Joe Biden got me thinking.
In the most recent debate, Mr. Biden suggested that we play music for our kids on “record players” in order to improve their academic performance. He was referencing Frances Raucher’s research (published in Nature in 1993) that found listening to classical music can improve spatial-temporal reasoning in children. This later became known as the “Mozart effect.”
While the theory has been debated since that time, researchers agree that music-making creates an even greater impact upon intellectual performance. This four-minute video explains how listening to classical music fires up many areas of the brain, but playing music fires up ALL areas of the brain; when we play an instrument, visual, auditory, and motor functions ignite in both hemispheres to create a cacophony of fireworks in the brain!
We’re glad the presidential candidates aren’t forgetting about the power of music in child development!
If you have the Music Together® FLUTE collection, then you know the song, Little Johnny Brown. But did you know it originated from the Gullah people of the Georgia Sea Islands and is a great “ring” or circle game to play with kids?! Just grab a large scarf and start singing and dancing. Here’s how it works: one child starts in the middle of the circle with the scarf and the group singing. She folds down all the corners, then takes it to a neighbor, with whom the child struts like a chicken, etc. Then it’s that friend’s turn to go in the middle, fold down the corners, etc. It’s great fun, especially with some adults willing to clap and sing and stomp and get silly!
“YOU AIN’T NEVER HAD A FRIEND LIKE ME!” Don’t miss ALADDIN, great music for families, Saturday, Sept 28 at 2 pm and Sunday, Sept 29 at 1:00 pm, Belk Theater at Blumenthal Performing Arts Center.
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PITCH YOUR CARSEAT – GET $30! Bring in an old car seat into Walmart from September 16th to September 30th, 2019, and you’ll get a $30 Walmart gift card. The card can be used in-store or online to buy items for your child. All car seats collected in this program will be recycled through TerraCycle, and each component will be diverted from the landfill.
FAMILY FRIENDLY AW SHUCKS CORN MAZE, September 20 – November 10, 2019, on Friday nights, Saturdays 11-10 pm and Sundays 1- 6 pm. Aw Shucks Farm, 2718 Plyler Mill Rd., Monroe.
Enjoy this corn maze that most can finish in 25 minutes – littles welcome with parents! The farm also has hayrides, a kid’s play area, gem mining, animal barn and more. $8-$13, plus extra fees for certain activities, children 3 and younger FREE!