Getting Real With Shadra Bruce

From the advent of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) to our current sorry state in education, many school districts are unable to meet the requirements of the demands placed on them. In order to improve reading scores with required remedial reading instructors and other tutors, programs like music education are having their budgets cut significantly or are no longer being offered at all. However, music is more than just a pretty sound; the importance of music in cognitive development has been the topic of much research in the last few decades.  Research has proven that music education provides many benefits for children beyond simple musical appreciation and musical knowledge.

The most astounding result of recent research is the relationship between music education and cognitive ability, for people of all ages. Music training actually changes the physical nature of the brain. While it’s been primarily debunked that exposure to music as a fetus provides any great benefit to  intelligence levels the impact music can have on academics is quite remarkable. What can you do to ensure that your child benefits from music? When your children are young, make sure music is a part of their daily life.  Encourage them to sing, to play instruments, to listen to music. As they progress to school age, encourage them to join choir or band as soon as it is offered.  Support music education in your community.

The benefits of music in cognitive development do not seem to diminish as your child ages.

One of the most significant areas of cognitive impact is in the area of mathematics. Children who are exposed to music and provided with music education may have improved spatial abilities; children provided with keyboard/piano training scored higher than those with other forms of musical education did. The importance of music education to mathematical ability is significant, and since math is one of the areas in which the United States continues to struggle against other countries.