Rhythms, music, and dancing are all ways humans express themselves non-verbally.
From the time children are born, and in the womb, too, the rhythms and cycles of life are playing a part. Time for sleeping and time for being awake are certainly two of the most definite daily rhythms we all have in our lives.
From the earliest moments we live in rhythmic patterns with our daily biological clock and the activities of our household and later school and workday.
Life from birth onward is rhythm upon rhythm, and in the universe at large the planets follow their daily and yearly rhythms. All the universe is a coordination of rhythms in this and other ways.
Early childhood onward is a time to learn how to express ourselves, and rhythmic movements play a big part of early expression. Even crying can be rhythmic as it is coordinated with breathing. Our very breath of life is a rhythmic pattern of inhalations and exhalations.
Music and dancing in whatever patterns they form, spontaneously or in dance choreography, are rhythmic and at times repetitive.
Encouraging youngsters to move to music allows them to explore their own natural rhythms and patterns, and as they mature build pattern upon pattern.
Does this remind you of school work?
Yes, building rhythmic pattern upon pattern is part of both language and math skills.
From syllables in words language flows into the lilting cadence of a sentence.
Math is built upon repeating patterns, seen in its early academic expression as sets of quantities, adding, subtraction, multiplying, dividing, fractions, geometry and later advanced usage of these skills in abstract problem solving.
Music helps kids and all of us learn language. Think for a moment how much easier it is to learn a stanza from a song, than to memorize a paragraph, word for word, of information.
Even multiplication tables become easier to memorize when made into rhyming sing-song patterns.
From your children's earliest moments put music on, watch your baby or toddler rock to it or bounce to it. Encourage this expression and as they are able introduce the basic large rhythmic motor skills one by one, developing right and left brain coordination.
For more on the benefits of rhythms, music and dance as a means of expression and also a preparation for later academics click on the following links or check out the two texts for the younger, and school age kids.
How to Teach Motor Skills
Dance and Motor Skills
Books
Ebooks
Article by Susan Kramer
