopamine in the brain, which play a role in closeness and connection with others. Exposure to music from the earliest stages of childhood increases a positive world outlook and happiness. Group early childhood music classes especially benefit a child’s well-being, as it becomes a way to practice cooperation, communication, and interaction with peers.

Spring is a time when nature seems to come awake in many ways, including more music. For example, Canaries stop singing every autumn when the brain cells responsible for song generation die, growing back in the winter months so the birds can sing their songs in Spring. While birdsong may not be a sign of happiness in birds, it certainly brings joy to many who hear it as the sun begins shining longer and brighter.

The Benefits of Teaching Children to Give

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This holiday season offers many opportunities for teachers, parents, and caregivers to teach children about both giving and giving thanks. Our last topic covered the many benefits of instilling gratitude in children. While showing gratitude is important for healthy early development, some evidence shows children may actually benefit more from giving than receiving.

Some of the Health Benefits of Giving

Giving and showing generosity has many health benefits, including physical, psychological, and spiritual well-being. When instilled in children, giving provides benefits that will pay back for their entire lives. A few of the many benefits of giving include:

The Developmental Benefits of Teaching Children to Give

These results of giving help the young and old alike, but teaching children how to give provides some important developmental benefits as well:

Teaching Children the Joy of Giving

Most children are naturally inclined towards giving from a very early age. Research has shown that from the age of two, toddlers are actually happier giving than receiving. A study of children as young as 18 and 30 months old showed children voluntarily giving and helping in various altruistic ways, such as giving a blanket to a cold researcher. However, cultivating skills around kindness and giving should be nurtured by caregivers. Here are a few tips for reinforcing the natural inclination for children to give:

  1. Be a role model and explain why you are giving – Research shows that children are more likely to be kind if at least one parent models that behavior for them. In younger children, facial expressions of happiness and gratitude can show intent. As they grow older, it’s important for parents to have conversations with their kids about generosity.
  • Create opportunities and give together – Look for opportunities in everyday life to model giving and invite your child to participate in the process. Whether it’s a toy to a playmate or taking dinner to an elderly neighbor, the reactions of others will also demonstrate the value of being generous.
  • Help them understand and see the impact – While giving money or donating to a charity is helpful in teaching giving, letting children see the end results of generosity will make a longer lasting impression on them. Volunteering time often involves coming into contact with the recipients of giving, which can demonstrate the positive impact it makes.

Of the many studies and research that have been performed on the developmental benefits of giving, nearly all reiterate instilling generosity in children early and often. From an early age, children’s tendencies to do so should be identified and rewarded, and at a later age discussed and praised. In this season of giving, there are many opportunities to reinforce what already comes natural to most children.

The Science Behind the Benefits of Childhood Piano Lessons

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Piano teachers and children’s music educators don’t need to be reminded of how beneficial piano lessons are for childhood development. Many of the benefits can be easily seen in the classroom, from increased self-esteem to enhanced social skills. Researchers have long studied the effect of piano lessons on childhood development, finding many cognitive benefits that may not be so obvious to the occasional observer. Here are three of the science backed benefits of learning piano in childhood.

