Music lessons help children’s reading skills
Q: My child is behind in his reading skills. He has a summer reading list from the school, but he prefers to play with musical instruments. Should one be emphasized over the other?
A: Children often have a summer reading list. For many, it is a way to advance their reading capabilities and keep up with their reading skills prior to the next school year. For others, it is another list of chores. Parents, teachers, and pediatricians encourage their kids to keep up with the list. In the end, completing this list might be a fun thing to do.
But research has shown that piano lessons might be of added benefit to the summer reading list. Recently, a group of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology published an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences stating that piano lessons increase a child’s reading ability.
The study was done in a group of Mandarinspeaking children aged 4-5 (in China). The study found that piano training stimulates certain parts of the brain that helps a child with recognition of certain pitch, speech and tones, improving word recognition and distinctions. Just like with a comparative group that was placed in an extra reading class alone, the music group improved
on their test for IQ, and tests for memory and attention. Researchers argue that these skills will eventually benefit early literacy. In other words, piano lessons were equally as good as taking extra reading lessons.
The idea that music helps with improving a child’s learning skills is not new. Reading and spelling benefits from music lessons are not exclusive of playing the piano. Several previously published studies have shown that playing a musical instrument had some effect on IQ tests scores. In 2015, a study similar to that done in China was done in adolescents in the U.S. and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Although the study was done in adolescents participating in school music training programs, the results were starkly similar. School music training in adolescents accelerated certain parts of the brain that help with maturity and reading abilities.
A child’s brain reaches most of its adult size by the age of 6. However, it continues to grow in its function and development. As we acquire, develop and master new skills, the brain matures. Our experiences from early childhood through adolescence shape this maturity process. So, starting a music-training program as early as in pre-K — or as late as in adolescence — provides a lot of benefits for language and reading.
Childhood music lessons can start as early as 18 months to 2 years of age. Children who play a musical instrument for 2 years or more will have better brain recognition and distinction of certain sounds and words compared with children who do not play a musical instrument. These kids do even better in spelling tests. Music lessons even appear to be beneficial to children with dyslexia. Kids with low reading and spelling skills seem to benefit the most. Interestingly, another secondary outcome is an improvement in self-esteem. These findings have been replicated in communities of different backgrounds throughout the world.
So, the summer reading list can be supplemented with music lessons that will also help with reading comprehension and reading proficiency in our children.