Did you know that by age five children have already developed preferences for certain kinds of music? All children are musical. Their musical development depends largely upon the musical environment they encounter beginning in infancy.
To process musical knowledge, our minds are required to think in different ways than they do for math and reading. Their musical development begins in infancy just like their language development. For our children, we need to sing and play music for them just like we practice talking to them.
Music has rhythms that can be used to help children with large motor skills such as running, jumping, hopping, and skipping. Children can also participate in song games that explore small motor coordination and movement, such as Farmer in the Dell.
Each time a child hears or sings a song, he is experiencing vocabulary, sentence structure, and flow of language. There are many books available that include songs along with the text. Some include Abiyoyo, I Know an Old Lady and Clap Your Hands.
Music can be used in your home to aid your children in math and science concepts. You can discuss sound, vibrations, pitch, etc. with your children. Many patterns can be found in the rhythm and tempo of the music.