By Mrs. Denie Riggs

Early Childhood Music® ~Give Them the Best Start

Founding Director

In our hastening society, we search for anything that can enhance our children’s lives, especially in the area of academics.  Frequently we ignore the simple in search of the complex.  Academic and musical researchers indicate that the greatest enhancer of our children’s brain is right under our nose… music.   

More specifically, participating with music.  There are three levels of musical participation and the corresponding benefits increase as the musical involvement increases. 

The three levels of musical participation are:

1.     Listening to music, especially Preferred Music

2.     Singing music

3.     Actively participating in music, especially at the piano or keyboard.  

When we simply listen to certain styles of music, our entire being is changed and enhanced.   In our preschool curriculum, I call this enhancing style “Preferred Music.”  (To be covered in another blog.)

The benefits of listening to Preferred Music are amazing for our spirits, souls and our bodies, but here are a few benefits of listening to Preferred Music that directly relate to academics:

ü Listening to Preferred Music while studying increases the academic retention and recall for students, thus producing better grades.

ü Listening to Preferred Music increases our abilities to spell, recite poetry, memorize and to speak foreign languages.

ü Language and mathematics grades were greatly accelerated in students who were exposed to Preferred Music at school.  The research is so strong that many governmental funded daycare centers require it daily.   

The benefits of music increase with the involvement. 

The second step of musical participation involves singing.  There are many studies that prove that singing enhances academic retention.   A song my children sang in their childhood included the lyrics, “Sing it and you’ll never forget it.”  That is so true. 

How did you learn your ABC’s?  I still walk to the filing cabinet humming, “A, B, C, D, E, F, G…” If your child is struggling trying to learn something, put it to music and sing it!  There are songs that teach the colors of the rainbow in order, the months of the year, the days of the week, the Books of the Bible, etc.  Be creative, write your own!

The third step of musical participation involves a musical instrument.  I call this engagement active participation.  Again, the benefits increase substantially as all parts of the brain are engaged and as the hand-eye coordination is involved.     

Listen to these documented facts:  

ü The piano is the number one instrument for brain function enhancement. 

ü When a person plays the piano and sings, the right and left hemispheres of their brain flow together, formatting the brain for orderly storage and retrieval of information, so students easily get good grades.  

ü When a person from six to senior citizens plays the piano and sings, his/her brain is formatted for orderly storage and retrieval of information for four or five hours; therefore, students who practice the piano in the mornings tend to get better grades than those who do not.

ü When a person under the age of five plays the piano and sings, his/her brain wires differently, linking hemispheres and there-by creating higher brain function that remains for the rest of his/her life. This is the power of our Early Childhood Music® program.

ü More musicians are admitted to medical school than biochemistry majors… the percentage is huge: 33% to 66%.  Ask your doctor what instrument he/she played; chances are they are a musician.

American students are in trouble academically.  During the last few decades American student’s ratings has dropped in international studies.  In 2003, our American seniors ranked only 18^th in the top 21 nations in academics of math, reading and science, yet we spend many times more money on education than any other country. 

The top nations in academic excellence have mandatory music requirements for their students.  They participate in music before their studies. By doing so, their brain is formatted for orderly storage and retrieval of information… thus they get good grades. 

In our American educational system, music programs have been cut while sports and computers programs have been enhanced.  While those programs may be wonderful and valid, we have removed the one thing that enhances academics… music.

Perfect Praise, Inc. has developed a preschool piano program that works.  It is fun, parent-based and interactive.  It involves movement and worship in a loving, positive-peer pressure environment, that accelerates the learning process. 

Our Early Childhood Music program involves all three levels of musical participation:  listening to music, singing and active participation at the piano.   We have tracked the academics of our Early Childhood Music® graduates since 1998.  

This is what we found: 

ü Almost all of the children who have enrolled in our Early Childhood Music® program before the age of five get straight A’s in Math, Reading and Science at the time of their graduation.  (We’ve had a just a few B’s out of hundreds of students.)

ü Most graduates read at 4 and 5 grade levels above their peers.    

ü Our graduating students are leaders in their school, in their churches, and in their communities. 

ü They are not afraid to speak or perform to an audience or large assembly. 

