“Conjunction Junction wants your function? Hooking up words and phrases and clauses.” Do you know the rest of the lyrics to that old School House Rock favorite? Take a listen and sing along! You might be surprised to learn that the song provided more than a Saturday morning distraction. It also actually taught children about grammar. In fact, a first-of-its-kind research study from Vanderbilt
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Kids Tap Their Way to Better Grammar Read More »
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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Early Language Development Flourishes through Music Read More »
Athletes employ the benefits of music to boost overall performance. Science shows that specific types of music can really get the blood pumping and focus the mind on the task at hand—like 1-minute planks or running those last few miles. However, a new study also shows that music can get the blood pumping for language development, too. Music and language development on the same
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Music and language share common brain pathways Read More »
Are you familiar with the old George and Ira Gershwin song, “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off”? They wrote it for the 1937 film Shall We Dance, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Sing with us: “You like potato and I like potahto You like tomato and I like tomahto Potato, potahto, Tomato, tomahto. Let’s call the whole thing off.” In the song, the
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Let’s call the whole thing early language development! Read More »
It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood, A beautiful day for a neighbor. Would you be mine? Could you be mine?… How many of us as children sang this song with the beloved Mr. Rogers? And, of course, we always answered, “Yes!” to being his neighbor. After all, who wouldn’t want to go over for a visit with Mr. Rogers—and maybe even a quick
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Kindermusik joins the Fred Rogers Center’s neighborhood! Read More »
We have music on the brain—all sorts of music. All. The. Time. We love to share music and musical learning with children and families in studios, schools, childcare centers, and more. Introducing children to a wide variety of musical genres gives them a greater understanding of what is possible through music. Today, thanks to a new study from Johns Hopkins University, we have jazz
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Musical learning on the brain Read More »
Even before your baby is born, she responds to the sound of your voice. It’s one of the really precious things that bonds parents with their unborn child. In fact, researchers have observed that a baby in the womb can respond to the sound of a mother’s voice as early as 5 months along in the pregnancy. Later, when your little one is born,
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Baby Talk Helps Your Baby Talk Read More »
Even before your baby is born, she responds to the sound of your voice. It’s one of the really precious things that bonds parents with their unborn child. In fact, researchers have observed that a baby in the womb can respond to the sound of a mother’s voice as early as 5 months along in the pregnancy. Later, when your little one is born,
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Baby Talk Helps Your Baby Talk Read More »
Although we just celebrated a holiday devoted to giving candy to children, we all understand that fruits and vegetables are essential to a healthy diet. A child filled with strawberries, carrots, and yogurt behaves radically different than a child filled with candy corn, chocolate, and a juice box. You don’t need to be a teacher of an early childhood curriculum to understand that! In
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Support early language development with a healthy screen time “diet” Read More »
Musical learning and early language development go together like a newborn and a swaddle or a toddler and the words, “I do.” Young children rely almost exclusively on what they hear in order to acquire language. Scientists now know that our brain processes music similarly to how we process language. In early language and literacy development, young children need to understand that words—like music—are
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Early language development: It’s all in the rhythm and beat! Read More »
