Music is the language of learning

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For the last five years, I've been looking for the words to describe why music is such an important presence in a child's early development.

There's the brain research, yes. Compelling, and interesting, however it's really gross to talk about a child's mind in terms of neural networks and neuron firing.

There's the scientific proof, yes. Studies previously performed on Kindermusik students show positive growth in intellectual and self-control behaviors. Still, some educators and experts can't be swayed by even the most convincing studies. I think it's just the way some people are wired.

For me, though, I finally yawped out a Eureka when I realized what preschool teachers have know all along.

Music is inherent to the methods used in early learning. Repetition, rhyme, exposure to patterns, and a variety of sounds are defining qualities of both music and early learning. That's likely why music and language share the same pathways in the brain.

That's why, to a child, music is the language of learning.