ü Many of our graduates are currently serving in their schools and churches as amazing pianists, band members, on drama teams and in orchestras. 

There is amazing power in music. Music is fun …it soothes us and brings us joy … while it enhances us spirit, soul and body.  Let’s tap into its boundless resources and watch the next generation soar!

Mrs. Denie Riggs

Founding Director

Early Childhood Music®

Contact information:

Perfect Praise, Inc.

P.O. Box 18008

Huntsville, AL 35804

 (256) 348-6634

www.earlychildhoodmusic.net

MsDenie@earlychildhoodmusic.net

Resources: Mozart Effect, by Don Campbell

                   Tomorrow’s Baby by Dr. Thomas Verny

                   U.S. Department of Education

National Education Testing Special Report, February 25, 1998

That You Don’t Want to Close!

by

Mrs. Denie Riggs

September 13, 2011

The weather is cool this morning.  At 6:30 a.m. it is 68’, the high for the day, and the temperature is supposed to drop to 48’ by sundown!  Wow, I love this kind of weather.   I’m sitting here next to my  open living room window, enjoying the fall breeze. 

Don’t you love windows?  I believe that a house can’t have too many windows.  Windows let in fresh air and sunshine; they expand our world beyond our little space, adding joy and life to our world. 

There are windows in early human development that expand our children’s abilities. When we interact with these open windows, we find opportunity to create amazing characteristics in our children; including those excelling in academics, soaring in leadership and rising above their peers in every area of their young lives.  These windows are God-given gifts and are vital to the enriched development of our children, yet many of us are unaware of their existence.    

The first open window is Ear Training.  Ear Training is the ability to hear, sing and match pitch.  The ability for Ear Training is a God-given gift that EVERYONE is born with; yet many of us have stood next to someone at church who sings totally off pitch.  What happened to their gift?  That person was probably not in a musical environment before the age of six/seven years, when the window for Ear Training closes.  Being involved in singing and matching pitch in the early preschool years develops this God-given gift before the window shuts.  Once in place, Ear Training lasts for the rest of your child’s life, giving a boost to all musical endeavors.

We have all noticed that babies move to music’s beat, actively demonstrating Natural Rhythm, the second God-given window of the preschool years.   Music researchers show that babies as early as sixteen weeks gestation experience the beat of mom’s environment, and her music choices actively affect her baby’s development… for the good and for the negative.   (That’s another article.  J See our website: www.prenatatalmusic.net  for more information.) The window for Natural Rhythm closes around age six/seven years, resulting in timing and rhythm being the NUMBER ONE trouble spot for musicians who have not been brought up in a musical environment.   Preschool children have no difficulty with rhythmic timing and when trained, continue their enhanced rhythmic skills throughout their life.

The third preschool open window is Brain Wiring.  An eight-month old baby has more neural synapses seeking paths to wire than at any other age.  The activities that baby experiences in the preschool years connect these paths resulting in higher brain function.   These musical activities need to include rhythmic bouncing and keeping baby in a stimulating musical environment… that includes the piano!  Yes, even for the babies! 

The piano is the number one brain function enhancer for individuals of all ages.  When a person plays the piano, the right and left hemispheres of their brain cross over and link, enabling orderly storage and retrieval of information for four/five hours after practice.   So your school-age children need to practice music before they go to school.

But the incredible part of preschool piano lessons is that the enhanced wiring of the brain’s hemispheres links permanently for the rest of that child’s life; resulting in higher academic grades,  more incidence of college scholarships, children who are not afraid to stand up for themselves, exhibiting leadership qualities even from their very first days at school. 

Oh! Let’s not forget… that these three open windows, when engaged in preschool piano lessons, create incredible musicians. 

This past weekend we honored thirteen seven-year olds ECM graduates from our Huntsville AL schools.  From this group, two were reading at 7^th grade level and the rest were reading at 4^th -6^th grade level.  They all were honor-roll and straight A students.  They are all leaders in their schools, recently honored for this and that… amazing stuff!  They each performed a ten-minute concert at the grand piano, playing in five keys and transposing.  They also performed their own originally composed song.  It was incredible.

This banquet was a wonderful climax to their time spent with Early Childhood Music; but even more, what a wonderful testimony to their development during their open windows.  These children are changed for life. 