  1. The Mozart Effect on Spatial Reasoning – In a controversial 1993 study, a researcher named FH Rauscher claimed that after listening to two Mozart piano sonatas for 10 minutes, subjects exhibited improved spatial reasoning skills (such as paper folding and cutting procedures, or stacking blocks in a predetermined sequence).  This effect, dubbed the Mozart Effect, opened the door to a multitude of cognitive studies on various subjects including adult humans and rats. Many of these experiments showed the increased spatial reasoning for only a short duration. However, in 1999 the long-terms effects were studied in three to four year old pre-school children who were given keyboard music lessons for six months. When subjected to spatial temporal reasoning tests afterward, the children showed thirty percent better performance than children who had not had piano training.       
  • Music Lessons Increase IQ and Executive Function – In a research article published in Frontiers in Neuroscience, three researchers studied one hundred and forty-seven primary school children with an average age of 6.5 years. They were divided into three groups – one music intervention groups, one active visual arts group, and a no arts control group. The researchers found that in the musical intervention group, children not only performed better in visual spatial memory tasks, but also showed increased testing scores on inhibition, planning, and verbal intelligence. The researchers’ conclusion was that the study indicated a positive effect of long-term music education on cognitive abilities. Through magnetic resonance imaging and neuropsychological testing, another research project showed higher activation of areas of the brain typically associated with Executive Functioning, such as the prefrontal cortex, in child musicians. They attribute it to the extended attention, working memory, and inhibition of playing piano or singing. 
  • Piano Lessons Build and Enhance Language Skills – Two researchers from MITs McGovern Institute for Brain Research published a paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that concluded that early exposure to piano practice enhances the processing of sounds in language. As kids ears become trained to distinguish between different tones from the hundreds of internal strings of a piano, they also get better at discriminating subtle differences between spoken words. For the study, seventy-four Mandarin-Speaking kindergarteners were divided into three groups – one that took 45-minute piano lessons every week, the second had reading instruction for the same duration, and the third had neither. After six months, the researchers found that children who took the piano lessons were specifically better at spoken words that differentiated by only one consonant than the other two groups. Consonants require a bit more precision to distinguish than vowels, especially in Mandarin speakers where the language relies heavily on differences in tone. The results of this study were so remarkable that the school in Beijing where the research was conducted continued to offer piano lessons to students after the experiment ended.

Teachers of early childhood music education have always understood the benefits that piano lessons provide to healthy child development. And through years of structured research and publication, scientists have shown substantial evidence that music education and piano lessons enhance spatial reasoning, executive function, IQ, and language skills in children.

Key Issues in Early Childhood Education: Part 3

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Content and Measurement of Success in Early Childhood Education

This final installment in our continuing series of key discussion topics that early childhood educators face in the classroom has touched on several traditional assumptions that educators often make. Debunking many of those academic myths, we have focused instead on successfully nurturing children through inspired music education. Most of these conclusions and deliberations are posed and explored in an article published in Early Childhood Connections by renowned neuroscience educator Dr. Dee Joy Coulter, Ed. D.  Our last blog topic considered the unnecessary urgency that some music educators place on curriculum and lesson plans.  This final post of the series will address the issue of content and measurement of success in early childhood music education.

The difference between children’s music instruction and education

In the academic world, there is much debate and passion about the difference between instruction and education. In these approaches, roles of teacher and student are reversed, where in instruction the place of the teacher is central whereas the student is central in education. These methods in academia are not mutually exclusive, however. Music instruction, for example, requires technical training such as the proper way to hold a violin or drum mallet. These skills establish an important foundation for future musicianship, creating both respect for the instruments, but also developing ergonomically sound movements and postures. Repetition of these, in turn, introduce children to a world of practice.  Children who have discovered the “practice effect” become much better equipped to deal with frustrations and failures in life without falling into a feeling of helplessness. Instructing these basic skills thus provides the music educator with a foundation of content that creates a fertile environment for children to inquire and explore musical concepts.

How do we measure the mastery of music instruction content?

There is a trend in education that puts emphasis on evaluation immediately after the lesson has been offered. Often referred to as summative evaluation, this is sometimes appropriate in the case that the lesson contained a range of facts or skills to be reinforced. However, the thinking of a child cannot be measured through a matter of facts or skills. So how and when should a children’s music teacher evaluate or measure success of musical thinking? It’s important for teachers to share ideas on these questions, but at the end of the day they must decide for themselves what they believe is worth teaching. Teachers often struggle with this concept, especially in early childhood education. Even early childhood education researchers continue to hunt for the most appropriate questions to ask in evaluating outcomes. Over time, educators should take time to understand what they really believe is worth teaching and learning in the early childhood music education field, and then continue to establish ways to measure these most important qualities.

