Kindermusik was fortunate to contribute a guest blog post on the Reading Rainbow blog. As our missions align in inspiring children through reading and music, we are grateful for this opportunity and are excited to share it with our community!
Special Guest Post: Kindermusik – Steady Beat: It’s more than just music!
You’ve been there. You’re driving in the car and you find yourself unconsciously nodding your head or drumming the steering wheel to the beat of the music you hear. Thanks to the steady beat of our hearts, we are naturally wired for responding to a steady beat. Even infants are born with the ability to keep a steady beat – their own internal beat, particularly after 9 months of hearing Mom’s heartbeat or her singing while in utero! However, the ability to consciously recognize and demonstrate steady beat takes practice, and can lead to far greater moments in child development.
Why steady beat matters in music, child development, and reading
The most basic property of music is steady beat: the underlying, unchanging, repeating pulse. If you’ve ever come to a Kindermusik studio class for toddlers, babies, big kids, or families, you’ll notice that we include a steady beat activity every week, in every age group from newborn to 7. It might involve instruments, reciting nursery rhymes, singing, dancing, lap bounces, rocking, or even tiptoeing.
There’s a reason for that.
We know that the capacity to identify and maintain a steady beat can be used for more than singing or playing an instrument.
For babies
Exposure to steady beat (hearing it, feeling it, “seeing it”, and being moved to it) is natural for babies, but very important for a their developing sense of steady beat and the world around them. An internalized awareness of beat and rhythm helps a baby to coordinate movements.
For 18 months through 3 years old
At this age, children are learning to control and coordinate their body’s movements. The ability to keep a steady beat helps them to walk with a smooth gait, leading to running, jumping, and dancing with confidence.
For preschoolers and early school-aged children
Steady beat competency is central to the development of movement organization, such as marching in time, dribbling and shooting a basketball, using scissors, and writing smoothly.
But that’s not all! The best thing about steady beat is its contribution to early literacy and language development.
An understanding of the concept of a steady beat helps a child speak and read with a smooth cadence, thereby enhancing communication abilities and reading comprehension.
After all, the same sense of steady beat experienced in music can be experienced when reading. Ever try reading a Little Blue Truck book without a sense of rhythm or steady beat? “Beep, Beep, Beep went the little blue truck!” just wouldn’t be the same without it! It’s no wonder that research shows children who can keep a steady beat score higher on reading assessments. They also rate higher on math tests and show stronger behavioral skills.
4 steady beat activities for families
As a child’s first and best teacher, parents and primary caregivers can set their child on a path to “go anywhere and be anything!” Try these activities together to reinforce a sense of steady beat and support a child’s emerging literacy skills:
1. MOVE: Turn on music and pretend to be a marching band. March, stomp or jump to the music. Dance with them around the room to the steady beat of the music.
2. Play Instruments: Use children’s instruments or make your own. Practice keeping a steady beat along with the music. Homemade drums (like a pot + wooden spoon) and instruments are great additions to your pretend marching band or family dance party!
3. Read and Sing Nursery Rhymes: Clap or tap along as you recite your child’s favorite rhymes.
4. Have a Steady Beat Treasure Hunt: Search for things that make a steady beat. The clock? Dripping water? Microwave timer? How many can you find?
Want to boost steady beat skills in a group music and movement class? Find one near you. You can also check out our rhythms sticks—a great instrument for practicing steady beat! For teachers, check out how you can infuse these steady beat activities into your day through one of our audio-led curriculum kits.
Reading Rainbow wants to thank Kindermusik for contributing to their guest blog on early literature and music. We appreciate their support in our mission to inspire a love of reading in children and connect them to the world they live in through quality literature so they can “Go anywhere. Be anything.“