Today we can find a large number of studies that attempt to prove the numerous influences that music has on people. But I would like to focus this time on the “childhood stage”, since currently music in child development is of great relevance and is introduced in preschool education due to the benefits it brings to children.
Children are in contact with music long before they are born, all thanks to the fact that the ear is the first sensory organ that develops inside the womb, being able to discriminate sounds coming from the mother (heartbeat, relaxation,…), as external sounds (noises, music…), and creating a sound world. Through the senses and sensations is how the child begins to interact and develop his/her thinking, and through music the child begins to discover and learn Reiki.
Music is emotion and emotions are the basic pillars on which we forge our personality. Both emotions and music are located in the prefrontal cortex, so music can provoke all types of feelings/emotional states. Therefore, music helps them develop their intellectual, social and personal abilities while having fun.
There are many benefits that can be obtained from listening to music, but how does music really influence child development?
- Encourages creativity and stimulates children’s imagination. The recognition of rhythmic patterns in a melody acts on the creative region and the motivational region of the brain, causing the child’s inner world to develop and giving free rein to their imagination. Living experiences and emotions enriches their mind and equips them. of the ability to carry out any other artistic activity.
- Enhances children’s memory, attention and concentration capacity . Listening to music makes them focus their attention on the different sounds, tones, melodies or lyrics of the songs, enhancing their concentration. Children learn to remember and reproduce what they heard, enhancing their memory while having fun singing.
- Develops psychomotor skills and stimulates body expression. With music, the child develops and discovers his/her possibilities of movement and the sound possibilities of his/her own body, progressively becoming aware of his/her body schema and helping him/her to forge a more accurate image of himself/herself. When dancing they follow the rhythm, finding a new way to express themselves through their body. The combination of music with dance stimulates the senses, balance, muscle development, improves coordination, facilitates sleep and reduces stress. By adapting your body movement to the rhythms of different melodies, you contribute to the rhythmic control of your body.
- Contributes to cognitive development. Music allows the child to order and organize their mental schemes, developing general intelligence. Cognitive abilities are enhanced, helping to develop the senses, which are the recipients of information.
- Strengthens the language. Children learn through repetition and imitation, therefore the lyrics of children’s songs, in which the syllables are rhymed and repetitive, accompanied by gestures made when singing, improve their way of speaking and understanding the meaning. of each word. Their language will be enhanced and perfected, they will learn to communicate their feelings in another way, strengthening learning and memorizing abilities, auditory discrimination, and their vocabulary will be enriched.
- Improves auditory perception. The various notes (low and high) make your ear begin to differentiate the different tones of the melodies, educating the eardrum to recognize different sounds and improving your auditory system.
- Greater ease in problem solving. The perception of rhythmic patterns increases the child’s reasoning to find more complex solutions to mathematical and logic problems.
- Promotes sociability. Music gives them the opportunity to interact with each other and with adults, helping them socialize. Musical work strengthens cooperative work, respect for oneself and others, helps to tolerate the mistakes of others, solidarity and to be more open to criticism.
- Boost your self-esteem. With music the child will be happier. By developing a strong emotional bond, your emotional intelligence is stimulated, you awaken and develop emotions and feelings that can modify your mood and promote reflection, in addition to promoting self-control and you will have a better mood, that is, it will give you emotional security and confidence thus forging stronger self-esteem.
Observing all this, it is clear that early exposure to music favors neuronal activity, causes synaptic connections to be established more quickly and effectively in the brain, activates the part of the brain related to reading and mathematics, and also improves performance. in other activities. It has been proven that music in child development is of vital importance , and a fundamental tool that both parents and educators can use as the best vehicle to transmit any type of learning in a playful way.