Music and movement

The topic of music and movement in the curriculum is an area that has long been neglected up until recently. Educators are now becoming more aware of the benefits of a quality music and movement program because of increased studies. Researchers have found that music and movement programs have a positive impact on child development for children between birth and their primary school years in many of the developmental domains. Singing songs to children and with them will teach them about beat, tones, and lyrics which are all important in developing auditory discrimination. The use of instruments will promote fine motor development and encourage creative development. Creative movement helps children learn many concepts such as balance, coordination, rhythm, and is also an important tool for developing self-esteem and body awareness and the own development of the child itself. Music and movement has been added to the curriculum in a larger effort to bring and keep Arts Enrichment courses in the schools. Many organizations and businesses have been developed to bring programs to schools and the rest of the community. With the use of music children can develop cognitive skills, such as counting, the alphabet, days of the week their address and phone number, just to name a few.

Annotated Bibliography

This annotated bibliography will help educators learn about the importance of music and movement programs, and create their own programs within their classroom. Below are links to external websites that provide information in the form of online articles, lesson plans and activities, and sites to purchase materials. Providing this an annotated bibliography will allow the reader to know what the website contains before accessing it.

Online Articles

Baney, C. E. (2002). Wired for sound: The essential connection between music and development. Exelligence Learning Corporation. Retrieved October 27, 2004, from http://www.earlychildhood.com/Articles/index.cfm?FuseAction=Article&A=69

This article focuses on the link between music and intellect. It goes on to discuss the many different research experiments that have been conducted that all seek to prove that there is a link between music and children’s functioning. All of the studies that were discussed did find that music was beneficial for children and in most cases seen an improvement in the area that was being studied which included math and science skills, spatial skills, and even music aptitude. This article also focuses on what educators and caregivers can do to incorporate music into their daily routine. It concludes with giving direct points regarding the benefits of music and movement.

Boyd, K. S., Chalk, M. S., & Law, J. S. (n.d.) Retrieved November 3, 2004, from http://www.creativekidsonthemove.com/Dance.htm

This article discusses the importance of creative movement and its many benefits. Creative Movement is an exciting way for children to explore movement through music. Creative movement also teaches children a lot about their own personal bodies, the space around them, and their other classmates. This article also goes on to discuss the many other benefits of creative movement. It outlines many findings in relation to child development, sensory awareness, social development, health and fitness, language development and cognitive learning, self-esteem and so much more. While the article isn’t very in-depth it does give a great overview of the benefits of creative movement.

Levinowitz, L. M. The importance of music in early childhood. General Music Today, p. 1-4. Retrieved October 27, 2004, from http://www.musictogetherphila.com/music.pdf

This article gives a very general description about how children progress in their individual music development. While the article was very short it did give a lot information about how children progress for infancy to childhood. Siting a lot of research has been done in the area of children and music. One of the most interesting findings is that young children develop musically through a predictable sequence to basic music competence. The article also went on to describe what parents and caregivers can do to ensure that their child is developing appropriately.

Start the music: A report from the Early Childhood Music Summit. (2000). Retrieved October 27, 2004, from http://www.menc.org/guides/startmusic/stmreport.htm

Start the music was a report based on the early childhood music summit. The meeting was held as a way to educate the public about the importance of music and to make it an essential component in early childhood development. Many of the benefits of music and movement programs/activities which have been found in extensive research studies were addressed. The summit also addressed three needs that they viewed as very important that needed to be met. They are;

1. Music educators and providers of early childhood education need to identify and create ways that enable music to be treated as a basic and integral part of every young child’s education,
2. Both teachers and care providers must be encouraged to provide quality music instruction to all children, and
3. Those with "authorization authority" i.e., legislators and politicians, school board members, state- and district-level administrators, principals, and in the end, the general public, are a target for the Summit’s messages.

Strategies were created for each of the above needs. This can help educators who do not have a strong music program to create one. Overall the notes from the summit were very informative and provided a lot of great ideas that school boards need to implement.