Music has countless benefits during early childhood development. It accelerates brain development, improves fine motor skills, aids in language development, helps with memory and focus and gives an outlet for healthy emotional expression.
These are the most common reasons parents enroll their young children in music classes, but what many do not realize is that singing has its own set of benefits that have to do with a child's speech development.
Singing helps children learn to speak! Not only does singing introduce new vocabulary, but rhythms and rhyming helps children to remember new words.
Rhythm and cadence are not unique to singing - they happen in speech as well. Singing helps children identify changes in tone when someone is speaking to them and helps them develop how to communicate their emotions through their speech with these cadences.
Singing is beneficial to children who have speech impediments. An early study showed that after 10 minutes of singing, the frequency of stuttering in participants was reduced by 90%! Ms. Liz has seen this first hand in many of her voice students:
"I have had parents of children with speech impediments come to me seeking a way to supplement their child's speech therapy. It is amazing to see children who love music train to be able to sing their favorite song all the way through! I truly believe that singing helps in many areas of speech - everything from tone to expression to enunciation."
Many of the benefits of singing as it relates to speech are still being explored but there is no question it plays an important role in speech development.
At Music with Ms. Liz, our music and movement classes are filled with singing! You can also take piano, voice, and ukulele lessons with Ms. Liz or even be taught with your favorite Music with Ms. Liz character by request! Mention this article and receive $10 off your first class with us!