The fact that children can make beautiful music is less significant than the fact that music can make beautiful children.” –Cheryl Lavender
It's Music Monday during NAEYC’s Week of the Young Child, a celebration that goes beyond simple singing and dancing. Music Monday encourages children to be active while simultaneously developing critical early literacy, math, and emotional skills—all through the joy of play!
Music is a powerful tool. It brings joy, inspires creativity, stimulates memories, and creates deep connections. Critically, it promotes overall brain development by building neural pathways that improve cognitive functioning. Music is one of the few activities that engages both the logical and creative sides of the brain, forging essential connections that enhance the speed of thought and information processing.
The connection between young children and music is completely natural. From birth, newborns respond to music, either by wiggling happily or being soothed to sleep. Toddlers communicate in musical tones and easily repeat lines from familiar songs. Preschoolers naturally alter their voices during dramatic play and quickly build a repertoire of favorite songs. In early childhood settings, educators intentionally use music for many purposes. For example, songs and rhymes are used to expand a child’s vocabulary, which supports their communication and efforts to learn to read and comprehend. Furthermore, the steady beat, rhythm, and melody inherent in music are fundamental mathematical concepts.
Interested in learning more about the RPS205 Early Childhood opportunities for families with children Birth-age 5? Visit https://www.rps205.com/o/rps/page/early-childhood or call the Early Childhood Screening and Placement Office at 815-229-2103.
Hillary Cook-Harris is the Director of Early Childhood Curriculum and Assessment. Hillary joined RPS 205 in November 2019. She has been an Early Childhood educator and director for more than 30 years.
