The Effect of Music-Enriched Instruction on the Mathematics Scores of Pre-School Children

While a growing body of research reveals the beneficial effects of music on education performance the value of music in educating the young child is not being recognized, particularly in the area of Montessori education. This study was an experimental design using a two-group post-test comparison. A sample of 200 Montessori students aged 3 to 5-years-old were selected and randomly placed in one of two groups. The experimental treatment was an “in-house” music-enriched Montessori program and children participated in 3 half-hour sessions weekly, for 6 months. This program was designed from appropriate early childhood educational pedagogies and was sequenced in order to teach concepts of pitch, dynamics, duration, timbre, and form. The instrument used to measure mathematical achievement was the Test of Early Mathematics Ability-3 to determine if the independent variable, music instruction had any effect on students’ mathematics test scores, the dependent variable. The results showed that subjects who received music-enriched Montessori instruction had significantly higher mathematics scores. When compared by age group, 3 year-old students had higher scores than either the 4 or 5 year-old children. The value of music in educating the young child is not being recognized, particularly in the area of mathematics. Despite the amount of literature available regarding the effect of music instruction on academic achievement, little has been written on different Montessori music pedagogies and the effect on students’ math scores. If research of students in the school system indicates that learning through the arts can benefit the ‘whole’ child [21]; that math achievement scores are significantly higher for those students studying music [17]; and if Montessori education produces a more academically accomplished child [3]; then what is the potential for the child when Montessori includes an enriched music curriculum? Education Today and Tomorrow At the outset of the 21st Century many educators and parents are considering the kind of education young people need to become responsible and productive members of a global society. Major changes globally are making it increasingly more difficult to prepare the student to be the responsible citizen of the future with the life skills to live and work in a global world. Recognizing that schooling should enhance the development of creative and responsible citizens, we need to consider how such development takes place, and provide rich opportunities for learning for all students Music and Brain Development The role music plays in the education of the child is the focus of much discussion in education today. The baby at play is sculpting a brain that will be used for the rest of his or her life [16]. Research results would seem to indicate that the learning and remembering of a melody can occur not only before birth but actually before or at the beginning of the third trimester [6] The first 3 years in a child’s life is a time when music can be used to stimulate the development of nerve connections between brain cells necessary for optimal cognitive development [12]