By Vivian Cain
Music is essential to your child’s development, as Dr. Maria Montessori discovered many years ago when developing the Montessori curriculum.
Music helps children develop skills in communication and self-expression. It brings joy to the Montessori classroom and is instrumental in developing a child’s basic math and literacy performance. Best of all, children of any age and at any level can benefit from music in the classroom.
At Maria Montessori International Academy, we offer musical education for every age for those and many more reasons. Here are a few ways music education plays a part in MMIA’s programs for any age.
Music enhances a child’s brain development. Dr. Maria Montessori’s approach begins with recognizing your child’s sensation development periods and introducing experiences that coincide with them. During your child’s first three years, music helps build connections between brain cells that boost your child’s cognitive development.
Music helps children understand and communicate their emotions. Children can experience difficulty expressing their emotions. At MMIA, we use music as a tool to help children understand and express their feelings.
Music helps develop your child’s spatial skills. How can music help your child build spatial reasoning and math proficiency? It’s simple. Music is all about patterns. It involves ratios, proportions and even basic math skills. When children participate in playing music rather than simply listening to it, parents and educators have seen the performance in math and spatial reasoning jump significantly.
Music is a mood booster. Ever notice that no matter how you feel, there seems to be a song that reflects your emotions? Music brings joy to you and your child alike. From birth, children react to music. Your child may begin to breathe more rapidly, smile or vocalize, or make movements that one could argue closely resemble dancing. All of these are physical signs of happiness.
At Maria Montessori International Academy, we believe an early appreciation of music sets the foundation for your child to experience joy and express their emotions.