Well, it’s time to shut my living room window and get ready to head to my teaching job with Early Childhood Music.  But, the next time you open your windows, be reminded of the incredible windows of opportunity that are yours today with your precious preschool children or grandchildren.   

Be sure to make every day count!

Written by Michael Riggs 

August 31. 2011

This journal was written by Michael Riggs, President of Perfect Praise, Inc, as he returned from his second trip to Haiti to start an Early Childhood Music school there.  This is a MUST READ!

"We got back last Monday night at about midnight… so sorry it's taken so long to get this report to you. I thought I would journal my trip with all the highlights and then make that into an email report, but with my normal work schedule after I got back it's taken way too long, so I'll send this brief summary.

 Haiti looked very green this time… When we were there in March I spoke on what I call the "cycle of praise" from Psalm 67 where God says that if we will worship and praise Him, lifting our hands in surrender, then the earth will yield forth that which it was made to give. I stated that if they would make that a lifestyle they would see Haiti become a very green place. For years I've heard about how brown and dry and barren Haiti is. Leaving in March I saw the difference in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the same island but two different nations, one brown and one very green and lush. I actually took pictures from the plane. This time Haiti looked green from the sky, just still needing to grow many more trees. I hope this is a trend… pray that it continues.

 There was a huge amount of turbulence entering Haiti… we flew in on a small DC 10 with Mission Flights Int. and at a much lower altitude instead of the normal jet, but I can't help but relate this to the opposition and shear confusion involved with entering Haiti to do anything for God's Kingdom. We also experienced utter chaos and opposition getting past customs, through the crowd of people and into our van that was waiting on us. It was kinda crazy… we waited and waited to get 3 carts to push all our equipment, keyboards, etc… thru customs and to the van.  God gave great favor in Haiti with customs and we only had to pay 18% duty on the equipment ($208) as opposed to what could have been near 100%… (that's what it cost in Antigua).

 Once we got thru customs we then had amazing chaos getting our equipment thru the parking lot (and the Haitian crowd, though an orderly one) and to our ride. It's funny looking back on it… it was very frustrating then. At PAP airport they have these guys called "red caps" ('cause they wear red hats) who want to help with your luggage for tips. Our red hat was a guy named Wislet, the one who met us last time. He's the only one who knew who our ride to Jacmel was (3 hours away over the mtn). I was not about to go into the parking lot with anyone else, because there were what looked like 200 vans also wanting our business. After a few minutes we had 5 or 6 red caps around us all claiming to be Wislet, all about to fight each other over the chance to get our business, and our tip $. They had name tags though and NONE said "Wislet". Bob was so funny… he's a retired high ranking US Army officer and he was beginning to give some serious commands to these guys in uniform (red hats) … Finally, convinced we wouldn't go to the parking lot with anyone but the real Wislet (Denie laughed and said we were playing Truth or Consequences or "Will the real Wislet please stand up", or whatever that game show is…), they went to get the real Wislet. When he got there and got our ride on the phone we were on our way through a sea of Haitian people with 9 keyboards, benches, rhythm instruments, a guitar, and our luggage. We were escorted by 5 red caps all hoping for a little tip . When we saw our contact, Jeanmary, who came with our van to escort us to Jacmel, I've never been so happy to see anyone in all my life… It wasn't scary, just frustrating.

We then made the ride over the beautiful mountain. Haiti is such a beautiful place with the potential for such riches… I didn't get too sick this time in the van ride, which was a blessing. We got to Jacmel and unloaded the equipment at Restoration Church,  ate at Pastor Rodrigue's house, and got some rest and ready for the next day.

 Next morning Surprise Surprise the power's off, every day from 4 am to 4 pm … Somehow this represents ….. a lack of power spiritually, maybe related to the spirit of poverty/lack there. The places is so needy, and so many signs of God there, and Jesus, but cycle goes on… pray for an outpouring of Holy Spirit that will penetrate lives and last. There needs to be a deliverance that lifts above the thing that keeps draining the power of God.

