Every year, school systems face the challenge of educating students to be world class leaders, while at the same time living under the budget constraints imposed on them by law. The demands of what knowledge we need to instill in them increases, while the funding to make things happen slowly dwindles away.
Which means as a parent, we need to pick up the slack and offer our kids the things no longer offered in the school systems. (At least until we figure out a way to get the essential programs back in.)
While there may be a wide variety of programs that could be argued for returning to the classroom, one of the biggest that belongs at the top of the list is a great music education.
One of my favorite quotes is:
“Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents.” ~Ludwig van Beethoven
Music is truly the soil that gives us our power to do what we do. Think about it for a minute. What would your life be like if you didn’t have music?
- Your morning alarm may be set to a tune
- Your ringtone is a familiar song
- You hum as you take a shower and prepare for the day
- Commercials are all designed to have a catchy jingle
- We listen to our favorite melodies on our smart devices and on the radio
- They play familiar tunes before sporting events, before our favorite television shows, and even before the daily news
- Would the Superbowl be the Superbowl without the infamous halftime show?
Yes, the world would not be what we know it to be today without music in our lives. Music is an important part of our lives. And yet the concept of teaching music and the appreciation for all it stands for is going away.
Music helps us learn and gives us:
- A sense of appreciation
- Focus and concentration
- Increased attention span
- Improved memory
- Multisensory learning experience
- Reduced stress levels and tension
- Increased imagination
- Inspiration and motivation
And that’s just the beginning. Piano playing has been shown to increase your child’s intelligence, help them do better on the tests they take, and give them a better foundation to be better learners throughout their lives. What could be better than that?
As music continues to slip away from our education system, we as parents need to pick up where the schools are leaving off, and provide these extra skills to our kids from an early age.
Is music a part of your home? We can help you make it so.
