Turn up the Tunes, Music Facilitates Language Learning

Turning on the radio after a long day might help improve your mood, but what are the benefits of music for children? Music is actually a major facilitator of language. From teaching vocabulary to improving memory, a few songs a day can help your child tremendously. When listening to an old nursery rhyme or folk-tale song, a child might hear an unfamiliar word and ask what it means. While learning new vocabulary, they are improving their comprehension of the overall message in the lyrics. Is your child working on articulation? Find a song with the target phoneme (i.e., sound) in the refrain. Provide opportunities for your child to have a concert for a family member to allow chances for improved auditory retention (i.e., remembering the verses), practice articulation, or expand expressive language by telling someone what the message of the song is. Here’s an article that supports my beliefs about music fostering language development.