How Can You Help Your Child’s Attention and Memory?
Does your child struggle to concentrate and remember things?
So often through our lives we hear people say ‘oh I’ve got such a bad memory, my brain’s like a sieve’, but does it have to be that way? Struggle to concentrate and you may miss out on vital information, it can effect your exam results at school, work, and your progress through life.
New evidence in 2020
New evidence recently found suggest that “learning to play a musical instrument may be good for the brain – in particular, improving attention and working memory.” Neuroscientists in Chile found this year on a study of 10-13 year old children.😊
Whilst this suggestion is not new it adds further weight to previous studies already published and being current, in 2020, brings further up to date evidence as to the importance of music and learning an instrument as a child 🎹 🎺🎻
In this study of 40 children who were divided into two groups,
“20 played an instrument, had at least two years of lessons, practiced at least two hours a week, and regularly played in an orchestra or ensemble. The 20 control children had no musical training other than in the school curriculum.”
When the working memory and attention of these 40 children were assessed it was found that
“the musically trained children performed better at attention and memory recall. They also had greater activation in the brain regions related to attention control and auditory encoding – executive functions known to be associated with improved reading, higher resilience, greater creativity, and a better quality of life”.
Therefore the results could have much farther reaching implications than we may at first think!
“Our most important finding is that two different mechanisms seem to underlie the better performance of musically trained children in the attention and working memory task,” says Kausel.
They aim to conduct a longer study to uncover the causes and connections and …
“evaluating attention and working memory, and the possibility to evaluate a musical training intervention on ADHD children.”
A Good Start in Life
This could go on to help children in early life, embracing and encouraging their development at a crucial stage, and thwart problems developing in later life such as with ADHD and general attention and memory capability.
What can you do Now to Help?
So what can you do to help your little one from the very start as a baby or toddler, before you even begin to think of introducing them to a musical instrument?
You can begin by playing music at home, singing to them, encouraging them to join in, clapping to the rhythm of a song, dancing to the beat, jogging them on your lap! Think how much fun this sounds, as well as the many benefits for both of you! Music and singing is a happy time and can bring so much pleasure, emotion, and happiness to your child so start early, keep it simple and find out if there’s a local music group you can join and meet other families just like you and share in the fun together!
Come and Join the Fun!
To find out about your local Music Bus group pop a message over to helen@musicbus.com, call 07943 864278 or via Facebook to https://www.facebook.com/musicbus
Read more about Music Bus Classes here https://musicbus.com/classes/
Here’s the sources of the study if you’d like to read more:
SOURCES:
Frontiers Science News: https://blog.frontiersin.org/2020/10/08/neuroscience-cognitive-benefits-musical-education-children-memory-attention/
Frontiers in Neuroscience: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2020.554731/full?utm_source=fweb&utm_medium=nblog&utm_campaign=ba-sci-fnins-cognitive-benefits-music-lessons-children-longterm
Classic FM: https://www.classicfm.com/music-news/children-who-play-musical-instrument-better-focus-memory/
