Music From Birth
Music: Brain Power for Your Child
Scientific research shows that music has a very powerful effect on your child’s brain development, right from birth. A child’s brain develops by connecting neurons (or brain cells) and strengthening those pathways once connected. The actions of listening to music and being involved in musical experiences helps make the connections and strengthens existing ones. When you combine music with movement, the benefits are radically leveraged and with repetition, they are strengthened. Children that are exposed to music and movement find it easier to learn later in life because their brain has been given a boost.
Even with an understanding of the leg-up that music and movement can deliver, parents themselves are not naturally equipped with the tools and confidence to create the musical environment and make it a continuous part of their child’s everyday life.
How can you enrich your child’s life right from birth?
Our earliest development starts with our senses, touch and hearing are the strongest senses for a newborn. Gentle music for newborn babies combined with massage, touching from top to the extremities, rocking in time to the music all provide the initial learning experiences for your child. Lie your child on the floor and gently move their arms and legs and arms, stroking their palms and soles to encourage the reflex movement. Reflex is the first involuntary movement that infant brains learn to control.
The secret for newborns is gentleness and slow movements. Baby needs more time to process these new sensations. For the first 3 months, your learning is as important as your child’s; making music the norm, not the exception. Remember, repetition is the key.
Does musical education change as a child grows?
Yes. Just as a child of 3 years has a lot of control over his or her movement that are not possible for a new born. The assistance and guidance of the parent changes as a child’s learning and development grows, but parents still need to be actively involved. Parents use music as entertainment or an education activity if they want their child to be musical. While they see the child having fun, two other reasons for providing music are:
• Providing a learning environment for cognitive and physical skills such and fine motor skills (clicking castanets, clapping)
• Developing the foundation mental capabilities based around memory and mathematics (sequences, direction, language.
Brain scans show that a child’s brain is more active when music is playing. While the parents role with a newborn is obvious, as our child grows, it is imperative that the parent does not leave the child’s musical brain growth to early learning institutions in isolation. As parents we understand that we must provide our child with quality nutrition for their physical development right from birth and continuing through childhood. The same applies for music and exercise; you cannot leave the responsibility to your early learning and education providers if your child is to flourish.
The challenge for our modern environment is to provide resources and confidence that parents can reliably use and fits into the modern lifestyle. It must be simple, easily accessible, structured and to the point. If we want parents to give their children the best possible start in life, then those resources must be simple to pick up and use for 5 minutes a day.