Music and arts are often overlooked in developing a pupil’s education. Core subjects like Math, English and Science are focused on in an increasingly technological world.
We agree that these subjects are important, but music and arts are equally important in childhood development. Music filters down into every other academic subject. Music positively impacts a pupil’s academic performance, assists in developing social skills, and provides an outlet for creativity crucial to a pupil’s development.
Giving pupils the ability to explore their creativity in music can produce a creative, confident, collaborative and successful generation in their future academics and careers.
Music classes teach many valuable life lessons where pupils can simultaneously have fun and develop new talents.
Music strengthens the weak areas of the brain of a pupil with learning difficulties; it enhances the brain’s auditory, visual/spatial, and motor muscles. These are the areas related to speech and language, reading, focusing, attention, and concentration issues.
At Japari, we have music once a week where students can learn about music theory and learn new songs together. We mainly focus on drumming and voice, and we find that all our pupils react positively to our classes, filtering down into their academic studies.
We believe music is a great way to give our pupils a holistic education at Japari School, and here of a few benefits of why we implement it in our curriculum.
Improves fine motor skills
Learning to play an instrument involves improving hand-to-eye coordination. This means that pupils learn to multitask at a young age. This further develops the brain to do two or more things simultaneously.
Pupils are taught to read music, interpret it and then physically play it on their instrument. Practice makes perfect, and pupils slowly start to get the hang of it.
Developing hand-eye coordination helps pupils with learning difficulties, allowing them to process what they have just read and write an answer to the question.
It has been scientifically proven that playing an instrument helps pupils with ADHD or other learning difficulties. Music increases their attention and unlocks their learning ability.
Improve language development
Songs and rhymes allow pupils to expand their vocabulary as well as their ability to use language correctly in sentences.
The repetition in popular rhymes and songs helps pupils to memorise new words. They also become familiar with language patterns and how words are placed together.
Having music every week, pupils can practise songs and rhymes, enhancing their knowledge every lesson.
Creating a well-developed vocabulary will allow pupils to communicate more effectively with their peers and boost their work in English and other subjects where they can communicate their thoughts on paper.
As a remedial school, we pride ourselves on helping pupils who may struggle with learning difficulties. Research suggests that music may also improve a child’s ability to process speech sounds, helping children who may struggle with dyslexia. One study found that learning to recognise sound patterns and map them to symbols helped build reading skills.
These fundamental reading skills help pupils struggling with speech and orientation at a young age.
Improve focus & memory
Have you ever listened to a song that gets stuck in your head? This effect happens to everyone and is very impressionable from a young age.
Music affects both the right and left sides of the brain, and the activation of both hemispheres can maximise learning and improve memory.
The repetitive nature of songs and rhymes allows children to continuously work on their memory skills, making memorisation easier in other subjects.
For half a term, our pupils will work on mastering one song where they continuously repeat the tune and remember where they left off after every session. This continual practice allows our students to memorise the song and helps them in many other academic subjects.
By learning the song’s lyrics and following the melody with their drums, our pupils learn to focus throughout the class and follow our teacher’s instructions. Because music is so stimulating, our pupils are usually so excited to learn new things.
Pupils who struggle with ADHD find that music helps them focus and increase comprehension and engagement in the classroom. Pupils with ADHD tend to hyperfocus on something and not stop until they are satisfied they can do better. If a pupil is focused on perfecting a specific musical piece, this is the best opportunity to develop their skills in music. Teachers just need to find a way to tap into that interest. But once they have found it, this can filter down into many other subjects of a pupil’s curriculum.
Improve basic math skills
Reading music includes learning quarter, half, and whole notes. These are patterns that are learnt at a young age.
These music notes give pupils information about patterns. For example: which keys to press on their piano, what beat to play on the drum and what strings to press on their cello.
By reading music notes, pupils can start recognising patterns that light up the same pathway as mathematics does in our brains.
Music allows problem-solving and working on solutions to figure out complicated things that our brains would not usually do.
Pupils who struggle with dyscalculia find that music calms the mind when thinking about maths, allowing them to focus on the problem at hand or the pattern without stressing about the mathematical problem.
Music is a great way to get pupils to understand the basic building blocks of Math through patterns. Our teachers have seen a significant link between the improvement in Music and Math at Japari school.
Our music programme supports our pupils and inspires them to learn as much as possible to improve their schooling careers.
Improve discipline & teamwork
Music education creates a more excellent work ethic and discipline in pupils. Pupils learn from an early age that hard work, determination, and a positive mindset are all you need to succeed, but with those characteristics, continual practice is required.
Pupils learn that improving musical skills does not come easy, as it requires hours of study and practice. Through this, pupils gain a more significant concept of work ethic and learn to discipline themselves to reach goals.
Work ethic and discipline are huge factors of music education, and it is essential to note that those life skills will positively impact pupils in their future academic careers.
Music, especially in a classroom, allows pupils to collaborate to create a specific melody or song.
Music education requires teamwork and collaboration. While playing instruments together, students develop listening skills. They must listen to others to know which volume levels to play at and learn to synchronise with the music. Pupils quickly learn to value the opinions and ideas of others.
Music education creates long-lasting friendships and relationships. Pupils in a band bond over enjoying music and build meaningful relationships. They share exciting moments, help develop one another’s abilities and become a support system for each other.
Pupils start building good relationships with others and can support their peers in different subjects at school. Friendships also make school more appealing for pupils, and they begin to enjoy their days at school more.
Improve self-confidence & self-esteem
When a pupil becomes good at music, it boosts their self-confidence to achieve other things and excel in school. It is empowering for a pupil to see the result of their achievement, allowing them to do well in their future academic careers.
Through music activities, pupils develop a sense of creativity and feel free to express themselves without judgment. Creative expression is an essential part of a child’s development.
By standing up and performing a piece as a team or an individual, pupils learn essential life skills about confidence and courage to get up and perform. Performances can help pupils overcome their limitations of stage fright and turn their nervousness into something positive.
Most importantly, music is there to have fun. When pupils listen to music, they like to move around and enjoy the music lesson at Japari. Movement is a must for a pupil with ADHD and is an essential part of learning, thinking, and focusing. The best way to practise movement is through dance. As the pupil moves to different rhythms, physical coordination and ability to concentrate improve drastically.
To wrap up
Japari understands music’s importance in all aspects of your child’s development. We implement music in our schooling curriculum to ensure that our pupils get a well-rounded education.
These few benefits are some of the reasons why we implement music in our school. Research has shown that when pupils learn to play instruments or work as a team, attention, concentration, impulse control, self-esteem, motivation, and memory tend to improve.
These benefits filter down into other aspects of a pupil’s education, including Maths, Science and English, therefore, allowing them to receive an all-rounded education.
More importantly, music allows pupils who struggle with particular learning difficulties to overcome and challenge these difficulties in new creative ways.
Music is an excellent way for pupils to express themselves, creating a great way to be creative and different without the need to feel judged in our nurturing school environment. We want our pupils to feel confident and express themselves the way they should in a school environment.
For more information, please contact us.
