rhythm Archives - Minds On Music – The Kindermusik Blog

Why Clapping Is the Unsung Hero of Early Development + Activity Ideas

A 3-year-old boy claps to the beat during a Kindermusik class. Clapping is a foundational tool for early development.

Clapping is generally perceived as a tool for keeping time with the music or showing appreciation as applause. However, the biological and neurological effects of this simple motor activity reach far beyond songs and ovations, enhancing self-regulation, reading skills, handwriting proficiency, and speech processing.

Take a look at what’s happening in our brains and bodies when we clap, why it is so intrinsically connected to early childhood development, and initial steps you can take to help children harness the power of their hands.

How Music Affects the Science of Reading

A mother taps out a beat to a song in Kindermusik class. Practicing steady beat is one way to support the science of reading.

The Science of Reading is kind of a buzzword these days in the early education and parenting worlds, but what does it really mean and what role does music play?

In a nutshell, the Science of Reading is a catch-all term for the massive amounts of research that look at how our brains learn to read through decoding, phonemic awareness, and more. It doesn’t just happen, it’s science, and educators around the world are tapping into its framework.

What might be missing from traditional classrooms and at-home efforts? Music!

Why Rhythmic Repetition Is Key to First-Year Language Development

Parents use early repetition by pointing to image and repeating its name with baby.

What can rhythmic repetition do? Encourage that first word, first sentence, first conversation. Repeating yourself through song or chant during the first year makes repetition less of a task and more of a joy, and babies will latch onto those joyful moments.

What science says about repetition and rhythm…

Research gives insight into the kind of caregiver-baby verbal interaction that can best spur early language development, so that by the time babies become toddlers, they have a larger vocabulary, stronger comprehension skills, and sharper speech abilities.

Got Rhythm? Rhythm Skills Could Predict Reading Disabilities

Do you know the old jazz standard by George and Ira Gerswin: “I’ve Got Music. I’ve Got Rhythm…Who could ask for anything more?” Well, apparently all that music and rhythm brings even more than a really good dance number by Gene Kelly. New research implies that young children’s rhythm abilities before they can read may eventually help doctors predict future reading disorders.
An ongoing study by Nina Kraus indicates that a preschooler’s ability to follow a rhythm and keep a steady beat can accurately predict early language skills and reading skills. While this is only the beginning of a five-year study, the team plans to track the participants to determine whether these rhythmic and steady beat abilities (or lack thereof) can predict later reading disorders, even with children as young as newborns.
“Detection this early could lead to intervention strategies such as music games to improve at-risk children’s rhythmic perception when their brains are most malleable,” says neurologist Gottfried Schlaug of Harvard Medical School in Boston in a press release.

We already know that early childhood music instruction:

Improves phonological awareness
Refines auditory discrimination
Increases auditory sequencing ability
Strengthens listening and attention skills
Enhances speaking skills
Heightens oral language development
Enriches vocabulary

Take a peek inside a Kindermusik classroom to see young students reading and playing rhythm patterns:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IEm17m3evI[/youtube]

Learn more about the connections between music and reading at www.Kindermusik.com.

Contributed by Lisa Camino Rowell, a freelance writer in the Atlanta area.

Why Steady Beat Matters + How to Assess It

A teacher engages her preschool class in mimicking drum taps to test steady beat competency.

You know that thing that makes you want to rock, sway, clap, or tap to the music? That’s steady beat—the ongoing, repetitive pulse that occurs in songs, chants, and rhymes.

But it’s more than just an ideal skill for dance or instrument lessons—steady beat is a critical aspect of early childhood development that affects everything from walking, to reading, to dribbling a basketball.

Continue reading “Why Steady Beat Matters + How to Assess It”