Music is important part of child development

Children’s love for music often begins with bedtime lullabies and nursery rhymes.

And as they grow, music continues to play an integral role in every part of a child’s educational experience.

“The arts can completely change and energize the learning process for students,” said Kerri Quinlan-Zhou, director of fine arts for the New Bedford Public Schools. “It’s a powerful tool when you’re able to make connections between music and the arts and other core subjects.”

The power of music can be seen in school districts across SouthCoast, with each school system integrating music into students’ classroom experiences in different and unique ways.

“In the K through five grades, our teachers make a lot of connections between history and music,” said Dartmouth High School music director William F. Kingsland Jr.

“By integrating costumes and music, teachers can make the lessons more interactive for the students, and the concepts stick,” Mr. Kingsland said.

For example, students at the Quinn Elementary School in Dartmouth recently used music to learn about the different presidents.

“We try to cross over different subjects and disciplines as much as we possibly can,” Mr. Kingsland said.

Stan Ellis, who directs band programs at the Old Hammondtown School in Mattapoisett as well as at Old Rochester Regional High School, also points out the important role of music from the very beginnings of formal education.

“Younger children tend to learn quite a bit through repetition, and there is no greater example of the power of repetition than music,” said Mr. Ellis.

“Playing a musical instrument requires a lot of practice. It also helps them improve their hand/eye coordination and motor skills.”

Mr. Ellis also explained how music encourages language development, as well as scientific exploration.

“Working an instrument is very much a science — knowing what’s going on inside and how it works,” Mr. Ellis said.

And while music enriches students’ understanding of core academic subjects, its effects permeate other aspects of development, as well.

“The positive impact it has on a student’s self-esteem and level of social interaction is crucial,” Mr. Kingsland said. “When students are involved in music programs, they form a bond with other students who have similar interests. It helps build character.”

For Dartmouth High School senior Amy Medeiros, her involvement in all things musical has been invaluable, she said.

“Participating in band, indoor percussion and color guard has helped me academically, because it has taught me time-management,” Amy said. “Being involved in two activities in the winter (percussion and color guard), I had rehearsals every day except for Friday. With the intense practice schedule, I had to learn how to manage my time, and be responsible for completing all of my school assignments on time.”

She acknowledged there were sacrifices to be made.

“I had to give up watching TV and going online, so I could keep up with my school work. The time I would spend hanging out, doing nothing, I spent at practice. Being involved in various activities helped me to keep up my grades, because if I failed any course, I wouldn’t be able to perform, and could possibly get kicked out of the group.”

Amy said being part of Dartmouth’s music program has spawned other benefits, as well: “It has taught me team work, and self-discipline … and to succeed in anything I do. (It) helped me learn that if you put in the work, anything is possible. You will get rewarded for working hard.”

She has the payoff to prove it. On April 19, DHS’s indoor percussion group captured the gold in the Winter Guard International Percussion World Championships in Dayton, Ohio.

While she works with younger children, Hannah Moore, instrumental music teacher/band director at Marion’s Sippican School, said they are already learning the lessons Amy described.

“Producing music together is the ultimate team experience — your band sounds only as good as the musician next to you is playing. Kids support each other more than in almost any other venue,” Mrs. Moore said.

Beyond that, study after study has shown students involved in the arts do better academically than those who aren’t.

A decade ago, Dr. Anna Madison of the College of Public and Community Service at the University of Massachusetts produced an independent report on the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s YouthReach Initiative, which funded arts-based youth development programs for some of the state’s most at-risk pupils.

According to a report on the Cultural Council’s Web site, included in the research were extensive pre-program and post-program measures of student attitude, life skills and personal self-esteem. The quantitative data was supplemented with qualitative findings from focus groups of parents and young people themselves.

Reconnecting with the students five years later, the Cultural Council found, in part, that students in the arts program developed “crucial life skills that prepare (them) for college, the workforce and the world beyond.”

Participants also “experienced an increase in life skills, self-esteem, and personal self-efficacy.” In addition, they had more positive attitudes toward school, “a major indicator of academic success,” and many of the students subsequently went on to college.

For her part, Sippican’s Mrs. Moore sees “many different levels of answers” as to why students in the arts perform better in the classroom.

“Simplistically, kids learn that through regular practice (study), you achieve,” she said. “The results are obvious and tangible for a young player — it often motivates them to apply more efforts in other aspects of their lives.”

Mrs. Moore said that on a developmental level, “music reinforces intellectual growth through a wide range of psycho-motor channels. There is a cycle in playing an instrument: You see the music on the page, you physically feel your hands and/or face manipulating the instrument, your ears hear what you are producing and how it relates to the entire combined sound, and the cycle repeats itself as the music grows.

“As the cycle goes around and around, different parts of the brain are working. The child who is a poor reader suddenly begins to hear what is on the page. The child who struggles with numbers often relies on muscle memory. Because it is an event (music happens in time), there is a unique sense of ownership for students.”

Said Mrs. Moore, “I am still impressed with how different every student is, and it is still enormous fun for me to watch and learn from each of them as they learn to ‘play their ax.’ “.

Carol Nicholeris, assistant professor of elementary music education at the Burnell Elementary Laboratory School at Bridgewater State College, is equally strong in her feelings regarding the role music plays in education.

“I would even go as far to say that it’s more important than other academic subjects,” said Dr. Nicholeris. “It is an absolutely vital part of child development.”