 Friday we taught sessions to about 15 preschool workers and musicians. This was a really great meeting… As I was teaching there was huge connection regarding God's restoring the Tabernacle of David (TOD)… Fefony, one of the main workers for their school, seemed to understand that. Please pray for the restoration of that TOD in Haiti. I remember reading Judson Cornwall's book on "Worship as David Lived It" and he said that when David took over all 12 tribes of Israel that the way he reunified them was through worship and with the TOD. It is amazing how this struck a chord and brought us into an instant unity. Also, I felt impressed to lead a worship song and have them sing in different languages. I had interviewed Lenny Leblanc on WFIX once and he shared of hearing many nations sing his song "There Is None Like You" all at once in about 50 different languages by satellite. As he told this Holy Spirit impressed me that through worship He was "reversing the Tower of Babel", This is so powerful. I shared that and then we all sang "Lord I Lift Your Name on High" and "There Is None Like You" in English, Creole, French and Spanish all at the same time. It was really a powerful moment that made us one in Him, and in His purpose. These people are precious and have the potential to CHANGE their nation through worship and the power of unity and wisdom that worship brings. Wow… with as many workers as we taught they can really impact many children to be worship musicians.

 Friday night we went to eat "local food" with Jean Lafleur and several more people from the church. Interesting…. We got to the resturant he had chosen for us and we had two choices… beef and shark. I chose shark. I thought that would be the freshest choice. It was really interesting. It wasn't a fried,grilled or baked piece of fish like I expected… it was some kind of ……. goulosh or something, a mix of shark meat and slaw like stuff… interesting. Pastor Lafleur's staff really does a great job with the meals they provide for their guests at the pastor's house…

Saturday AM I walked up on the roof to pray and meditate before going to teach. When I opened the door to the roof there were about 15 construction workers and I thought I would just turn around and go back down, then I saw the hotel owner, Bernard. He's a great guy, a believer. We talked a minute and Holy Spirit prompted me to ask him if I could pray. He welcomed that, and I prayed that God would surround his business and property with His presence, position angels at the four corners to surround it, protect it, make it a Kingdom citadel, and draw in from the nations to his hotel to bring riches into Haiti and receive blessing from Haiti. He got very excited and stopped to tell his employee who was standing with us in Creole what I had said. For this guy (me) who's favorite hobby is marketplace ministry this was a highlight of the trip. God's presence was very strong there. The Lord had prompted me with Psalm 112:4 that while in Haiti He was going to make light arise for me in a dark place. He later let me know that this hotel, Leviya Hotel, was such a place he had prepared for me there. Kudos to Jean Lafleur for finding this place.

Sat morning I taught somewhat of a Partner Workshop, our parent orientation for our Early Childhood Music program. There were many parents attending and some of the workers from the day before. Then we held a sample class with 8 children each having a parent…. Those children are so awesome, so beautiful and precious. They were so excited to be doing music. After 5 minutes you couldn't tell that we didn't speak the same language. They really lit up at their chance to play the keyboards we brought. 

 After the workshop and demo class we let everyone (about 50 people) get a rhythm instrument and we just worshiped, and dedicated these instruments as we see David did in I Chronicles 23. The place went crazy with joy and excitement with everybody holding the instrument of their choice to worship with.

Sunday afternoon during some down time I went up on the roof to pray and worship with my guitar. I was playing and singing "How Great is Our God". I noticed the wind pick up and after just a couple minutes of that a very strong breeze was blowing. I sensed Holy Spirit's presence and that He was pleased. His presence is every when we seek it. "The earth (really is) the Lord's…"

Sunday night Bob and I both spoke to a men's conference on the topic "taking your place" as a man. I spoke on the fact that the first chapter in the Bible tells us that man was made in God's image to have dominion, and the last chapter in the Bible tells us that God will put His name in our foreheads… that we were made to represent God in the earth and enforce His Kingdom dominion in our sphere of influence. I used Psalm 115:16 as well to emphasize God's purpose for us. I had sensed that God was going to usher in the "Refiner's Fire" from Mal. 3 and 4 and the spirit of Elijah. This is because we went there to start a worship school for babies and preschoolers but were asked to speak to a men's meeting. I know God is saying that in Jacmel, Haiti He is turning the hearts of the fathers to the children so he can turn the hearts of the children to the fathers and prepare Himself a group of Levites that can restore the Tabernacle of David in that place. (See Malachi 3 & 4.) Bob then spoke on being who God made us to be in the responsibilities He's given use with family, wife, job, and being a brother to each other. This was a very powerful time in which many came to be prayed for. I had a really unique experience during this time praying for these men.