General educators, and specifically children’s music teachers, are faced with several challenging issues that warrant continued exploration and discussion. Through this series of blog posts, we have endeavored to investigate some of those topics that we have found to appear time and time again. It is important for educators to contemplate and reflect on these issues as a way to reinvigorate and renew their commitment to teaching. As these important topics endure, so should the internal considerations and peer discussions by early childhood music educators. The gift of music to a child is something that warrants the devotion of those that are asked to inspire and educate.

This series of articles are based on the article DEFENDING the MAGIC: CURRENT ISSUES in EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION, which appeared in Early Childhood Connections and written by Dee Joy Coulter, Ed. D. For more information on Dr. Coulter and her insights into early childhood music education, visit https://embraceyourbrain.com/    

Key Issues in Early Childhood Education: Approaches to Children’s Music Curriculum and Lessons

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Over the past several weeks, we have been delving into several key discussion topics or issues that early childhood educators face in the classroom. Much of this content is based on the observations and writings of neuroscience educator Dr. Dee Joy Coulter, Ed. D. The last installment explores how children’s music teachers can provide nourishment to children through soul, body, and mind, while feeding their developing and amazing frontal lobes. This next post will address the validity of two discussion issues related to children’s music curriculum and the role of lesson plans and content.

Discussion Topic One: The driving force behind music must be an elaborate curriculum with clear objectives and activities, for which content is the critical element.

Rudolf Steiner, Austrian scientist, thinker and founder of Waldorf Education, suggested in the early 1920s that parenting was quickly evolving from natural instinct to a more formal and conscious understanding. With all of the subsequent literature and available instruction available to parents today, it is plain to see that this prediction came to pass. This same evolution can be seen in the development of education, where carefully developed curricula with well-planned objectives and timelines of activities offer benefits to music educators and students alike.

However, it is important to understand that children are the critical element in the classroom, not the lesson plan. It is up to teachers to adapt and shift focus as needed based on each moment with students to provide the nourishment of mind, body, and spirit. Content and form represent only ten percent of the learning experience, whereas the “magic of the moment” represents ninety.

Discussion Issue Two: It is important to cover all the lesson plans in a timely manner or children will “fall behind.”

This is a longstanding conflict in the field of education – Do teachers educate or instruct? Do children unfold, or do they acquire knowledge? The root for the word educate is educare, and mean “to draw forth,” whereas the root word for instruct is instruere, meaning “to pile upon. While educating children, especially in music, there is a building process where we are adding knowledge and skills on top of one another. So, within reason we do tend to “pile upon them” rules and ways as they enculturate and prepare themselves to be new members of our culture.

However, if we are focused too completely on the time lines of learning particular content, children can quickly be overwhelmed. Staying attuned with what students are hungry for and offering them nutritionally sound material helps music teachers understand the next developmentally appropriate steps in the learning process. As early childhood music teachers, we want to leave children more inspired than exhausted.

As educators, we are often asked to place and emphasis on organization and metrics in the classroom. This is often done not for the purpose of the students or for education itself, but for outside stakeholders to have something to measure. We will tackle that discussion issue in our next and final installment. Many children’s music teachers already understand the lessons learned from the two issues discussed above. While well-designed curriculum and lesson plans have their benefits in children’s music education, teachers should stay attuned to the natural progression of each student and inspire them with nutritional offerings that feed mind, body, and spirit.

This series of articles are based on the article DEFENDING the MAGIC: CURRENT ISSUES in EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION, which appeared in Early Childhood Connections and written by Dee Joy Coulter, Ed. D. For more information on Dr. Coulter and her insights into early childhood music education, visit https://embraceyourbrain.com/   

How Early Childhood Music and Movement Classes Prepare Children to Learn Piano

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Part 1 – Through THE BODY

Children’s piano teachers often must “start from scratch” in teaching the child not just the keyboard, but all of the different facets of music. That is why many piano instructors will attest to how a child that has been involved with music education classes from an early age is often better equipped to learn piano, while doing so at a much greater pace. The benefits of introducing music to babies at the earliest stages of life are well known, and some of those same benefits can be applied to learning the piano. There are several reasons for this, which can be roughly broken down into the areas of Body, Mind, Spirit, and even Family/Community.