Dr. Nicholeris, who has conducted extensive research regarding brain development and music, asserts that there is a biological component to music. Unlike other functions, such as speech, which are centered in certain parts of the brain, music crosses all areas of brain function.

“When you look at a person, we’re all essentially created like a piece of music,” Dr. Nicholeris said, noting that music predates language. “Rhythm, beat, sound, timing. They’re all in us and very much a part of everything we do.”

And a lasting part.

“Music, along with the other arts, are an integral part of every child’s education, from the earliest years right on up through high school and into college,” said Ms. Quinlan-Zhou.

“Parents should never underestimate the powerful role the arts play in their child’s education.”

By SARAH GONET

Posted on April 15th, 2008 by A child
Filed under: Child growth and development | No Comments »

Is tech good for children?

Daniel Tulao Sr. and his wife, Wilma, are debating whether to buy a cell phone for their young son, Daniel Jr.

The Union City couple would like him to have one so he can check in with them when they’re apart and to help find him when they’re picking him up from somewhere.

They’re not worried that he won’t know how to use it - he already has a computer in his bedroom, after all. Nor are they worried that he’ll abuse it by talking or texting too much.

“He’s a good boy,” Daniel Sr. says.

But they are worried that he may lose it. Daniel Jr. is, after all, only 8 years old.

The Tulaos’ dilemma is not only distinctly contemporary, it’s increasingly common. Thanks to a variety of incentives and pressures, parents frequently find themselves these days considering whether to buy high-tech gadgets such as laptops, MP3 players and, yes, cell phones for their kids. And they’re often facing those choices by themselves.

State laws generally restrict kids from driving alone until they are 16. Development experts recommend that kids shouldn’t watch TV or play on a computer until they’re at least 2. Many toys come with age-appropriate recommendations.

But try finding specific guidelines on when a kid is old enough to have a cell phone or their own computer. You aren’t likely to encounter them.

“Unfortunately, there are no hard-and-fast rules,” said Liz Perle, editor in chief of Common Sense Media, a non-profit organization that offers parents guidelines for technology and media use for kids. “They are just the rules of common sense.”

A big reason for lack of specific guidelines is the paucity of research on the long-term effects on children of these various technological gadgets. Researchers simply don’t know whether giving kids a laptop at age 6, say, will prepare them for the new economy - or inhibit them from learning needed skills.

“Technology is moving forward far faster than our capability to understand the implications of it (or) to understand the outcomes of it,” said Michael Rich, director of the Center on Media and Child Health at Children’s Hospital Boston.

Further complicating things is that children differ from each other in their maturity and readiness to be responsible with new technology. What’s more, opinion ranges from those who preach caution to enthusiasts who rave about technology’s benefits.

In Silicon Valley, for example, there’s a general sense that technology is beneficial overall and something that kids should be exposed to as early as possible.

Then there’s the pressure that kids themselves are under. Twenty years ago, teens felt abashed if they didn’t have the latest designer clothes. Now iPhones and other high-end gadgets convey coolness.

And with prices constantly falling, the devices have become more accessible, giving parents less reason to say no.

“Kids think (the technology) is a necessity. A lot of it is,” said Poonam Chabria, a Mumbai, India, resident who formerly lived in Fremont and was recently visiting the area.

Some experts agree.

“It’s myopic not to get kids into (technology) as soon as they are interested in it,” said James Daly, editorial director of Edutopia, a Web site and magazine run by the George Lucas Education Foundation. “Those gadgets are the tools of their age.”

But many child development experts are skeptical about how necessary it is for kids to have high-tech gadgets. While the devices may offer some benefits, they also offer potential problems.

Kids can use Internet-ready devices - which are becoming increasingly common - to access material parents may not want them to have, such as music with foul words, movies with racy scenes or even pornography. Kids who use them also run the risk of encountering cyberbullies or other online pests and predators.

But even if the young users don’t go online, high-tech gadgets can distract kids in school and detract from other activities.

“Technology can take up an extraordinary amount of time,” said Vic Strasburger, professor of pediatrics at the University of New Mexico. “You get kids that are texting an hour a day, plugged into their iPods an hour a day, watching YouTube. How much time does that leave for the family, for parents, to walk the dog?”

And in spending so much time with technology, kids risk missing out on other, more important skills, such as becoming socialized and learning how to learn, Rich said.

As Don Shifrin, clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington put it, “Your basic job as a child is to be a child, not to be an electronics expert.”

Still few experts would recommend that parents bar their kids from having any kind of gadget at all. Many think kids can benefit from high-tech devices if they’re mature enough to use them responsibly.

Parents should learn about all the features and capabilities of the devices they are considering buying, experts say. They should think about not only how they want their kids to use the devices, but how the kids might use them.

And they should consider what parameters they’ll need to place on the device’s use, from barring texting at dinnertime to putting content filters on the computer.

“You have to draw guidelines. You have to assess your child’s maturity,” Perle said.

Finally, experts say parents need to realize that they can say no. Their kids may not be old enough or mature enough to have particular devices or to care for them properly. In the long run, they’re most likely not going to be hurt if they get a cell phone at age 18 rather than age 8.

“Parents should not get so seduced by bells and whistles of technology to think that a laptop is better for (their kids) than playing in the sandbox, because it’s not,” said Rich of Children’s Hospital in Boston. “It’s just a different experience and should be placed in context with all the other experiences that are necessary for a healthy balanced life.”

http://www.mercurynews.com/

Posted on April 5th, 2008 by A child
Filed under: Child growth and development | No Comments »

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