A really  precious moment for me came just before we left hotel for home. Bob and I were sitting in the dining area of the hotel getting breakfast Monday at 6:30 AM. A very nice, cool breeze came blowing through the windows. I told the Lord thank you for the nice breeze… He replied instantly, "thank you for coming here… All the things you don't understand about it I'll work out". I knew what He was saying… I have many questions about the work we've started in Haiti, and the work we do in any nation. There are many struggles technically, as well as spiritual battles. It is a great comfort to know that He's working all things for our good and His glory, and the things I'd fix if I could or knew how, He is working out in His time and way.

Thank you so much for praying for us, for caring for Denie and me and the work God's called us to do. Please pray today for Fedony, Jeanmary and Pastor Rodrigue's wife Erica, who are 3 of the main workers conducting the early childhood music program that we've started. Also pray that God will give Denie and I continued wisdom and efficiency to follow through on all the schools we've helped to start to leave something lasting in each place.

 God bless you and your family today and fix the things that concern your life today (Ps. 138:8). "

Michael

We live in musical bodies

    surrounded by a musical world 

        enveloped by musical galaxies.

God has created music to affects us … spirit, soul and body.  

He has gives us tools to make music back to Him!  Because He likes it!

Our body is musical… our DNA, when decoded is actually a song.  My song is different than your song.  We live in harmony with our spouse and our friends.  And scientists have actually determined that couples who have lived successfully for many years, actually have DNA which is in harmony.  

The rainbow is musical.  Scientists have determined that if we could hear middle C many octaves higher than we can hear, it is actually the color green, and so on for every note of the musical scale. 

Perfect Praise, Inc. has found these sites to be very exciting and interesting. We can actually hear the UNIVERSE SING!

Hear the Sun And Stars Sing!

Sanford Solar Center

World Science

Sanford University

Beginning On the Right Note

By Denie Riggs, Administrator

Early Childhood Music

2001

Can you believe that it’s time for school to start? It seems like summer breaks have gotten shorter and shorter. It’s back to the routine of early morning schedules, late night homework, teacher conferences and tutors.

It’s your job as parent to do all that you can to ensure your child’s academic success. Maybe you have searched out the best schools and demanded the best teachers. Yet, as you prepare your child for their first days of school, make sure that you have not overlooked a non-academic program that may ensure their academic success…music lessons. Studies have shown that there is a direct link between music lessons and academic excellence. Academic researchers show that piano lessons, when coupled with a solid education, results in awesome non-musical benefits of enhanced brain function.

The world’s top three nations of academic excellence have mandatory music requirements for their students. Hungary, one of the poorest nations of the world, ranks highest in academic excellence. Every child in Hungary has mandatory music requirements for kindergarten through ninth grade. The first four hours of everyday in Hungary are set aside for music study, orchestra and choir. In the afternoon, when students study math, language, and history, they are able to achieve high academic grades, because their brain has been formatted for orderly storage and retrieval of information.

America spends 29 times more money on education than any other nation, yet ranks 14^th out of the top 17 countries in academic excellence. Music has been pulled out of most of American schools as unnecessary spending of tax dollars; and replaced by highly competitive sports and computers. While these two programs may have value and merit, they cannot replace music or it’s benefits. In fact, nothing can. Researchers report that when you play music, a brain function takes place that no other activity can achieve the same results.

Here are some amazing research statistics. Findings indicate that music lessons uniquely enhance higher brain functions required for reading, math, chess, science and engineering. Musicians achieve a higher grade point average (GPA) than non-musicians in the same school do. Music students achieve higher ACT scores and other college entrance exam scores than non-musicians. More musicians are admitted into Med-school than biochemistry majors are…66% of music majors who apply to medical school are accepted, only 44% of biochemistry majors are admitted.

¯ Music training enhances a brain function that dies away. Studies show that early experiences of childhood determine which brain cells (neurons) will connect with other brain cells, and which ones will die away. Because neural connections are responsible for all types of intelligence, studies also show that a child’s brain develops to its full potential only with exposure to the necessary music enriching experiences. If not stimulated during early childhood, these neuron connectors die, and cannot be revived by any activity.

