Learning music improves children's abilities and raises their IQs, study finds. A BERKSHIRE school has found the key to better learning and brighter, happier pupils. Some had really poor academic skills when they joined us, but are now doing well academically. Music motivates children and teaches them that if they work hard at something, they will get gradually better. But neuroscience shows that music can also change the structure of children’s brains.
Of all hobbies and activities, music is the only one that can increase children’s IQs by up to 7.5 points if they start and continue for six years. Even one year’s music training before the age of seven, when the brain is at its most malleable, can boost IQs by three points. Neural pathways are laid down before the age of seven and while you can still get the benefits later, they won’t be as “hard-wired” into the brain. You also have to do more than simply listen to music to get these benefits.
A two-year study by researchers at the Brain and Creativity Institute (BCI) at the University of Southern California shows that exposure to music and music instruction accelerates the brain development of young children in the areas responsible for language development, sound, reading skill and speech perception- https://musiceducationworks.wordpress.com/2016/06/19/a-childs-brain-develops-faster-with-exposure-to-music/
Music and Literacy: There is a Connection!
Music education also appears to accelerate brain development in young children, particularly in the areas of the brain responsible for processing sound, language development, speech perception and reading skills, according to initial results of a five-year study by USC neuroscientists. The Brain and Creativity Institute (BCI) at USC began the five-year study in 2012, in partnership with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association and the Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA), to examine the impact of music instruction on children’s social, emotional and cognitive development
Children Helping Children music program
Playing a musical instrument is a rich and complex experience that involves integrating information from the senses of vision, hearing, and touch, as well as fine movements, and learning to do so can induce long-lasting changes in the brain. Professional musicians are highly skilled performers who spend years training, and they provide a natural laboratory in which neuroscientists can study how such changes – referred to as experience-dependent plasticity – occur across their lifespan.
Music is such an important part of every child's education.
I have put together articles and research about the effect music has on our brains as young people and adults. Feel free to take a look and connect to the links.
