Young Children - March 2008 - (Page 20) Do Re Mi, 1-2-3 That’s How Easy Math Can Be Using Music to Support Emergent Mathematics any of us have heard of the Mozart effect, a term coined in response to a 1998 study (Rauscher & Shaw) indicating that preschoolers’ spatial-temporal reasoning, or their understanding of the space around them and the concepts of time, can be enhanced by listening to music composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Don Campbell, in his book The Mozart Effect (2001), describes the phenomena that arose from this and similar studies suggesting that young children who listen to Mozart’s music might be able to perform better on academic tasks such as mathematics. In the late 1990s, due in part to belief in this music boost, a person might stroll down a school hallway and hear Mozart’s concertos or symphonies playing, or visit a music store and find the Mozart collections sold out (Holden 1999; Levy & Rogers 1999; Shaw 2004). With society teased by the prospect of smarter babies, many music compilations for young children, including brain music, which is supposed to make infants, toddlers, and preschoolers more intelligent, are on the market (Church 2000). However, little conclusive data supports the existence of the Mozart effect on children (Holden 2003). There also Kamile Geist, MA, MT-BC, is assistant professor of music therapy at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Her current research includes investigating music therapy and speech language therapy co-treatment strategies and incorporating musical strategies to assist children with learning emergent math skills. odonne@ ohio.edu Eugene A. Geist, PhD, is associate professor of early childhood education in the School of Human and Consumer Sciences at Ohio University. His research focuses on the development of early mathematical understanding. He is the author of Children Are Born Mathematicians: Encouraging and Supporting Development in Young Children. Geist@ohio.edu ® M Kamile Geist and Eugene A. Geist may be no direct link between passive listening to music and improvement in spatial reasoning or mathematics tasks. Nevertheless, there is convincing evidence that active music experiences, such as singing or learning to play an instrument, can enhance brain development (Peterson & Thaut 2007). Research suggests that this active participation in music can support emergent mathematics, such as early patterning experiences and one-toone correspondence, in young children, even from birth (Mendlesohn 1990; Frank 1996, 1997; Motluk 1997; Church 2000; Du Sautoy 2004; Perret & Fox 2006). Emergent mathematics is a concept similar to emergent literacy. We will use it to describe how children begin to construct mathematics from birth and continue throughout their lives. They build this knowledge through a combination of cognitive development and interaction with their environment. Young children—whether 6 weeks, 6 months, or 6 years old—need to be immersed in mathematics and literacy through interactions with parents or caregivers. Do children need to have musical instruction, such as piano lessons, to get the benefit of improved mathematical ability and understanding? Or can simply interacting with music stimulate development of mathematical understand- There is convincing evidence that active music experiences, such as singing or learning to play an instrument, can enhance brain development. 2, 3 20 Young Children • March 2008
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