¯ Music training dramatically enhances children’s abstract reasoning skills necessary for math and science. A study with 3 and 4 year-olds indicated that children who received piano/keyboard training performed 34% higher on tests measuring spatial-temporal ability than the non-musical group. These findings indicate that music uniquely enhances higher brain functions required for mathematics, chess, science and engineering.

¯ Music training increases intelligence. Scores on a puzzle task, designed to measure spatial reasoning ability, increased significantly during the period the three and four-year-olds received music lessons. In a research report, ‘Music Increases Intelligence Report,’ Dr Shaw said the piano was the instrument of choice because the keyboard gave the children both a linear and audible representation of the relationship between sounds. "What this means for parents is that they should consider giving their children piano lessons as early as age three or four," said Shaw.

¯ Music training enhances reading skills. A study done with 1^st grade children showed significantly higher reading scores with children who received piano/music instruction than with those children not receiving them.

¯ Music enhances learning and creativity. In another research test involving four and five-year olds, the effects of music on learning and creativity was measured. After twenty days of training, the music/dance group showed the greatest improvement. Do you remember how you learned your ABC’s?

Here are some tips:

• Begin early. Begin music lessons when your children are babies or toddlers when their brain is forming. If your child is older, begin lessons as soon as possible.
• The piano is the number one instrument for brain function. While other instruments have some benefit of brain function, the keyboard/piano achieves the highest academic results.
• Keep music a priority. It’s sad to see a child pulled out of music lessons to play ball or to do cheer leading. While sports are great and can enrich a child’s development, will it give them needed benefits when they are seeking college entrance scores or choosing a life’s vocation?
• Encourage your child to practice in the mornings. While this time of day is generally rushed and hectic, studies show that the student who practice the piano before they do their studies, has greater recall and retention.
• For greatest brain function, the practice schedules must be adhered to specifically. However, make sure that you require only what the child is capable of. Being too rigid can cause burn out.
• Find creative ways to reward practice sessions. Then reward, reward, reward.
• Share music with your child. Make it a family event. Praise every accomplishment. Enjoy it! Have fun!

Your student’s life will be different because of your commitment to music. Beyond better grades and developed fine motor skills; we’re talking about richness that money cannot buy…the art and joy of making beautiful music. God created us for that. What better start could you give?

Come on students; let’s make music!

To Please Our Father

1. Sing to the Lord a new song (v 1)
2. Praise His name with dancing (v 3)
3. Praise with tambourine (v 3)
4. Praise with lyre (v 3) (strings)

• The Psalmist calls this form of worship (dance, tambourine, singing and strings) the high praises of God.  The Bible is giving instruction as to what God enjoys, and what pleases Him.
• The benefit to us is in the next part of that same verse… ‘a two-edged sword in our hands.’This form of high praise (dance, tambourine, singing and strings) is a weapon of victory for us.

***

Music Enhances Academic Excellence

By Denie Riggs

Early Childhood Music

Perfect Praise, Inc.

Article written Fall 2000, for Parenting in the Shoals Magazine.

You have done your best for your child.

• You have scoured the countryside for all the items on their back-to-school list.
• You have made sure that their teacher is quality and warm.
• You have purchased back-to-school clothes and got their hair cut.
• You have rearranged their schedule to allow for sufficient rest and recreation.
• You have packed the cupboards with healthy after-school snacks.
• You may have even placed them in a private school or chosen to home school hoping for more excellence in their studies.

You have taken careful steps to give your child the best. Is there something more that you can do assure their success?

Research studies show that you need to add music training to your child’s life.

Yamaha has a poster that says, "Success in music. Success in life…it’s no coincidence." The qualities involved with studying music: of persistence, coordination and commitment allow your child to mature with healthy personality qualities that will stay with them throughout their life. But research studies are showing more and more conclusively that music study also enhances their grades.

