Will Mozart make my child smarter? The amazing Math-Music connection

Ever heard of The Mozart Effect​, mamas? It’s a famous study that indicates that listening to Mozart’s compositions can lead to short-term improvement of one’s spatial-temporal reasoning ​(in other words, some believe it’s worth listening to Mozart right before a math test!).

This is all because Mozart’s compositions are highly sequential. And what does it matter? Well, spatial-temporal reasoning just happens to be crucial in mathematical areas like geometry and calculus.

Another study ​found that music lessons have brain-boosting effects on young children. After just one year of music lessons, students in Canada performed better on a memory test correlated with general intelligence skills like literacy, verbal memory mathematics and IQ than students who didn’t have those same lessons. Their brains actually developed differently ​and they showed improved memory skills ​in comparison to their peers!

“Sign me up!” you cry. “Let’s get a violin into my baby’s chubby hands ASAP!” Here’s the thing, mama: to promote these amazing brain-changing ​benefits, music education needs to be a major part of your little one’s life​. That makes for some awfully expensive music enrichment classes (and we’d guess most mamas are nervous about enforcing instrument practise day in and day out!).

That’s where the marvellous Early Years Music Programme ​​at Stamford American International School​​ comes in, mama. Stamford believes music plays an important part in every child’s life and holistic development. Specialist music lessons start from Nursery, ​once a week, to lay the foundation for Pre-Kindergarten, when students are introduced to the world-renowned Suzuki Violin Programme.

Playing violin has been shown to improve children’s concentration, a study at Canada’s Institute for Music and the Mind at McMaster University found. This is down to a few factors: 1) Learning to focus both on playing the instrument, and reading music 2) Having to memorise both physical movements to play the instrument, and how to read the music and 3) Improving self-discipline through practise and repetition.

Stamford’s Pre-Kindergarten students enjoy one period of Suzuki Violin per week and an additional period of specialist music lessons. M.I.T. here we come!

To find out more about how Stamford’s Early Years Music Programme can give your child a head start to academic success, be sure to check out the next Open Day on Friday, 22 May​, mama!

Stamford American International School
1 Woodleigh Lane (off Upper Serangoon Road), Singapore 357684
Tel: (+65) 6653 2947

www.sais.edu.sg