Pyjama Foundation Education Pages
Music and Reading
Music and reading are wonderfully compatible. Many believe music is the first language because we hear sounds first and the sounds gradually transpose into words which, when we speak them gain a rhythm of their own.
Rhythm governs our conversation from infancy through to old age. Tempos also vary from culture to culture and person to person.
Rhythmic researchers today study the internal mechanisms that govern social rhythms and these show that our "sync sense" plays a major part in our ability to talk and work together.
You
can read and laugh aloud to the Revolting Rhymes of Roald Dahl, the nonsense
rhymes of Edward Lear or, have fun with Dr Seuss whose favourites Hop on Pop and
Green Eggs and Ham all of which follow a rhythmic pattern. Rhymes, based on
rhythms, are always very popular with children assisting not only the learning
process but also the understanding of language.
Good learners are generally good listeners. Many learning disabilities are related to not listening, so if we can ‘tune up our ears’ we can hope to attain our full learning potential.
Singing and READING ALOUD to children is one wonderful way to assist them achieve.