Here are some related documented facts:

• Musicians achieve a higher grade point average (GPA) than non-musicians in the same school do.
• Music students achieve higher ACT scores and other college entrance exam scores.
• In a recent study, 66% of music majors who apply to medical school are accepted, the highest percentage of any group. Only 44% of biochemistry majors are admitted.
• Findings indicate that music study uniquely enhances higher brain functions required for reading, mathematics, chess, science and engineering.

Music programs have been pulled out of most of our schools as unnecessary spending of tax dollars, and replaced by highly competitive sports. America spends 29 times more dollars than any other nation on education, yet ranks 14^th out of 17 countries in academic excellence. 

It hasn't helped our students.

Hungary ranks highest in academic excellence, yet is one of the world’s poorest countries. How can that be? Could it be because they have a mandatory music requirement for kindergarten through grade nine? In Hungary, the first four hours of each day are set aside for music, orchestra and choir. In the afternoon, when the students study mathematics, language, and history, they are able to achieve high grades, because their brain has been formatted for orderly storage and retrieval of information by music study.

The three top nations of academic excellence all have mandatory music requirements for their students. And their results speak for themselves.

Let’s look at some research studies:

Music training enhances reading skills.  A study done with 1^st grade children shows significantly higher reading scores with children receiving piano/music instruction than did the control group. (Hurwitz, I., Wolff, P.H., Bortnick, B.D. & Kokas, K. 1975)

Music training dramatically enhances children’s abstract reasoning skills necessary for math and science.  A study with 3 and 4 year-olds indicated that children who received piano/keyboard training performed 34% higher on tests measuring spatial-temporal ability than the non-musical group. These findings indicate that music uniquely enhances higher brain functions required for mathematics, chess, science and engineering. (Psychologist Dr. Frances Rauscher of the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh and physicist Dr. Gordon Shaw of the University of California at Irvine in 1994)

Music training enhances a brain function that dies away.  Studies show that early experiences of childhood determine which brain cells (neurons) will connect with other brain cells, and which ones will die away. Because neural connections are responsible for all types of intelligence, a child’s brain develops to its full potential only with exposure to the necessary music enriching experiences in early childhood. (Music Beats Computers at Enhancing Early Childhood Development, American Music Conference via PR NEWSWIRE: Neurological Research, February 1997)

Music training increases intelligence.  Scores on a puzzle task, designed to measure spatial reasoning ability, increased significantly during the period they (three and four-year-olds) received the music lessons. In a research report, ‘Music Increases Intelligence Report,’ Dr Shaw said the piano was the instrument of choice because its keyboard gave the children both a linear and audible representation of the relationship between sounds. "What this means for parents is that they should consider giving their children piano lessons as early as age three or four," said Shaw. (College of Computing, Georgia Tech, August 24, 1994. UCI Journal, Spring 1997)

Music enhances learning and creativity.  In another research test involving four and five-year olds, the effects of music on learning and creativity was measured. After twenty days of training, the music/dance group showed the greatest improvement in learning about body parts and creativity. (Mohanty, B. & Hejmadi, A. (1992). Effects Of Intervention Training on Some Cognitive Abilities of Preschool Children. Psychological Studies, 37, 31-37.)

Music achieves non-musical positive effects.  It has been shown that children develop faster socially, mentally, and even physically when exposed to music in their early childhood. "Thus, it appears that music studied for good and sufficient reasons for its own sake has beneficial ‘side effects’ on cognition." (Rausher, F.H.,Shaw G.I., Levine, L.J., Ky, K.N. & Wright, E.I. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Society, Los Angeles, CA., August 13, 1994.)

These research results speak for themselves.

Earlier is better for brain enhancement. We have Prenatal Classes and Curriculum and have local classes starting baby at three months.  But even if your child is five years old or older, it is not too late to start. Don't delay another day! 

Here are some tips for the musical success of your school-age child.

• Commit to their success. Learning to play a musical instrument requires determination and patience. Parents should commit to the program for at least six months. Usually by that time, the student has come through the difficult part of music training and enjoys it. If they are permitted to give up when it gets hard, they may never try again, because their attempt was unsuccessful.
• Establish a routine of daily practice sessions. Schedule practice at the same time of the day, everyday. This allows practice to become as routine as brushing teeth or eating a meal.
• Give incentives for daily practice. For instance, set up a marble jar. Every time your child passes a song, reward them with a marble. When the student gets a certain number of pre-determined marbles, do something fun or give a prize. Be creative, and fit the incentive to their needs and age.
• Practicing in the morning is most beneficial because the brain enhancement lasts for 4-5 hours immediately following practice. If you are a normal American family where your mornings are rushed, remember that the reward of higher grades is well worth the effort.
• Keep it fun! We were created to make music. Singing and playing music should be a vital part of everything we do.
• Share it with your child. Have fun!