In the following months we will start to explore how participation in a children’s music curriculum, even at the earliest stages of infancy, help to set a strong foundation for learning any musical instrument later in life. The first facet of this strong musical foundation that will be examined regards the body.  

Dancing with scarves during a Musikgarten toddler class.
In Musikgarten classes movement is central to steady beat, language development, and expression.

How Body Awareness through Music Helps Children Prepare for Piano Lessons

During the first developmental period of birth through age six, children gain control and awareness of their bodies. As their rhythm and motor instrument, a well-coordinated body will provide the gross and fine motor skills a child will need to play the piano. A vital and natural part of this first stage of life, movement enables a child to communicate non-verbally  how they see the world.

Today, however, children are too often sitting – in front of the television, a computer screen, or in a car seat while busy parents run errands. This sedentary situation results in children having less control over their body movement at an early age. Music promotes movement, and purposeful movement through music responses help children with particular skills such as hopping or swinging, while also developing such musical skills as a sense of beat and meter.

  • Music and Movement Teaches Children a Steady Beat – Children experience their own internal pulse, which allows them to naturally recognize and adapt to the pulse of an external source. Infant movements such as rocking or bouncing is often in response to a beat, whether musical or otherwise. Through musical exposure and encouragement, these movements can be cultivated into the understanding of a steady beat.
  • Language & Movement Help Teach Musical Understanding – Impulse control is a vital ability that tells our body when and how to move. Musical games, like Walk and Stop which incorporate movement instructions, help children establish important connections between language and motor skill. Later in childhood, this developing self-control prepares children to enter instrumental lessons that require language-mediated movement.
  • Expressive Movement Supports Self-Awareness – Children delight in singing and dancing. When they are exposed to songs with purposeful movement and phrasing, they develop a sense of meter and how to feel the phrase through both music and movement. This relationship reinforces kinesthetic awareness and perception essential to self-awareness.
  • Simple Instruments Build Coordination and Concentration – Playing simple rhythm instruments, such as shakers, rhythm sticks, bells, or drums, serve as an excellent preparation for finger, hand, and arm coordination needed to play the piano. While whole-body control and coordination are gained through dancing and other locomotor activities, simple instrument playing supports upper-body control and finger dexterity. Learning body control, including quieting the body between beats, helps children’s ability to focus their listening and concentrate on the finger movements required in playing a musical instrument.

Learning body awareness and purposeful movement are important in the development of a child’s motor skills and coordination. Exposure to musical instruction at an early age, whether through purposeful movement or simple instruments, reinforce the steady beat, fine motor skills, and focused listening skills that will help them to approach keyboard instruction with a strong foundation.

This commentary is based on the article The Well-Prepared Beginner: Prepared in Body, Mind, Spirit, and Family by Lorna Heyge, Ph. D. Dr. Heyge is a pioneer in childhood music instruction, as well as a piano teacher of many years.

Music Literacy and the Second Stage of Child Development

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Merriam-Webster first defines literacy as simply “the ability to read and write,” but a second definition expands that to “knowledge that relates to a specified subject.” This is an important distinction, especially when considering childhood music literacy. In our next series of articles, we will explore how music literacy applies to the second stage of child development, specifically in playing the piano and instrument instruction. While most children’s music programs focus on music and movement in the first stages of development, many fall short of continuing the progress in the second stage of child development necessary to achieve music literacy.  

The Second Stage of Childhood Development

Developmental biologist Jean Piaget established the theory of phases of normal intellectual development from infancy through childhood. The second stage, which Paiget terms Concrete Operational, is where children’s thinking becomes less on themselves and more on their awareness of external events. Some experts argue that development is actually continuous, but Piaget did agree that the depending on the child, the age ranges could vary slightly. While Piaget defines the second stage of childhood development being from ages 7 to 11 years, our focus in this series of articles will focus on the 6 to 9-year-old child.

