Experts say that kids who are raised listening to music, singing songs and dancing to the beat are relishing a “rich sensory environment.” All that really means is music and movement instruction improves children’s memory, cognitive development, learning skills and expressive ability. In other words, they are learning through music!
It’s been one year since Kiddie Academy partnered with Kindermusik, a leading provider of early childhood music programs, and already we’ve seen significant gains in language and literacy skills in our students.
“Providing music as part of the Kiddie Academy Life Essentials® curriculum has an impact on the social and intellectual development of the children attending our academies,” says Richard Peterson, vice president of education at Kiddie Academy. “Music is a powerful stimulant that affects children in many different ways. Being exposed to music in an early learning setting can help children develop their reading and speech skills, while enabling them to focus better and develop socially.”
Research shows that music makes your child a better learner, and Kiddie Academy’s Music & More lessons build on the young child’s natural love of music, stories, movement and pretend play.
To evaluate the effectiveness of the Kiddie Academy Music & More curriculum, SEG Measurement conducted a national, multi-site study following 299 preschool children during the 2012-13 school years. The results of the study show that students who received Music & More instruction showed 32 percent more improvement on the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening.
Kiddie Academy’s Music & More is an enrichment program offered to students through a series of 30-minute thematic lessons. What’s better? Families enrolled at participating academies have exclusive access to a Digital Family Guide that’s packed with classroom companion resources, hosted on a safe and password protected portal. Each month, parents can download classroom songs and stories for your personal family library as well as the monthly family magazine with stories, activities and developmental information. Parents can also download the free Kindermusik Radio app from iTunes (or get the full version that includes lyrics for $1.99). On Android, parents can find 25 albums of songs from Kindermusik International in the Google Play store.
*Please check with your local academy to confirm programs offered at the location. Not all Kiddie Academy locations serve all age groups.
