Music And Child's Cognitive Development

Maleek would jump up anytime he heard papa and mama talk about young people at the beach or the amusement park. He had had serious trouble comprehending in class but loves to have fun. The first time he visited the amusement park he was so excited that he recounted every activity he was engaged in and even some other children's. 

During the developmental stages, a child should be studied to know how to nurture them. Parents, teachers and caregivers must know that all children can never be the same. 

Little wonder why the school curriculum developers have suggested several ways a child can be taught in the class, considering the abilities of the child. If pictures would serve, then use pictures. 

As far as education is concerned, no child is dull, only that method adopted in the teaching and learning process may not be in favour of the child's abilities. 

Usefulness of Music In Teaching A Child.

There are many benefits of using music to attract children. Please, as a parent, one must be selective of the kind of music to expose the child to. The lyrics of the song matter a lot here. Some musical content could be so disastrous to the mind of the child. In this picture, let's see the place of music in the developmental period of a child. 

Attraction:There is no hard and fast rule about the fact that music is magnetic. To get the mind of the child fixed at something, you can add music at the presentation of the idea. The child can be distracted by the flimsiest object, something they pursue shadows or nothing in particular. 

Hence, with music in the fore, you would arrest their attention and then learning can take place.  

Live Music: Aside from playing music with electronic devices, live performances (not necessarily staged art) can make children excited as much as it makes adults. The parent or teacher should always remember this fact, music or lullaby stimulate the cognitive domain of the child. 

As a teacher of about two decades, I have put on record the facts that connect with children and their learning abilities and found that not all children are geniuses but can be made geniuses if the right methods are adopted and at the right time. 

Music makes them happy like they are in a birthday party, they get delight and joy from it.

Sense of Affection: Since most children are from parents that are mixed, I mean by descent, playing music to a mixed breed creates a sense of belonging. This act unifies the home and the school and thus makes the child happy and at home. 

Only a happy child can be taught or can learn.

When a teacher includes music or songs of several cultures as part of instruction, the child whose culture is being transmitted feels elevated and motivated.

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Expands Imagination and Thoughtfulness:

Do you know that children tend to blab what they have heard in songs? Yes they do. And this helps them to develop the ability to be good listeners and great speakers too.

When music is played, the child applies the function of the ears to grasp the words and then speak it when the time comes. 

Brain Development:All the above works together to develop the child's brain. In a nutshell, the brain develops in levels and not at once, it comes day by day as activities pass by. 

Songs and rhymes help improve pronunciation and then build the vocabulary of the child. Overall, the child's cognitive ability tends to become stronger in reading, mathematics, and a lot more through continuous repetition of rhymes. 

There is also the auditory perception which comes as a result of listening by the child. When a child listens to sounds and is able to distinguish between the sounds, and manipulate the letters to form words, you will be glad the learning is already taking place. All this is the place of music to develop the learning abilities of a child.

Rhymes: These are very helpful notes of songs that help bring the child's understanding to the fore. A child can become the best when different rhymes are applied in the teaching-learning process. 

Finger rhyme for instance helps to build the fine motor skill of a child. It helps them to coordinate the use of their left and right hands.

Nursery rhymes and songs too are very helpful because they have repeated phrases that get stocked to the child's brain. These rhymes are about familiar things like animals and people, eg:

♪There two blackbirds,

Standing on the wall,

One named Peter,

And one named Paul…..

♪Black black black sheep, 

Have you any wool,

Yes I, yes I,

Three bags full….

Aside from the wording of this poem like rhymes, the melody makes the child want to sing again, picking the words and making them count for the rest of their life like it is for the author who just took a flashback to bring the rhymes up again after several years. 

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