Ready to Face and Decipher New Challenges

From ages 6 to 9 years, the child has begun a new phase of development both physically and cognitively. They are eager to face fresh challenges and have a growing aptitude for the refined movement needed to play an instrument. Their sensory motor functions have been well-integrated over the last six years, and serve as a good foundation for abstract learning. They are starting to not be satisfied merely with knowing the name of an object, but having the desire to know the how and why of things. One result is that the child’s mind is now interested in symbols, patterns, and codes to explore. This in turn helps to develop an appetite for improvisation and cooperative learning with other children.

Children Love to be Part of a Group 

Beginning in the second stage of development, and sometimes earlier, children are self-aware and ready to become part of a group, especially with peers. A peer group setting becomes a place where the child can begin to learn rules, push limits, and test ideas. This important stage of identity has the benefit of teaching important social skills of how to work with others in teams.

Groups are considered very useful for learning things, as questions can be asked and addressed from different perspectives. This is why nearly all children’s education programs use group activities in the learning process. This is no different for childhood music programs. Children love being with and making music with others. The desire to contribute to the group requires deep concentration and absorption while teaching valuable lessons in cooperative learning.

Music Literacy through Children’s Group Keyboard Lessons

Learning the keyboard provides children with the cognitive challenges and group dynamic that they desire. Music literacy applied to piano playing is much more than reading and recognizing notation or finding the correct keys, but also gives meaning to those notes in a way that allows for composition and improvisation. It is a child’s desire to communicate that motivates them to further develop a deep relationship with the aural and written art of music. This aural approach to music literacy becomes the foundation which provides the child a delightful transition to the world of music notation and understanding. This aural-to-visual method of literacy allows children to understand and appreciate music in terms of its tonality, meter, and style, while further refining their ability to listen.

In our next installments, we will explore specifically how discovering the keyboard in a group setting can be very different from the mechanical drills and rote learning that traditional piano learning imposed.    

Much of the content for this post was based on the introduction to Music Makers: at the Keyboard, childhood music curriculum developed by Musikgarten.

The Role of Adults in Young Children’s Music Class

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Exploring the natural development phases of The Nature of the Young Child, we have shown how the first phases of life are crucial in how a child discovers independence. Our final part of this series explores the child’s home environment, and in particular, the role of adults in influencing the physical and psychological well-being of children. This is not merely limited to the role of parents, but also other caregivers and influential adults such as teachers of children’s music programs.

When we refer to environment in how it influences the development of the young child, we are not just referring to people, but include also the places and objects surrounding the child. However, the role of the parent or caregiver is an important model for the child. As children are introduced to new environments, they look to the guidance of their familiar people for a comfort level that allows them to explore new interactions. This is why parent/caregiver participation is so important in an early childhood music class. These may be one of the first classroom experiences of the child’s life, and the attitude the caregiver shares in the experience will influence the child’s attitude toward education and participation with others.

Suggestions for Adults in Young Children’s Music Classes

  • Take Time to Listen to Toddlers – While their language may not be fully developed, modeling respect for what they have to say will show them that it should be done for others.
  • Acknowledge and Respect – Recognize a child’s individuality and efforts that are being made in a respectful manner.
  • Speak Clearly and in Full Sentences – Baby talk is not helpful for language development, so use complete sentences and enunciate clearly to help them develop expressive ideas of their experiences.
  • Encourage  Them to Participate, Then Let Them Make the Choice – Offer an activity and acknowledge the child, but if they do not respond, move on and let them feel free to sit and observe.
  • Be Courteous in Modeling – Children between the ages of 2.5 and 4 love learning the precise movements of adults, so model courtesy when greeting others, handling instruments, putting things away, and saying goodbye.
  • Keep Things Orderly and Clean –  Keeping a musical environment clean, whether in the classroom or at home, makes a lasting impression.
  • Be Melodious in Movement and Sound – Being graceful and singing in a calming, pleasant demeanor enriches the musical experience for the child.
  • Children Love Ritual, Ceremony, and Consistency – Children need a predictable and comfortable structure from which to explore and experiment, but it’s important to relinquish control without abandoning the child during class.

