On pages 9-10 of the Cambridge Handbook of Learning Sciences we read: The learning sciences have discovered that when learners externalize and articulate their developing knowledge, they learn more effectively (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000 ). This is more complex than it might sound, because it’s not the case that learners first learn something and then express it. Instead, the best learning takes place when learners articulate their unformed and still developing understanding and continue to articulate it throughout the process of learning.

Articulating and learning go hand in hand, in a mutually reinforcing feedback loop. In many cases, learners don’t actually learn something until they start to articulate it – in other words, while thinking out loud, they learn more rapidly and deeply than while studying quietly.

Vygotsky’s explanation for the educational value of articulation is based on a theory of mental development; he argued that all knowledge began as visible social interaction, and then was gradually internalized by the learner to form thought.

Little Kids Rock lessons are tailored to support student learning as the kids continue to practice and create music to continuously participate in the feedback loop of reinforcement and internalization while learning music.