How Music Can Promote and Combine Play Time and Education
Music is an all-around universal education tool that can be utilized for both learning and entertainment, giving children the ability to be creative while also learning valuable skills and traits to assist them throughout life.
During this difficult and trying time dealing with COVID-19, where most parents are teaching their children from home, it is important to remember to include music education within your curriculum, so that your children foster their talents and learn valuable life skills. It can be difficult to find a balance between music being playful while also contributing to educational purposes, but music can and does do both.
Language Learning and Socialization
Music education promotes learning language patterns, sounds, and words at an early age. Small children hear music and mimic what they hear, not even realizing they are already beginning to learn a language. Parents are the first teachers of music and language, building upon natural instincts they don’t even realize they have taught their children straight from birth when singing lullabies to soothe, calm and show love. Music and song are usually the first introductions to language that a child has.
As your children grow, learning how to socialize with others is a key aspect of development, and music is a great educator here as well. Children can relate to one another and bond together in a really fun way singing songs, dancing, or even participating in musical activities together, like banging on pots and pans. Socializing through music is a great way for very young children to start in their development.
Confidence Building and Expression
As children start to learn fear and instinctively hold back, music can help to promote that boost of self-esteem while also giving entertainment value. Music teachers in education strive to create a safe environment for children to express themselves, as music evokes and promotes emotion and freedom of expression. They allow children to make mistakes without the fear of judgment or criticism. This actually helps them to learn constructively from their mistakes and improve upon their skills, so that they will continue to work hard and open up.
When children master a difficult piano piece or sing a challenging song with ease, they are provided with self-confidence and satisfaction. Those happy feelings usually will lead to more expressiveness and more risk-taking, all while still making sure to enjoying and appreciate the creative process that music gives them.
Combining Dancing With Exercising
Music has other ways to entertain while also providing good education and practical tools for children. Dancing is a way for kids to not only enjoy music but also get physical exercise. A simple dance class can give children the benefit of education in learning how to work closely with others and collaborate within teams, while also understanding rhythm and body movement.
Mastering a New Skill
If you’re stuck on how to start implementing educational music into your child’s life during these difficult times from home, especially if you are not particularly musically-inclined, consider having your child take online lessons from a professional teacher.
Arguably, the best introduction for children to learn music would be through personalized online piano lessons. The piano is a great beginner’s instrument and can help children to learn music theory and terms associated with key signatures or note lengths. It is also very fun to learn how to create chords and play simple tunes. The one-on-one attention is also great for fostering your child’s development to help them improve greatly upon their skills, while utilizing time during their day not focused on a tablet screen, watching tv, or playing video games.
Music Education is Fun Too
Combining learning with fun can be a difficult task, especially when the subject itself tends to be more towards education and less on the “fun.” This isn’t the case with music though! Do some research and you will find that there are numerous studies demonstrating how music gives children many benefits when used for education and entertainment that can be beneficial in both academics and in life.
Do not focus on the entertainment aspect of music, but rather on the rewards your children will obtain that stem from a musical education background. They will not realize they are learning because they will be having fun!