The Case for Studying Music
There have been several cases where scientists have tried to study the effect music has on the intelligence of a developing child. Some have been well documented to show evidence that there has been a substantial change in the intellectual development of children who have studied music from a young age as per a study conducted by the Nortwestern University. They even concluded that the longer a child took music lesson the more benefits were seen at a later stage when they were considerably older.
Music students in High School were seen to gain more academic awards than non music students as per a study conducted by the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988. On average a music student had more number of A and B grades in their report card as compared to those who were not involved in studying music. Other studies speak of babies developing higher IQs if they are exposed to classical music of Mozart.
A study conducted by James Catteral of UCLA published in 1997 studied more than twenty five thousand students over a period of ten years. It was established that music making skills increased test scores in standardized tests, especially in reading proficiency exams. Most ongoing studies have a tendency to view a positive correlation between students learning music or listening to music and performing better in their educational texts as well.
What to do in Homeschool
Naturally with so much evidence supporting the fact that a musical education can prove beneficial to your homeschool student, it is a good idea to let them learn how to play a musical instrument. The good news it that basic lessons for any instrument can be taken in form of videos on YouTube. Just as the name of the musical instrument plus the keyword lessons in the search box and you will have a choice of channels to help you teach your child music. You can even have a go at learning a musical instrument yourself. At a subsequent date when the child has mastered the basics you may like to consider in person training with a music teacher in your town.
