Music to Support Literacy

Music and its Benefits to Literacy Development

Music and the   music experiences our children are  exposed to can help develop and strengthen oral language skills, enhance phonemic awareness, letter sounds and phonics and as they progress on their literacy journey it can strengthen spelling, vocabulary, reading fluency and expression as well as reading comprehension and writing .

When children hear and see word in a different context, like music, the brain makes new and stronger connections. Psychologist Howard Gardner shared this belief  and argued very strongly that music intelligence is as important as logical and emotional intelligence because it the ability to strengthen the connection between the body and brain to work together as a team. For example, when dancing and moving to music, children develop better motor skills whereas singing along to a song helps them to practise their singing voice. In general, exposure to music and song supports children in their development process to learn the sound of tones and words. 

Regular musical activity both child-led and adult-led can help support children’s acquisition of language and communication. It can also support their personal and social development, their physical agility, well-being, imagination and creativity.  

Toddlers and Music

Toddlers love to dance and move to music. The key to toddler music is repetition, which encourages language and memorization. Silly songs make toddlers laugh. Try singing a familiar song and inserting a silly word in the place of the correct word, like “Mary had a little spider” instead of lamb. Let children reproduce rhythms by clapping or tapping objects.

Pre-schoolers and Music

Pre-schoolers enjoy singing just to be singing. They aren’t self-conscious about their ability and most are eager to let their voices roar. They like songs that repeat words and melodies, use rhythms with a definite beat, and ask them to do things. Preschool children enjoy nursery rhymes and songs about familiar things like toys, animals, play activities, and people. They also like finger plays and nonsense rhymes with or without musical accompaniment.