Perhaps the most endearing quality of children is their never-ending sense of wonder and amazement. By observing and engaging the child while allowing them to discover things on their own, adults energize their curiosity and sensorimotor mode. In these moments of deep concentration and reflection is where we observe and nurture their wonder-filled discoveries and creativity.

Much of the content for this post was based on the introduction to Family Music for Babies and Family Music for Toddlers, an early childhood music curriculum developed by Musikgarten.

The Role of Music in Early Childhood Development

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In this third installment of our series on The Nature of the Young Child, we continue to explore how children learn during the first phases of life, and how the first three years in particular are critical. Based on the pedagogical philosophy of acclaimed educator Maria  Montessori to “follow the child,” there are several experiences that influence sensory and motor development for neurological organization. Caregivers and children’s music teachers can see how music has a role to play in this vital stage of childhood development.

Children Learn Through Movement

Once they have learned to walk, toddlers spend much of their time exploring the world around them. Any parent can tell you that they are constantly on the move, learning to obtain control of their body movements. As a prerequisite to cognitive learning, sensorimotor integration is one of the earliest ways that babies and toddlers learn about their world.  From reaching and grasping to crawling and walking, children are explorers by nature. Through repetition and practice, the toddler begins to unconsciously strengthen body to mind neural connections. Kinesthetic awareness, an inner sense that operates below the conscious level, contributes information about how the body feels as it moves. Such awareness is invaluable to all learning, including music – through movements such as clapping, tapping, bouncing, or dancing.

Listening is the Most Important Sensory Channel for Learning

Formed in utero, the ear is functional at four months after conception, allowing the fetus to begin hearing their mother’s breathing, heartbeat, digestion, talking, and singing. The ear is an organ that never rests, and listening is important to almost all aspects of learning – physical, social, emotional, and intellectual. Music helps children to focus their attention on familiar sounds, whether it is a lullaby sung by a parent or a children’s music class, and helps to teach appropriate interaction with adults and peers.

Shaping Language is the Child’s Great Work

 At the earliest stages of life, children understand that speaking is what constitutes communication in their world. Sounds that come from the mouth such as cooing are very fascinating to babies, eliciting excited responses that begin a back and forth form of communication. In the beginning, tone and inflection are even more important than the words themselves, and infants will imitate and practice sounds as they become excited about their own vocalizations. Music offers a very strong source of pleasure for children, as it soothes, elicits attention, and stimulates response. The rhythm, repetition, and rhyming of music all contribute to a child’s language development as they are allowed to sing to themselves, make up words, and silly noises.

Children Have a Natural Tendency for Order 

As children experience the massive amount of information coming through their senses, they begin to sort, order, classify and categorize. Remarkable because it is not based on any previous experience, this process helps children to understand their environment and how to put persons and things in their accustomed place.  Maria Montessori understood this, and once order is established around the age of 3.5 years, change is better tolerated in the external environment. Music participation and education also helps establish a sense of order through repetition and routine of familiar songs and movements.

Independence and Initiative are the Embodiment of Learning

As children develop through movement and language, they are also beginning to move from total dependence on their caregiver towards a growing sense of self. Parents fully understand the “strong will” of a toddler, and at around 2 years of age, they love to participate in self-chosen tasks. Insisting on completing tasks alone, toddlers are showing a desire to free themselves from dependency. Music can provide a valuable tool for children to explore their independence. For example, playing different developmentally appropriate instruments presents cause and effect as they see what sounds they can make with them.

Repetition is Essential to Learning 

Children love to repeat enjoyable experiences, and this is an important aspect of both learning and teaching. While allowing them to enjoy the experience over and over, the repeated action boosts both cognitive as well as muscle memory. Often with deep concentration, children repeat tasks of their own choosing until they have mastered it and established control. It is then that they look for other ways to put the actions to work. Music is a wonderful tool for providing children with both a repetitive learning task, but also a means by which to take those tasks and add their own creativity.

