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6 Ways Music Delivers on the Promise of Early Learning

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Especially when it comes to teaching children the skills they need in order to be successful in school, there’s a critical window of learning that’s widest open only during the first seven years of a child’s life.  In fact, the kind of early childhood learning and experiences a child has before the age of 7 can actually change the trajectory of his/her life.  But
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Parents’ Involvement in Screen Time Matters

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Young children learn best through hands-on, multi-sensory experiences with a loving and trusted caregiver. However, with technology firmly imbedded into the daily lives and routines of families today, parents and early childhood educators often struggle with knowing the ideal ways to incorporate screen time that also supports what we know about how children learn. One thing we do know without a doubt is that
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Repeat After Me: Kids Learn from Repetition

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“Again! Again!” It is not a coincidence that young children ask to read the same book 22 nights in a row. While the adults involved may secretly (and not so secretly) wish for more diversity, all that repetition strengthens the learning or growth of neural connections in children’s brains. Repetition is good for children. In fact, it’s how they learn. A one-time experience is
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Why Halloween Should Last 365 Days a Year

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It’s Halloween! In many parts of the world, this means dressing up in costumes and pretending to be a cowboy, ninja, ballet dancer, or even a cowboy ninja ballet dancer. (Hey, it could happen!) While the stores—and Pinterest—overflow with costume options for children this time of year, truth be told, children love dressing up and pretending all year long. And they should! It’s good
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Want to increase kids’ reading and math grades? Fine-tune those fine-motor skills!

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Who knew that there could be a correlation between good penmanship and better grades in school?  But that’s exactly what new research has revealed. The foundation for a child’s fine-motor skills is laid in the first six years or so of life. Good penmanship starts with enhanced fine-motor skills – learning how to use and coordinate finger, hand, and wrist muscles.  Even very young
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Got Rhythm? Rhythm Skills Could Predict Reading Disabilities

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Do you know the old jazz standard by George and Ira Gerswin: “I’ve Got Music. I’ve Got Rhythm…Who could ask for anything more?” Well, apparently all that music and rhythm brings even more than a really good dance number by Gene Kelly. New research implies that young children’s rhythm abilities before they can read may eventually help doctors predict future reading disorders. An ongoing
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Early Language Development Flourishes through Music

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Pediatricians will often recommend music classes for children with language delays.  Speech therapists regularly incorporate music and rhymes in their therapy sessions with young children.  Researchers have identified talking and singing with a small child as one of the most effective tools for closing the word gap with under-served populations. Here are six music activities that support early language development – all six are
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Babies Benefit from Learning Two Languages at the Same Time

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We get fired up about the importance of early childhood education. The reason is simple. In the first seven years of a child’s life, their brains are firing up with learning—literally! Every new experience lights up the synapses in the brain and repetition makes those pathways stronger. At the age of two, a child’s brain includes over a 100 trillion synapses. That’s 50 percent
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Answer that Baby Babble to Speed Up Language Development

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Hang around babies long enough and you start hearing things. From soft sweet coos to long monologues of “dadadadadada,” babies talk a lot—even though we have no idea what they are really saying! That’s okay. We don’t need to understand all the words (or non-words!) to join in the conversation. How Parents Respond to All that Baby Babble Matters New early childhood research from
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Put More Jingle in Universal Music Day with Homemade DIY Instrument Crafts for Kids

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What better way to celebrate Universal Music Day than with some homemade DIY instrument crafts that don’t cost a lot of money, but will mean lots of together time, happy smiles, special memories, and joyful music-making! Instrument crafts are the perfect way to get young children engaged in hands-on learning, exploring their creative side, and even practicing some early science skills as together you
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