I have had the opportunity lately to sub at many different schools and grade levels. I am, by choice, a high school teacher but have had some great time in the past year with kindergarten classes. What always strikes me is the amount of music the teachers use. They have songs for everything. Songs to wash their hands, songs to get their books out, songs to line up, everything. It is a great tool for getting the kids all focused on the same task (the task the teacher wants them focused on) and getting them quiet at the end of the song. It got me thinking about how as the kids age that music is faded out of the classroom. When I had a high school class of my own I would still play music from time to time but mainly just instrumental stuff as a background. We definitely didn't have any songs.
This got me thinking about how music was so beneficial to those younger kids and what makes it not used with older ones. It might be the expectation that the older kids don't need a 're-focusing tool' or should be quiet on their own. Which would make sense.
But then I got to thinking about how music aids in memory. I could probably sing every word to American Pie right now but couldn't recite all the state capitals even though I learned both of those around the same time. But I can recite all the states, in alphabetical order no less. Anyone out there learn the "Fifty Nifty United States" song? Because I bet you are probably singing them right now. So why is music not used more in education? It obviously works.
Just food for thought for this week.
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