In the first years of life, children use these mechanisms to understand their world and grow to free themselves of total dependence on others. Music, along with movement, can provide caregivers and early childhood music teachers with powerful tools to assist in this crucial stage of child development. In our next blog, we will explore the role of adults in the child’s environment, and how to encourage these mechanisms for both the physical and psychological well-being of the child.  

 Much of the content for this post was based on the introduction to Family Music for Babies and Family Music for Toddlers, an early childhood music curriculum developed by Musikgarten.

Understanding the Nature of the Young Child in Teaching Music

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Maria Montessori, the acclaimed Italian physician and educator best known for the pedagogical philosophy that bears her name, once wrote “follow the child.” The statement is acknowledgement that children have their own particular pattern, of which careful observation is key to understanding in the classroom. Many childhood music programs approach and develop their curricula based on this philosophy. But the story, however, of each child begins even before the classroom – with the family in the home. At birth, babies are immediately exposed to a world of senses, each of which influences their process of self-construction. The environment in which they are submerged has a fundamental effect on the rest of the child’s life. Over the next several posts, we will explore how those early years are so formative, what influences that growth, and how the role of parents and caregivers is so important.

Phases of Childhood Development

Throughout time, psychologists and academics have sought to divide childhood development into phases, stages, or periods. Whether it is Piaget’s 4 stages of Cognitive Development, Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development, or Montessori’s Sensitive Periods of Development, each differs slightly from each other, either in behavioral approach or developmental milestones. But all of these agree that the most formative stages occur in the earliest part of life. While there is slight variation in the exact milestones, for discussion we can identify two major phases in childhood development:

Phase 1 – From birth to age three are years of intense activity and absorption.

Phase 2 – From age three to six years is a time to consolidate the gains from the first period

Whether cognitive or social, there is no more significant phase in human development than these early years, and even more influence is placed on the first three years of life.

A Child’s First Three Years are Critical

An incredibly complex stage of development takes place during the first three years of life, as a child becomes consciousness of being separate from others and builds competencies off of stimulating experiences. In the creative process from newborn to three-year-old, a series of transformations take the child from helpless infant to becoming a confident person in his or her own right. During this time they experience a growing sense of selfhood with an ability, through language as well as mobility, to communicate their individual needs and desires.

This formation is possible at a pre-conscious level because nature directs the development in the earliest stages of childhood. These are “critical” periods, where the developing child focuses on the necessary factors in their environment that direct the work of inner construction. The first three years of human life are so critical because it is a period in which intellectual growth rapidly occurs and cognitive functions are being established. Therefore, early experiences within an interesting and stimulating environment promote optimal development physically, emotionally, socially, spiritually and intellectually.

The Senses are the Child’s Window to the World

Even before they are born, babies have some senses in the womb. They can hear their mothers voice and music being played, they can also sense vibration when their mother rubs her belly, and often engage in self-touch as their skin gradually becomes more sensitive to stimulation. At birth, they begin to absorb their surroundings with enthusiasm during every waking moment. Through exploration and manipulation, sensory information (taste, smell, touch, vision, and hearing) is confirmed though movement. This sensorimotor exploration is a way for babies to learn without language and begin to develop the symbolic system that is the basis of concept formation and cognitive learning. In just three years, babies have organized what their senses have taught them in ways that encapsulate their own understanding.

The process by which infants and toddlers learn is based on an important and impressionable phase during the first three years of life. It is during this formative period that the child organizes information that has been gathered through their senses to begin to establish selfhood and identity. During this time and the next three years of life, several factors determine how the child will learn and grow physically, emotionally, socially, spiritually and intellectually. Continuing to explore the Nature of the Child, our next post will expand on the important factors that influence these critical formative years.

Much of the content for this post was based on the introduction to Family Music for Babies and Family Music for Toddlers, an early childhood music curriculum developed by Musikgarten.