Come on kids; let’s make music!

Tuning Up the Twos!

By Denie Riggs

Administrator

Early Childhood Music

It occurs between the adorable bouncing baby and the able-to-be-reasoned-with three-year-old.

• It’s the time when the answer to everything is "NO!"
• It’s the time when temper tantrums abound. (For both parent and child J )
• It’s a time for gaining independence all the while demanding their own way.
• It’s a time for testing limits.
• There is no pleasing them.
• There is no reasoning with them.

It’s the messy stage, the feeding themselves stage; the potty training stage…it’s the Terrible Twos!

Yet, for the demanding little person we call the toddler, there is an awesome miracle taking place. During the first two years, a baby grows faster and changes more than any other time in their entire life. A bouncing baby doesn’t just grow into an eager three-year-old without external stimulation. Toddlers are sponges for information, learning through experiencing…with pots and pans, by playing games, watching, and imitating. They soak up stimuli from everything around them.

A toddler contributes to their cognitive growth by actively being inquisitive, through experiences, play and baby-size experiments. This stimulation literally changes the toddler’s brain. At birth the brain is packed with an estimated 100 billion neurons. But a newborn brain is not completely formed. Although genes rough out where the brain’s visual and auditory centers will be, it’s the stimulation the child receives that dictate where the regions that govern emotion and the center of higher thought finally get established.

Scientists are finding that a baby’s brain is pre-wired for music, like a new computer is pre-wired for Windows. The brain seems to be a sponge for music and, like a sponge in water, is changed by it. The brain’s left and right hemispheres are connected by a big trunk-line called the corpus callosum. When scientists compared the corpus callosum in thirty non-musicians with the corpus callosum in thirty professional string and piano players, researchers found that the front part of this thick cable of neurons is larger in musicians, especially if they began their training in early childhood. The front of the corpus callosum connects the two sides of the prefrontal cortex, the site of planning and foresight. It also connects the two sides of the premotor cortex, where actions are mapped out before they’re executed. The neural highway connecting the right and left brain may explain something else, too. The right brain is linked to emotion, the left to cognition. The greatest musicians are able to perform quick and efficient technique, while enhancing it with strong emotion.

Children who study piano in early childhood develop a brain function that dies away if not stimulated. And no other activity will achieve the same results of brain function. Once the neuron connectors die, no activity will bring them back. They are gone… forever.

Here are some ideas to create a musical toddler:

• Play soothing music during low energy times…times when the toddler (or parent) is tired or hungry.

• Sing and do rhythmic activities with your toddler. They imitate everything you do. If you enjoy participating in musical activities, they will also.

• Keep their favorite tape or CD in the car; it makes ‘strapped-in’ times easier for them to bear.

• Sing ‘happy’ songs with your toddler. It will cheer both of you. Make up new words to entertain them. Occasionally, intentionally sing the wrong words and let them correct you.

• Toddlers are easily distracted. When they get into things that are not good for them, ‘distract’ them by doing a bouncy lap or floor game. Get down on their level and have fun.

• Let them help make their own rhythm instruments. Oatmeal boxes make great drums, a wooden spoon and a pan lid makes a great band.

• Surround your toddler with musical tapes, videos and CDs. Musical preferences can be guided during this unique time in their life.

• Consider piano/music lessons during these early years, while your child’s brain is forming. All the windows of opportunity are open, and the earlier the better.

• Not only is music a great tool of brain enhancement, but fun, musical activities can de-stress the trying days of the Terrible Twos. Select a fun, fast song with a strong rhythm and get up and ‘dance’ with the toddler. They’ll love it!

• Hang on. The days of the Terrible Twos will soon become just a memory. You will survive! Music’s amazing power will get you through; and you both will be the wiser for it!

Come on kids; let’s make music!