Music and Its Effect on the Learning Experience of Children from Early Childhood To Adulthood

Abstract

Research proves that music has a major impact on the brain of individuals of all ages. This work focuses on how the use of music, melody, and song can play a positive role in the learning experiences of children throughout all grade levels if implement by teachers and instructors. With the assistance of three children, one from each age group (early childhood, middle to late childhood, and adolescence) it is proven that music does have an effect on the learning experience. It is also proven that ideas can be drawn from the developmental theories of Jean Piaget, Lev Vgotsky, and Sigmund Freud to correlate with the responses of the three children about how music effects their learning.

Introduction

If you were told that two groups of students in a case study were found to improve at significantly different rates in learning subjects such as reading and math in an elementary school what would you think was the independent variable used in the case study? Would you suspect that the independent variable was a difference curriculum? Maybe you would suggest that it could have been a difference in teachers? Or perhaps the groups were in different schools, private or public, urban or suburban. But how likely would you think it that the significant difference in progress could be attributed to the use of music instruction throughout the learning process? In a 1988 case study done at Oxford University it was proven that children who were taught using musical instruction performed 79% better at reading and math than students who were not taught using music instruction. Many researchers, such as those at Oxford University, have observed that the use of music instruction