Nursery World - Positive Relationships: Home learning

Why is listening to - and making - music important for children?
Penny Tassoni explains, and suggests some activity ideas

Most children come into the world with a natural interest in music and rhythm. Babies will calm to the sound of a lullaby or enjoy being rocked. One of the great things about music is the way it crosses cultures and centuries - while some of the songs and sounds have changed from generation to generation, it still remains important in childhood.

FIVE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MUSIC

Here are five things you should know about the role of music in children's lives.

1. Listening skills

When children listen to or join in with music, they develop good auditory discrimination skills - that is the ability to make sense of the different sounds in our speech. They are able to pick out individual sounds and also rhythms. These are useful skills, which are needed when children start the process of reading.

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