Teaching Math with Music

02/22/2006

Education should not be the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.
William Butler Yeats

In an article free for the viewing on the home page of www.ChildCareExchange.com, Karen Sawyers and Janet Hutson-Brandhagen, provide some practical suggestions for teachers on how to improve children’s math skills through music. Introducing this idea they observe…

”As research reacquaints us with the many benefits of music, we need to be careful not to take music instruction too far with preschoolers. As early childhood educators we know how important it is to meet the children where they are and support them through age-appropriate learning experiences. We should avoid teaching children the fundamentals of music in an overly formal way. Instead, we should provide opportunities for children to explore the world of music in their own way and in their own time. It’s important to keep this principle in mind as we set up our classrooms and plan for music activities in the daily routine.

"To set the stage for music learning, each classroom needs a music area where there are rhythm instruments such as tambourines, jingle bells, drums, and maracas, and melodic instruments such as melody bells, step bells, and xylophones. Children need opportunities to use these instruments during times of day when they initiate their own activities (such as work time, choice time, or play time) as well as during teacher-planned small- and large-group times. As we work with children throughout the day there are many music activities that we can provide to develop the music-math connection in very natural ways.”

Contributed by Exchange, The Early Childhood Leaders' Magazine Since 1978

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