Seven ways music boosts that brain

By Rob Baedeker
音乐促进语言加工能力：Language processing: Several recent studies suggest that the brain processes music and language in similar ways, and that training in music may have benefits for language-related skills. The Neurosciences Institute reports that its research has "revealed a significant degree of overlap between music and language processing," and in a 2005 study , researchers at Stanford University found that mastering a musical instrument improves the way the human brain processes parts of spoken language. The findings suggested that students who are struggling with language and reading skills could especially benefit from musical training.

音乐提高记忆力Memory: The benefits of music training appear to extend to memory, too. A 2003 study by researchers at The Chinese University of Hong Kong found that children with musical training showed better verbal memory than their peers. "When these children were followed up after a year," the study's authors wrote, "those who had begun or continued music training demonstrated significant verbal memory improvement." In other words, memorizing music pieces correlated with improvements in non-musical memory, too.

This correlation may stem from particular ways that music "challenges" young minds. Takako Fujioka, a scientist at the Rotman Research Institute in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and co-author of a study that found musically trained children showed greater improvement on memory tests throughout the course of a year than their non-musically trained peers, explains that playing music "requires the brain to solve the problems of how to allocate attention and memory toward complex tasks."

音乐提高算术能力Math: If you've ever tried to read even a simple piece of music — or bang a drum in time to a beat, you know that music requires you to preform mathematical processes (like division) on the fly. But research has also shown a link between music education and success in school math. A study by The Royal Conservatory of Music in Canada, for example, concentrated on the effects of arts education on elementary school students, and found that students in the arts program "scored significantly higher on mathematical tests of computation and estimation" than did students in a control group.

音乐提高自我意识Self-Awareness: Dr. Frank Wilson, a neurologist and an authority on the relationship of hand use to human cognitive development, explains that the study of music teaches children to "self assess," rather than to rely on external rewards. While much of our schooling focuses on grades and prizes, music can foster an internal motivation. The precision and attention required to play an instrument — the instant feedback loop that requires you to adjust your own performance — encourages an "ongoing surveillance of yourself," Wilson says. "It leads you to become a critic of your own work, to not be satisfied with anything less than achieving what it was you intended to do."

音乐促进社会交往能力Social skills: Takako Fujioka, of the Rotman Research Institute, points out that the benefits of playing music go beyond academic applications: "When you participate in music in a community or a school, you develop shared memories during musical activities. It's a bonding experience."

That bonding can also develop kids' ability to work together. Sharon Burch, an elementary school music teacher who developed the "Freddy the Frog" series of books and activities to teach the fundamentals of music to children, has also seen the effects of music on students' social well-being. "I teach 450 kids per year," she says, "and I notice that the kids involved in music are the most well-behaved, have the most confidence, and are doing well in their academic classes."

音乐促进学术成功Academic success: With all the benefits that music brings to kids' language, math, memory and self-assessment, it's little surprise that there is a strong correlation between music and general academic success. Studies have shown that students in music programs scored higher in English and math than students who had no music at all, and high school students with music training scored higher than their non-musical peers on the SAT, according to the College Board. A 1994 survey even found that music majors, as a group, had the highest acceptance rate to medical school.

音乐有助于长期的成功Long-term success: Students with music training tend to rank higher in common measures of long-term success such as educational attainment and income: a 2007 poll by Harris Interactive found that nearly nine out of ten people with post -graduate education had participated in music while in school, and 83 percent of those with incomes of $150,000 or more had had music education. The College Board's 2006 study also found that high school students who participated in band or orchestra reported the lowest lifetime and current use of drugs and alcohol.

Rob Baedeker is a writer living in Berkeley, Calif. He is the coauthor, with the Kasper Hauser comedy group, of SkyMaul: Weddings of the Times and Obama's BlackBerry.

网站分享： 下面是5个可以和孩子一起听音乐的网站 

1. DSO Kids

http://www.dsokids.com/
Created by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, this site offers children easy ways to learn about classical music, including creative games like "Beethoven's Baseball."

2. Creating Music

http://creatingmusic.com
Designed especially for kids, Creating Music has some good games kindergartners should enjoy. Click on “Playing (with) Music” and let your child write her own short songs. Or check out “Hearing Music” to teach her about pitch and rhythm.

3. Children's music on Pandora

http://blog.pandora.com/pandora/archives/2010/02/childrens-music.html
From "Sleepy Time" to "Rockin' Kids Radio," this list will point parents in the direction of several free, kid-friendly Internet radio stations.

4. PBS Jazz Kids

http://pbskids.org/jazz/
Your kid will turn into one cool cat by learning about different jazz instruments and jazz greats like Billie Holiday and Charlie Parker. Or help her play bandleader by putting together her own virtual jazz band.

5. Radio Disney

http://radio.disney.go.com/
This toe-tapping site let’s your child listen to the top hits played on Radio Disney. Tip: Click on “Music” and “Top 30 Countdown” to listen to the latest kid-friendly Disney hits.

 

话外音：最近很多关注孩子教育的国内的妈妈们因为最近发表的一篇博文《美国孩子9岁之前需要掌握的25种基本礼节〉纷纷造访俺的一亩三分地儿，在这里俺先 叩首谢啦，由于时间有限不能一一回访，请见谅！最近在回访亲们的博客时，俺特感动也特受鼓舞，看到国内的妈妈们都在坚持不懈地、殚精竭虑地培养自己的宝儿 们，尤其是琴童的妈妈们都是抱着鞠躬尽瘁、死而后已的壮志在第一战线上奋斗着。俺这个正在音乐旅途路口彷徨的宝儿妈感到不再孤单，正信心十足的准备上路啦！