Harmonious Learning: How Music Aids Children's Reading Development
Our public libraries are strong supporters of the importance of early learning. There are several tools and resources you can use to strengthen your child’s literacy, including singing. The American Library Association has an initiative called Every Child Ready to Read which identifies six simple practices that parents and caregivers can do every day with their children to get them ready for kindergarten. These practices include talking, singing, playing, reading, writing, and counting. Singing is also part of the five principles identified in The Basics Virginia, a statewide initiative that promotes early childhood development. Music and reading comprehension may appear pretty different on the surface. Giving a young child a tambourine, a recorder, or a ukulele often provokes a different reaction to handing over a pile of books. After all, music encourages focus and creativity. It enhances memory, it introduces new words and vocabulary. It also makes learning new concepts fun.
The Intricate Link Between Music and Language
Neurologists have found that music and language share a processing network in the brain. Babies respond to sounds, rhythm and melody before they begin to learn a language. They respond to music long before they understand words, and they mimic speech in the same way they mimic music. The early speech patterns of a young child follow the rhythmic and repetitive sound patterns found in music. Speech is the basis of reading, but children must first be able to tell speech from other sounds. Music helps them to do this. Neurologically, the same processing network is shared by music and speech. In the end, reading is the ability to connect visual symbols with sounds. Learning to read music measurably enhances this skill, especially when the symbols are colorful and easy to follow. Research has shown a clear connection between learning to read music and reading comprehension.
How Singing and Music Enhance Literacy Skills
Singing slows down language so children can hear the smaller sounds in words. Children can hear each syllable because there is a different note for each syllable, which helps children sound out words when they are ready to read. Singing can help children increase their vocabulary, because songs have words not heard in everyday conversation. Songs can be used to teach concepts such as opposites, sizes, and shapes. They also help children with letter knowledge. For example, sing the alphabet song and then try singing it to another tune, just for fun. For another fun exercise, try singing instead of reading a book. Two good books to start with are I Went Walking by Sue Williams and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. A child’s ability to discriminate sounds can be developed by listening to a variety of sounds.
Practical Ways to Incorporate Music into Reading Lessons
How can I use music to help with my child's reading comprehension? Talking and singing to babies - even pre-natal babies - helps to create a parental bond, and helps babies learn to differentiate between speech and other sounds. Their auditory network will lay down synaptic paths that will prepare them for growing linguistic skills. Introducing toddlers to music classes, particularly those that encourage singing and activities, will help build musical skills that lay the ground for reading. For pre-schoolers, beginning to learn to read as well as play music pays huge dividends in advancing reading skills. The songs and rhymes they learn and enjoy will have an impact. Learning to read musical notation and symbols is an important stage in many musical journeys. Associating symbols with sounds is central to the process of learning to read. The building of music reading skills can, like all good education, be taught in an ascending series. Children can start slowly and build their understanding, while subtly improving their reading comprehension skills at the same time! Equipping children with these skills and providing this experience can ensure they are better prepared for what comes next. As your child grows and develops their fine motor skills, this could be a move to a traditional musical instrument. Children who can already read music and have an understanding of the processes of music have a significant advantage when taking up an instrument.
Songs and Resources to Encourage Reading
There are many songs to teach grammar skills and folks have used nursery rhymes as songs to teach basic spelling patterns and print conventions. Fountas and Pinnell once wrote that our students should "sing songs of such delight that the lyrics remain in the memory forever". It's called Songs for Teaching: Using Music to Reinforce Learning. It is a treasure trove of songs and song lyrics (click on any title to hop over and see the song). There are songs that teach the alphabet letters such as Fran Avni's Dinosaurs to Dinner. There are songs specifically for vowels and consonants such as Get Your Own Goat by Avni and Vowel Sound Hound Dogs 1. Want a new twist on the alphabet? Try Usher's Alphabet Song! Electric Company's N Apostrophe T: I personally played this several times this year and my students love it!
Read also: Easiest Instruments to Learn
Every song on this music list encourages kids to read, learn letters and sounds, or build their oral language skills.
Here are some specific examples of songs and artists:
- Emily Arrow creates amazing albums inspired by children's picture books. You can't go wrong with any of the songs from either of Storytime Singalong albums.
- Eric Litwin, who's known for some of the Pete the Cat books, is also a songwriter. Little ones will love the "Three Little Pigs" story song from the Perfectly Purple album.
- If you're headed to the library, crank up "At the Library" by Hap Palmer. You'll find this little diddy on the We're On Our Way album.
- Dr. Jean Feldman is well-known by many early childhood educators. Her songs are highly engaging and interactive.
- Elmo fans will adore "Elmo's Rap Alphabet" from the Sesame Street: Best of Elmo album. It's an upbeat take on the traditional alphabet song.
- Kids can get in a little spelling practice with "Popcorn Words" on the Hip-Hop AlphaBop 2 album by Jack Hartmann.
- Older kids will enjoy the challenge of singing 26 nations in alphabetical order in "Alphabet of Nations" by They Might Be Giants.
You can also stream music for kids on Hoopla.
Starfall: A Multisensory Approach to Reading
Starfall was founded by Dr. Stephen Schutz, who had difficulty learning to read as a child due to dyslexia. He was motivated to create a learning platform with untimed, multisensory interactive games that allow children to see, hear, and touch as they learn. Starfall was developed in the classroom by teachers and opened in August 2002 as a free public service to teach children to read. Since then it has expanded to include standards in language arts and mathematics for preschool through fifth grade and above. The program emphasizes exploration, play, and positive reinforcement-encouraging children to become confident and intrinsically motivated. Due to the engaging content that “feels like play,” Starfall serves as an educational alternative to other entertainment choices for children. Starfall activities are research-based and align with state learning objectives for English language arts and mathematics. Its emphasis on phonemic awareness, systematic sequential phonics, and common sight words in conjunction with audiovisual interactivity is especially effective for teaching emergent readers, children of all ages with special needs or learning difficulties, as well as ELL (ESL) students. Starfall’s low-cost membership program expands the free content to include additional animated songs, mathematics activities, and reading.
The Perspective of Educators
Hi everyone! It's Bex here from Reading and Writing Redhead. You probably know by now but I love finding creative ways to teach reading and I love bringing other types of learning into the classroom beyond the basics that I have to teach. Ask yourself, how many children know the alphabet at a young age- age two for example? Probably most of them know it because someone thought to set the alphabet to the song "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Music can be used to help students learn the alphabet, the sounds of letters, develop phonemic awareness, build phonics skills and vocabulary and more!
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Music Education and Instrument Learning
Learning to read music measurably enhances this skill, especially when the symbols are colourful and easy to follow. As your child grows and develops their fine motor skills, this could be a move to a traditional musical instrument. Children who can already read music and have an understanding of the processes of music have a significant advantage when taking up an instrument. Check out the pros and cons of learning to read music.
Read also: Your Sony Music Internship
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