Recent research tells us that music is the only activity that stimulates every area of the brain simultaneously – which is why Kindermusik carefully creates each class using music as the key to unlocking the brain – social, emotional, cognitive, literacy, fine and gross motor skills, language and musicality.
We’ve also learned that infants are born with billions of nerve cells and a nearly unlimited potential for connections between those nerve cells. Every time an infant has a sensory experience, neural pathways are formed. The greater the number of neural pathways, the greater the brain power. This process is largely finished by the age of five, making rich sensory environments vital to the brain development of infants and young children.
Children begin the process of brain development with nerve cells that have very sparse branches. During the first few years of life the dendrites (branches) of the nerve cells proliferate. Making these new neural connections is the basis for learning. Then, around age seven or eight, the neural networks that are used the most frequently are preserved, but those that are not being used and stimulated are pruned and die off. Kindermusik exposes children to a variety of rich experiences in order to maximize a lifetime of learning potential by helping to create dense, well-traveled neural networks.
Here’s what experts say about Kindermusik:
Development of the Whole Child
“Kindermusik is elegant in its integrated approach to a child’s development. Physiologically, touch, movement, rhythm and sound are the keystones to developing a healthy vestibular system and optimizing nervous system and brain growth. The importance of having families working together, where everyone benefits from the sense of belonging, gets directly at the heart of what we, as a society, are needing at this time to raise healthy, loving children and ensure a world of peace. All of this is provided in the Kindermusik program.”
Carla Hannaford, Ph.D., Biologist, educator and author of Smart Moves: Why Learning Is Not All in Your Head and The Dominance Factor
Language Development
“Playing with objects such as the scarf play in Kindermusik Village encourages a baby to make sounds and words and helps her anticipate outcomes which are central to conversational development and language acquisition. Varying pitches between high and low in Kindermusik class stimulates these first foundations for a baby or young child’s learning the variety of sounds of language.”
Dan DeJoy, Ph.D., Speech-Language Pathologist
Attention and Inhibitory Control
“Kindermusik addresses a child’s development in many various and powerful ways. Repeated exposure to musical activities develops important cognitive and behavioral skills. Some musical activities can help develop inhibitory control – the ability to control or stop one’s movements. Also, changing volume, rate and pitch in songs and activities teaches a child discrimination, a crucial factor to listening and language processing.”
Ed Dougherty, Ph.D., Neuropsychologist
Movement and Physical Development
“Current research has shown that movement is the key to learning at any age. Our brains fully develop through movement activities such as crawling, rolling, turning, walking, skipping, reaching, and much more. When children and adults participate in Kindermusik classes, they are developing both sides of their brains through structured and creative music and movement activities. Television, video games and computers have helped to produce a generation that struggles with learning problems, hyperactivity and obesity. Many of these problems can be helped through systematic music/movement exercises and patterns. Kindermusik classes have always been fun. Now I feel strongly that they are also part of our essential learning process!”
Anne Green Gilbert, Movement specialist, author of Creative Dance for All Ages, and director Of Creative Dance Center
Special Needs Children
“Music as a curriculum in its own right is a valuable one. There are no winners or losers in Kindermusik class – the only competition is with one’s self, which is a crucial part of educating children with special needs. Kindermusik incorporates not only the joy of music but also movement, touch, listening and socialization that are so important for children with varying abilities.”
Stuart J. Schleien, Ph.D., Professor and Department Head, Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Emotional Development
“A major task for toddlers, that can confuse parents at first, is resolving the conflict between their passionate desire for closeness to their parents—after all, they are still barely out of babyhood—and their equally fierce drive for independence. Activities such as those in the Kindermusik Our Time curriculum provide toddlers this opportunity. A child can move into the circle during story time and actively participate if he wishes, or he can stay close to Mom or Dad and listen to the story being read. Given this security, most toddlers will naturally move to greater, and more appropriate, independence as they approach preschool age.”
Melissa R. Johnson, Ph.D., Pediatric Psychologist, Cary, NC
Literacy
“When introduced appropriately, music and literature play an amazing role in the development of infants and toddlers. I’m happy that Kindermusik has extended its programs to include this time of life when brain development is most vulnerable and parents are most in need of support and direction.”
Claudia Quigg M.Ed., Founder and Executive Director of Baby TALK Baby TALK is an organization headquartered in Decatur, Illinois dedicated to helping parents become better parents to their children. The program is affiliated with Dr. T. Berry Brazelton’s “Touchpoints” project. In existence since 1986, Baby TALK programs have been replicated in more than 150 communities across 20 states and Canada.
Musical Development
“One of my strongest impressions of Kindermusik’s work is the variety of musical selections that are there for children. The selections are of high quality and of considerable diversity, such that children can listen and respond to the music of Bach, Mozart, contemporary composers and cultural traditions around the globe. Kindermusik understands that children deserve opportunities to know a palette of musical colors, and thus through the program provide windows to the world of people and their artistic expressions. This rainbow of musical colors is the stuff that surrounds children through their Kindermusik training, so that their listening, movement, singing and playing possibilities are grounded in history and across cultures. These musical beginnings set children straight for a lifetime of well-considered choices in their musical and cultural valuing.”
—Patricia Campbell, Ph.D. Professor of music at University of Washington and author of Songs in Their Heads: Music and Its Meaning in Children’s Lives, Lessons from the World
