“Early experiences with music that are successful and fun prepare
children to be successful in other areas of learning, particularly
math.”* Research is showing that music has the power to jump-
start your child’s brain, including triggering the areas of the brain
used for mathematics.
Why? Like your toddler, music doesn’t stand still. When your child
plays an instrument or listens to a catchy tune, her brain is
constantly being challenged to process and make sense of the tune
and the rhythm.
What’s great is that all that neurological exercise can be playful
and fun! The activities in Kindermusik classes have been carefully
constructed to leverage all the findings from the latest and
greatest scientific research on the links between music and math.
So, how does that work?
GEOMETRY: Space and Shapes
What is it?
Geometry before age three? You bet! Toddlers learn geometry
through their eyes, hands, and bodies as they crawl through
tunnels, run around corners, and stack boxes. Your little
explorer gains spatial sense as she experiences how her body
moves in relation to objects and structures in the world. As she
moves “my body” and “my things”, she starts to show her
understanding of location and position by using or understanding
words like on, off, under, below, in and out, and of distance by
using words like near, far, and next to.
Geometry concepts keep popping up as your child explores objects
that are different shapes. As he plays with blocks, your child learns
that some objects are similar to others in their shapes: some are
rounded, some have corners; some fit under the door, some get
stuck! Just past the age of three, your child may begin to represent
shapes as visual images in his mind, and then move them around
mentally. This is called spatial-temporal reasoning, and is
important not just for chess champions, but for math and science
understanding too.
As your toddler gets toward preschool age, scientists say you’ll see
some surprising benefits of making music. Children who participate
in music instruction, including Kindermusik classes, show stronger
spatial-temporal reasoning skills than those without music
instruction. Research shows that with training, even children as
young as two can demonstrate surprisingly advanced skills in the
area of spatial reasoning.
What is it about music instruction that improves these specific
geometry skills? In your toddler’s brain, certain neurons are
actively firing as she plays rhythms on the drum. The same brain
pathways that are created by this music-making are used for
more complex spatial-temporal geometry tasks.
What You Can Do at Home
* Yummy Shapes. Point out the shapes around your kitchen
or dining room, especially those on your toddler’s plate.
Point out the round banana slice or triangle-shaped tortilla
wedge. Or, offer your child the choice of square or triangular
toast pieces.
children to be successful in other areas of learning, particularly
math.”* Research is showing that music has the power to jump-
start your child’s brain, including triggering the areas of the brain
used for mathematics.
Why? Like your toddler, music doesn’t stand still. When your child
plays an instrument or listens to a catchy tune, her brain is
constantly being challenged to process and make sense of the tune
and the rhythm.
What’s great is that all that neurological exercise can be playful
and fun! The activities in Kindermusik classes have been carefully
constructed to leverage all the findings from the latest and
greatest scientific research on the links between music and math.
So, how does that work?
GEOMETRY: Space and Shapes
What is it?
Geometry before age three? You bet! Toddlers learn geometry
through their eyes, hands, and bodies as they crawl through
tunnels, run around corners, and stack boxes. Your little
explorer gains spatial sense as she experiences how her body
moves in relation to objects and structures in the world. As she
moves “my body” and “my things”, she starts to show her
understanding of location and position by using or understanding
words like on, off, under, below, in and out, and of distance by
using words like near, far, and next to.
Geometry concepts keep popping up as your child explores objects
that are different shapes. As he plays with blocks, your child learns
that some objects are similar to others in their shapes: some are
rounded, some have corners; some fit under the door, some get
stuck! Just past the age of three, your child may begin to represent
shapes as visual images in his mind, and then move them around
mentally. This is called spatial-temporal reasoning, and is
important not just for chess champions, but for math and science
understanding too.
As your toddler gets toward preschool age, scientists say you’ll see
some surprising benefits of making music. Children who participate
in music instruction, including Kindermusik classes, show stronger
spatial-temporal reasoning skills than those without music
instruction. Research shows that with training, even children as
young as two can demonstrate surprisingly advanced skills in the
area of spatial reasoning.
What is it about music instruction that improves these specific
geometry skills? In your toddler’s brain, certain neurons are
actively firing as she plays rhythms on the drum. The same brain
pathways that are created by this music-making are used for
more complex spatial-temporal geometry tasks.
What You Can Do at Home
* Yummy Shapes. Point out the shapes around your kitchen
or dining room, especially those on your toddler’s plate.
Point out the round banana slice or triangle-shaped tortilla
wedge. Or, offer your child the choice of square or triangular
toast pieces.
* Dance, Dance, Dance. Use scarves or streamers to wave
in and out, near and far. Sing out the words, then see if
your child can be the dance teacher telling you what to do.
* Rainy Day Playground. Encourage your toddler to climb
over and under pillows and cardboard boxes and sheets turned
into tunnels. See how her body fits in these new creative spaces!!
—
* Sawyers, K. & Hutson-Brandhagen, J. (2004). Music and Math: How do we make the connection for preschoolers? Child Care Information Exchange, July/August 2004. For all other reference citations and a full version of this paper, please visit us at www.kindermusik.com/benefits.
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