Support Math Readiness Through Music
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By Eugene Geist
Two-year-old Felicia is playing with blocks while her grandmother sits nearby. 听One of Grandma鈥檚 favorite songs comes on the radio. Grandma starts tapping her foot to the music. Felicia notices and begins to match Grandma鈥檚 tapping to the beat by banging two blocks together. To encourage Felicia, Grandma claps along with Felicia鈥檚 beat. In response, Felicia gets up and begins marching around the room in time to the music and singing 鈥渓a, la, la鈥� along with the rhythm of the song.
Music is one of the first ways children experience math. Without thinking, our bodies react to music. When we hear music, we rock our babies, clap along, and even look toward the source of the sound. These responses are reactions to musical elements such as steady beat, rhythm, and melody, all of which reflect mathematical concepts. Even the youngest of children can respond to music and the mathematical principles behind it. Here are three musical elements that relate to math and some suggested activity ideas to try at home.
Steady Beat
What it is:听Steady beat is what you respond to when you hear music and start tapping your toe. The steady beat is repetitive and evenly spaced. Listen to 鈥淥ld MacDonald,鈥� 鈥淏ingo,鈥� or 鈥淭winkle, Twinkle, Little Star,鈥� and you will hear the steady beat.
How it relates to mathematics:听Emphasizing the steady beat by clapping or moving to the music supports children鈥檚 development of one-to-one correspondence.听One-to-one correspondence听is matching up one thing with something else, such as one clap for each syllable. Clapping to the steady beat also is a way to emphasize the听math concept of 鈥渕ore.鈥�听Through music, toddlers can show they understand what 鈥渕ore鈥� means even when they do not yet understand numbers. For example, if you clap once and then ask, 鈥淐an you clap more than I clapped?鈥� a toddler will most likely clap more than once.
Activities to try:听While singing a song, emphasize the words that fall on the beat by stomping or clapping on each beat. You can even have children stomp or clap harder on the downbeat (the most accented note in each measure). There is no wrong way to do this, so feel free to experiment.
To work on one-to-one correspondence, try having your child repeat a basic clapping sequence. Ask, 鈥淐an you clap as many times as I do?鈥� As your child gets better at this, you can add rhythm to your clapping. You could also play a drum or even sing instead of clapping.
Songs that build on themselves, such as 鈥淭here Once Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly鈥�) help children grasp the idea of 鈥渕ore.鈥� After each verse or every few verses you can ask, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 next?鈥� or 鈥淪hould we sing more?鈥� Songs that invite children to join in with each verse also promote this concept.
Rhythm
What it is:听Rhythm is similar to but different from the steady beat. A song鈥檚 rhythm varies, while the steady beat is constant.
How it relates to mathematics:听Rhythm helps children learn to recognize听one-to-one correspondence听and to identify and predict distinct听patterns.听Being able to recognize and anticipate rhythmic patterns helps children remember or predict the words to a song or a rhythmic story.
Activities to try:听听Even newborns can learn about rhythm as their parents sing lullabies to them. Rock with your child while you sing, and pat gently on your child鈥檚 back so that he can simultaneously hear and feel the patterns in the music. If the words themselves make a pattern, your child can also see a pattern in your mouth movements. Here is one example of a song you could sing:
(Sung to 鈥淗ush, Little Baby鈥�)
Verse 1: 听听Little baby,听don鈥檛 you cry.听Little baby,听don鈥檛 you cry.
Pattern:听听听听听听听听听听 A听听听听听听听听 听听听听听听B听听听听听听听听听听听听听 听听听听听听听A听听听听听听听听听听听听 听B
Verse 2: 听Mama loves you听don鈥檛 you cry.听Mama loves you听don鈥檛 you cry.
Pattern:听听听听听听听听听听 C听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 听B听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 听听听C听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 听听听听B
Invite toddlers and preschoolers to repeat, predict, and/or extend rhythmic patterns. For example, sing 鈥淥ld MacDonald Had a Farm鈥� with your toddler. Stop after 鈥淲ith a moo moo here,鈥� and wait for your child to repeat the phrase or extend the pattern of the song by adding 鈥渁nd a moo moo there.鈥欌�� 听
Melody
What it is:听The movement from one note to another is the melody of the song, or in other words, the tune. Consider the familiar song 鈥淥ld MacDonald Had a Farm,鈥� focusing on the repetitive pattern 鈥淓-I-E-I-O.鈥� You may notice that the first E and I are repeated on a higher note, the next E and I are repeated on a lower note, and the O is sung on an even a lower note. This is the song鈥檚 melody.
How it relates to mathematics:听Children can use melodies to recognize听patterns,听such as how notes are repeated within a song.
Activities to try:听Offer instruments like a xylophone (or piano, if you have one in your home), shaker, drum, or even a pot and a wooden spoon to play a song. Ask your child to play her instrument at a specific note of a simple song (such as on 鈥渟tar鈥� of 鈥淭winkle, Twinkle, Little Star鈥�) as you play the rest.
1Bonny, J.W., & S.F. Lourenco. 2013. 鈥淭he Approximate Number System and Its Relation to Early Math Achievement: Evidence From the Preschool Years.鈥�听Journal of Experimental Child Psychology听114 (3): 375鈥�88.
Dr. Eugene Geist is an associate professor in The Gladys W. and David H. Patton College of Education and Human Services at Ohio University.听 Dr. Geist teaches in the Early Childhood Education program, the Curriculum and Instruction graduate program and the Teacher Education Honors Program. His areas of expertise include child development, constructivism, and the development of mathematical knowledge in young children.听