Education
Perspectives on Parenting©
by Nancy Lambert Davenport
Nancy Davenport's Column:
For Richardson News 10-29-00
Copyright Nancy Lambert Davenport 2000
"Music strikes a chord in learning patterns"
Occasionally I'll turn on the radio and catch an oldies station playing "Sea of Love." I guess it is my favorite song of all time. Without fail, it takes me back to a time in my life when I was just realizing that boys were really something, but I wasn't quite sure what.
"Sea of Love" was a strong shoulder on the dance floor, a kiss in the moonlight, a relationship of my dreams. I can be driving along in the car with three kids bickering in the back seat and that song on the radio can trigger that delightful memory. It is just one song of many that has memories for me. If someone plays the Beatles' song, "I Want to Hold Your Hand:' in a flash I am back at the University of Texas getting ready for a Saturday afternoon football game.
Music does wonderful things in some ways for everyone. Somehow it goes deeply into our psyche and stirs things that have long been dormant and in some cases we have never developed. It can also assist the present moment to rise to a higher level of experience. Examples are the common use of classical music in an art class and the emotion enhanced by beautifully sung gospel music or a patriotic song.
Experts in learning have discovered that music, structured certain ways, can also change learning patterns in children. Music uses a different part of the brain than does speech and language. As a result, therapists discovered that they can teach language through music when traditional ways do not show progress. In addition, kids seem to be able to pay attention longer to tasks of any sort using music. Those memories, brought back to me through music, make it clear that emotions have been tapped as well. What would those Hallmark ads be without the music? What would most movies be without the music? Not much.
Experts use all of this knowledge effectively. A music therapist will look at the list of goals in a student's Individual Education Plan (IEP) and develop specific tasks to undertake with appropriate music. The creative repetition of songs helps some students retain material they would otherwise forget. Music stimulates the right side of the brain, encouraging bilateral activity between the brain hemispheres. Children may internalize the pattern of language through listening to and learning songs. Songs combined with movement simply double the opportunity for a child to learn.
It's not just for children either. We have all achieved success in learning because we have associated a simple ditty of some sort with it. I will never forget the names or the order of our planets because some creative person put the first letter of each name to a ditty. "My Very Evil Mother J Served Us Nine Pickles." I recall the boys created some comparable learning ditties that couldn't be repeated to the teacher but were probably more effective because they usually had rhyme and rhythm to their vulgarity.
Although all people can benefit from music and rhyme associated with learning, children with autism especially benefit from music in the form of therapy. The vibrations and repetition of music can temporarily replace the self-stimulation activity of children with autism. Experts find that almost 90% of the children with autism benefit from some form of music therapy. It is a must for that disability. Parents should routinely request form of therapy for their child with autism at the meeting to create the IEP.
None of this guarantees to make us geniuses or cure our children of their disabilities, but the positive triggers that I have experienced are an example, music and music therapy only enhance the experiences of all children, especially those with disabilities.
Thank you to the Triangle Down Syndrome Network Newsletter of Cary, North Carolina, September/October 2000 for some information in this article.
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Nancy Lambert Davenport
EMAIL: nancdave@swbell.net
URL: http://www.nancyldavenport.com